Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of illustrations
- List of contributors
- Preface
- Note on the text
- Korean dynasties
- Glossary
- East Asia
- Principal places in works discussed
- Introduction
- 1 Language, forms, prosody, and themes
- 2 From oral to written literature
- 3 Hyangga
- 4 Silla writings in Chinese
- 5 Koryŏ songs
- 6 Koryŏ writings in Chinese
- 7 Early Chosŏn eulogies
- 8 Early Chosŏn sijo
- 9 Early Chosŏn kasa
- 10 Late Chosŏn sijo
- 11 Late Chosŏn kasa
- 12 Chosŏn poetry in Chinese
- 13 Chosŏn fiction in Chinese
- 14 Chosŏn fiction in Korean
- 15 P'ansori
- 16 Folk drama
- 17 Literary criticism
- 18 Early twentieth-century poetry
- 19 Early twentieth-century fiction by men
- 20 Early twentieth-century fiction by women
- 21 Late twentieth-century poetry by men
- 22 Late twentieth-century poetry by women
- 23 Late twentieth-century fiction by men
- 24 Late twentieth-century fiction by women
- 25 Literature of North Korea
- Bibliography
- Suggestions for further reading
- Index
7 - Early Chosŏn eulogies
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 22 September 2009
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of illustrations
- List of contributors
- Preface
- Note on the text
- Korean dynasties
- Glossary
- East Asia
- Principal places in works discussed
- Introduction
- 1 Language, forms, prosody, and themes
- 2 From oral to written literature
- 3 Hyangga
- 4 Silla writings in Chinese
- 5 Koryŏ songs
- 6 Koryŏ writings in Chinese
- 7 Early Chosŏn eulogies
- 8 Early Chosŏn sijo
- 9 Early Chosŏn kasa
- 10 Late Chosŏn sijo
- 11 Late Chosŏn kasa
- 12 Chosŏn poetry in Chinese
- 13 Chosŏn fiction in Chinese
- 14 Chosŏn fiction in Korean
- 15 P'ansori
- 16 Folk drama
- 17 Literary criticism
- 18 Early twentieth-century poetry
- 19 Early twentieth-century fiction by men
- 20 Early twentieth-century fiction by women
- 21 Late twentieth-century poetry by men
- 22 Late twentieth-century poetry by women
- 23 Late twentieth-century fiction by men
- 24 Late twentieth-century fiction by women
- 25 Literature of North Korea
- Bibliography
- Suggestions for further reading
- Index
Summary
According to the Confucian canon, rites and music are the two indispensable means by which a virtuous ruler administers his state. Rites teach the people a patterned sense of community, of order and degree, while music cultivates their moral virtue and regulates their feelings. Rulers of Korean kingdoms, as in China, emphasized both rites and music, mainly for their didactic function. It is no wonder, then, that the Chosŏn dynasty, which rejected Buddhism and Daoism as subversive of public morality and adopted Confucianism as its official political philosophy, should reexamine the ritual and official music of the previous kingdom. New texts, called akchang, were composed for music that was already in use in the ancestral temple and court ceremonies. The aims of composing akchang were twofold: to justify the revolution and emphasize the legitimacy of the new dynasty; and to praise the virtues and merits of its founder. As might be expected, the authors were all meritorious subjects who had assisted in the revolution and framed and executed the policy of the new government. Their eulogies remained a literature of the privileged class, and most of the forms they used for their composition disappeared soon after the end of the fifteenth century.
The first compositions of this kind, the “Mong kŭmch'ŏk” (“Dream of the Golden Ruler”) and “Su porok” (“Upon Receiving the Precious Prophecy”), were presented to the throne by Chŏng Tojŏn (d. 1398) on 2 September 1393.
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- Chapter
- Information
- A History of Korean Literature , pp. 148 - 167Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2003