冲庵 金淨의 至治를 위한 노력과 挫折

Abstract

Kim Jeong(1486-1521) is a politician and writer who was frustrated --- Joseon dynasty in 16th century, the golden age of Joseon dynasty. The era in which he lived is the time with historic events such as JungJong in the era of Yeonsan, at the beginning of Jungjong when Sarim clamoured for reformation and finally, Kimyo in which Sarim was eliminated. After two sahwas, Muo and Gabbja, Jungjong ascended to the throne trying to accomplish politics based on Confucian values. Hence, Sarim, who had been eliminated by Yeonsan, reappeared in the centre of politics. For this reason, a conflict between new Sarim and conservative Hungu was aggravated. But, Sarim intended to follow Confucian values, such as Gong and Mang to realize royal politics rather than following King´s will. Those political ideas are called Jichi or Dohak. It asserts 'King and officials should learn Confucianism and practice and apply Confucian values to politics to make ideal society'. According to Jichi, to accomplish ideal politics, monarch, the core of politics, should reform himself and if not, there is no space to establish political system so it will make impossible to carry out political reform. He participated in political reformation of Sarim and Jo Gwang-jo, who gave him the advice to contribute to Jichi, influenced it. He established the foundation of Dohak politics that give priority to the prudence and also supplied Sohak and Geunsarok in order to strengthen moral values. He also reformed Sogyeokseo and established Hyeonryangwa in search of talented people. Moreover, he focused on promoting Confucianism and Dohak politics, preventing connections with meritorious retainers. However, there was a problem already with arbitrary politics driven by the influence of the reformation. Jungjong sympathized with the reform but he was reluctant with them who tried to have him under control in a strict way. Resistance of Sugu was a natural result, keeping in mind that Yeong reform power was obsessed with the strict principles. Jungjong was fed up with drastic reform and scared with the empowerment of Sarim. Consequently, Jo Kwang-jo and his party were purged. This is called Kimyosahwa when the conflict and antagonism were presented between Hungu who formed dominant power since the beginning of Joseon Dynasty and Sarim, the new political forces. Although Cheungam was not evaluated as who had followed Seongrihak by Confucian academics, there is no doubt that he tried to accomplish the ideals of royal politics. He started political career at the age of 22 and worked for 10 years. Later, he was exiled for 5 years to Boeun and Jeju. Finally he was sentenced to death at the age of 33. He was exiled to Boeun because of the appeal of the deposed Queen Shin and of the false charge of Hungu at Kimyosahwa. As a result of Kimyosahwa Chungam was moved to Jindo from Keumsa and finally he was placed in Jeju. Although the life of Chungam was a tragedy, he tried to realise the meaning of values to relieve people's suffering. He wrote an essay of Jeju people with the objective to illustrate customs and enlighten them. Also he wrote a considerable number of poems with melancholic tone of exile life and these are published in the third volume of Choongamjip named Haedorok. After being required to voluntary execution, he left Imjeolsa and ended his life. His will for reformation to help Jungjong to realise ideal values of Jichi suffered a setback in midway. He was one of the key figures of Sarim and of the noted men of Kimyo who learned the idea of righteous man willing to improve himself. Despite the fact that he served as retainer for a short time he tried to tighten disciplines of the nation, practicing Jichi of traditional Confucianism. In this dissertation, the poems of Choongam were analysed through Jichi doctrine, which he practiced. Also, this article examines his political ideology and thought through chronology. In addition, this article explores how his efforts and frustrations were showed in his literature work. It is true that there are numerous poems about self-cultivation of the mind and body but it´s worth paying attention to those poems where his personal life and political thought are presented. This article covers from Confucian study on Jichi to Sahwan, Sachin and its variations, the efforts for the realisation of Jichi, and it concludes with the exile and the death of Choongam.