Ancient China attached great importance to Confucian education, and since the beginning of the Han Dynasty, "Taixue" has been established as the highest school. Recruit outstanding students from all over the country to come to receive education. After the reform and prohibition of various dynasties and generations, it gradually appeared, and the educational institution that competed with the Taixue Court, the Guozijian. According to the Old Book of Tang and the Chronicle of Emperor Gaozong:
"All six schools are subordinate to the Guozijian."
The so-called Six Studies, namely GuoziXue, Taixue, Sishuxue, Law, Calligraphy and Arithmetic, have become the highest schools of learning since the Tang Dynasty. Since then, the rulers of the Song, Yuan, Ming and Qing dynasties have followed the "Guozijian" of the previous dynasty, and as a special educational institution, it has developed particularly vigorously in the Yuan and Ming dynasties.
In the same period, in the Joseon Dynasty, absorbing the Confucian culture of the Yuan Dynasty, and the institutional concept of "Guozijian", an educational institution similar to "Guozijian" was also created, which is the famous "Sungkyunkwan" in North Korea, which until now seems to have become one of the non-cultural heritages and has a thick history and culture. Sungkyunkwan has a lot in common with the culture and purpose of its establishment and the Guozijian of the Yuan Dynasty. So when you understand this history, there is a strange experience of overlapping histories. Today, we will talk about the core concept of ruler rule from the background and development of sungkyunkan in North Korea.
First, the background of the establishment of the "Sungkyunkwan" in North Korea
The establishment of Sungkyunkwan was a positive measure taken by the reformers in the late Goryeo period when the situation was turbulent. At that time, the Korean Peninsula was still at the end of Goguryeo. The state's finances are not enough to make ends meet, the people are miserable, and the internal system is chaotic. The most fatal, the main reason that led to the collapse of the Goguryeo Dynasty was due to land annexation, which led to the division of land, which caused serious problems. At that time, Goguryeo's field system, similar to the ancient private ownership system, led to land in the hands of a large number of nobles, and the people were ruthlessly exploited and enslaved, and complained every day. Finally, the Shang Martingale Transformation Law abolished private ownership of land and promoted the process of land reform.
At that time, the rulers of Goguryeo did recognize this problem, but out of the maintenance of the nobility, they did not take major actions. It was in the context of this era of oppression that a dispute between the "reformists" and "conservatives" in ancient China arose within the dynasty, and Lee Sung-gyu, led by the reformers, finally overthrew the Goryeo Dynasty and established the early regime of the Joseon Dynasty under the political game with the conservative faction headed by the King of Goryeo.
In the early days of the Joseon Dynasty, the ruler Lee Sung-gyu introduced a series of policies to combat the merger of nobles and land, so that the people were given the opportunity to multiply. However, internal struggles continued, which eventually led to the establishment of Sungkyunkwan. At that time, Korea was vigorously developed on the basis of Buddhism, but it placed a heavy burden on the rule of the state. Therefore, after Lee Sung-gyu ascended to the throne, he and his courtiers vigorously attacked the spread of Buddhism in Korea. In order to establish a new trend, a new concept and idea is needed as a guiding strategy for governing the country. At that time, the Guozijian of the Yuan Dynasty not only recruited outstanding students from the nobility and other places, but also recruited overseas students and received education.
Therefore, the Confucian ideas of Zhu Xi of the Ming Dynasty, which were the main ideas of governing the country and governing science, were able to spread to Korea at that time. At that time, Li Shu and Zheng Daochuan, who were subordinate to the reformist faction, because they had advanced ideas of studying Zhu Zi's theory in the Yuan Dynasty, vigorously supported Confucian culture in Korea, hoping to ban Buddhism, educate the courtiers and the people, and eliminate the old culture at that time to establish a new education system and the basis for governing the country. Between 1367 and 1378 AD, with the strong support of the ruler Li Chenggui, Sungkyunkwan was finally born with the aim of "teaching and educating people and providing excellent officials for the dynasty", and Confucianism was the main direction of study, and Confucianism was vigorously promoted during this period. This is the background of the establishment of Sungkyunkwan in North Korea.
Second, the development of "Sungkyunkwan" in North Korea - enrollment, teaching and other measures
Sungkyunkwan in Korea, since the establishment of the Joseon Dynasty, has become the country's highest institution of learning. The name of Sungkyunkwan is recorded in the Zhou Li:
"The talents of the adults are not complete, and the customs are uneven."
It was hoped that the establishment of Sungkyunkan and the establishment of the Three Principles and Five Permanents, which were based on Confucianism, would cultivate outstanding talents to fill the vacancies in the imperial court officials. The History of Korea records:
"The foundation of school indoctrination also. Yu Yiming is a humane, and he has become a talent, more than three generations, and his law is greatly prepared. Although the following cannot be pure, they should not focus on the school. And the political gains and losses of the moment are related to the rise and fall of the school, which has been described and can be seen in the past and present. ”
It shows that the rulers at that time were determined to reform the state system and culture. It is precisely because of the strong support of the rulers that Sungkyunkwan has been carried out in full swing, and judging from the subsequent results, this reform is undoubtedly a positive measure beneficial to the people. Let's talk about Sungkyunkwan's enrollment and education measures.
In terms of recruiting students, it is necessary to mention the establishment of Sungkyunkwan. In fact, in a way, it hit the Korean nobility in another way. Because of the previous enrollment system, the selection of talents in the way of "private learning" eventually led to the official not becoming a Tianzi protégé, but let the nobles cultivate a group of protégés, ostensibly obeying the ruler, but secretly knotted with the nobles, and the imperial court was in cahoots. Leaving aside the level of admission, this approach greatly threatened the position of the ruler. Therefore, after the establishment of Sungkyunkan, the old way of recruiting students was completely banned. Throughout the history of Korea's development, the rulers had strict control over the students recruited by Sungkyunkwan, not only in terms of their conduct and learning, but also in the number of students. The largest number of enrollments in North Korea's history is only 200.
"However, in addition to the liberal arts, there are only 100 students and only 100 in the middle, so there are still many people who are over 40 or 50 years old in the township school."
This is very different from the enrollment of guozijian in the Yuan Dynasty. The Guozijian in the early Yuan Dynasty, according to the "History of the Yuan":
"Raise people to the day to supervise, students to pay tribute to the day, the children of the officials to be known as the yin supervisor, and the donation of funds to the routine supervisor."
As long as it is a person, or a student of Gongjian, or a son of a rich family, he can come to the Guozijian to receive education, resulting in a sharp increase in the number of people.
Jokyunkwan's enrollment method is very strict, and it must be a student and a soldier. Only when the first batch of the Joseon Dynasty was insufficient, excellent students were screened at the lower level. In the Canon of the Scriptures, it is recorded:
"If there are not enough students to enter the army, they will take four students who have more than fifteen years of apprenticeship to pass the four books and one scripture, there are yin concubines who pass the primary school scholars, and those who have been liberal arts students have entered the hancheng examination in the township, and the auxiliary pilgrims are willing to go to the scholars to listen."
The compromise method is explained in detail, and if the number of students and soldiers is really insufficient, the gap in study can be filled by excellent students over the age of fifteen who understand the first sutra in the four books. The difference in the number of people who caused this harsh selection was as long as it was related to the national conditions for the Joseon Dynasty at that time. In the early days of the establishment of the Joseon Dynasty, it took over the mess left by Goryeo and could be said to be in ruins. The number of recruits was limited, on the one hand, it was necessary to accurately attack the aristocratic forces and not let the speculators take advantage of the opportunity, and on the other hand, the manpower at that time was limited, and it was difficult to meet the quality of teaching by recruiting too many students. Therefore, from these two points, we can also understand the reasons for the strict enrollment and the small number.
In terms of teaching, sungkyunkwan students learn specific knowledge every day, mainly Confucianism. The subjects studied are Confucianism, nine-chapter algorithm, law, riding and shooting, etc., similar to the six arts of ancient China. Secondly, students who enter Sungkyunkwan are not once and for all. The same as the regulatory provisions of the State Sub-Prison. Sungkyunkwan's student inspection system is based on the "ten-year system". A month is divided into three decades, and a long essay must be written in the first, middle, and late parts of the year for the prosecutor to be suitable, and if the level drops very badly, or there is a major mistake that disturbs the study style, the identity of the student will be canceled. In order to better supervise the students' studies, there is even a "good and evil book", there are special officials responsible for guarding the performance of students, and good performance is scored in the good and evil book, otherwise points will be deducted, and "dots" are used as a way to sign in, and the number of times to the classroom and canteen every day is the way to obtain dots. In order to restrain the students from studying seriously, most of the last imperial court officials considered the students of Sungkyunkwan, and due to the strict selection and teaching system, most of the officials who later entered the army had real talents and practical learning.
3. The significance and influence of the establishment of Sungkyunkwan
Sungkyunkwan was a maverick educational institution of the Joseon Dynasty, which was finally abolished completely in the 16th century at the end of the Joseon Dynasty. Throughout the Joseon Dynasty from its establishment to its collapse, Sungkyunkwan's position was pivotal. The original purpose of sungkyunkwan was not just to cultivate excellent students and give the dynasty new outstanding talents. Rather, it was to balance the power of the Korean nobility with Sungkyunkwan. In the early days of The Joseon Dynasty, when Lee Sung-gyu had just established the Joseon Dynasty, Korea was in ruins and awaiting rejuvenation, especially with the two kinds of obstacles of aristocratic power and Buddhism, which greatly threatened the monarch's regime. Therefore, with Sungkyunkwan as a new generation of educational institutions, it is necessary to abandon the previous private schools, that is, to slowly convert officials from aristocratic protégés to Tianzi protégés. In this political game, it is undoubtedly the reformers represented by the monarch who have won a major victory. The power of the nobility was gradually weakened, and sungkyunkwan established the main idea of Confucianism, and with the core idea of governing the country, the official system of Korea and the people's livelihood economy of the people have undergone tremendous changes.
Therefore, the establishment of Sungkyunkan is undoubtedly an active and effective policy. As for why Sungkyunkwan came to an end, this has nothing to do with the original direction, nor is it until there is a mistake, we can understand that it is an inevitable historical development. Because of the limitations of Sungkyunkwan, it is required that students studying at Sungkyunkwan be recognized and qualified for admission. This was not obvious in the original Joseon Dynasty, but at the end of the Joseon Dynasty, due to the emergence of more ways to enter the school, students did not have to be admitted to sungkyunkan, so this special institution was gradually abandoned.
summary:
Although Sungkyunkwan eventually failed, we cannot ignore its positive aspects. On the surface, the emergence of Sungkyunkwan was a reform of the phenomenon that the aristocratic power in the early days of Korea was too great, and the people did not have a good life, but from a deep level. Sungkyunkwan is a witness to the transition from the end of Goryeo to the Joseon Dynasty, which means that a feudal dynasty has promoted the development of Korea due to the birth of new ideas, and is an active policy that embodies the strategy and wisdom of the rulers to balance power.