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Abstract

In the 16th century, the literary world of Joseon(朝鮮) period was in a frenzy to study Sima Qian(司馬遷)’s Shiji(史記), which was read and imitated by many literati. However, very few articles specifically described the actual situation of the time or established a systematic exemplary theory of the Shiji. Fortunately, Yu Mongin’s wrote a "Letter to Jinshi Yoon Bin(與尹進士書)", which included many examples to fill this gap. This is a valuable resource in the history of the absorption of the Shiji in the Joseon period. The “Letter to Jinshu Yoon Bin” has been mentioned in essays exploring Yu Mongin’s view of antiquity, but only a small portion of this essay is cited, resulting in the omission of the central claim of this letter. Because of this, I believe that this article should be analyzed in depth in order to reveal the specifics of mid-Joseon period study of the Shiji and Yu Mongin’s exemplary theory of the Shiji modelization. According to Yu Mongin, when choosing a writing exemplar, the ability of the subject of study should be considered as the primary basis and the characteristics of the object should be accurately analyzed. He believed that Sima Qian was a writer of outstanding talent, while the Shiji is a very good work, and that it is characterized by “endless changes” and “unfinished works”. Because of the difference in talent and the above-mentioned characteristics of the Shiji, the literati made great efforts to study it, but the results were few. Therefore, Yu Mongin believed that the Shiji could not be used as the only or main paradigm. This perception of the Shiji and this attitude towards exemplifying the 『Shiji』 differed from other writers. The core of Yu Mongin’s methodology was to establish the fundamental human idea through Liujing(六經) in order to make the essay conform to righteousness(義理). He also believed that while reading a wide range of books, one of them should be selected for in-depth study. In this process, the principle of easy before difficult should be followed. And Shiji is very difficult and high level, so you cannot study it first. Finally, Yu Mongin believed that it was necessary to both read and write more. Yu Mongin also pointed out the problem of logical confusion when the Joseon(朝鮮) period writers imitated the Shiji to create their works, reflecting his distinctive powers of observation.