1 Introduction
In 1179 Zhu Xi 朱熹 (1130–1200), the new prefect of Nankang, went to inspect the former site of the White Deer Grotto Academy (Bailudong shuyuan 白鹿洞書院) at Mount Lu. Widely known as an important place of learning since the Tang dynasty (618–907), the academy had gone through some troubled times and fallen into ruins. The sad sight of the overgrown remnants of this famous institution left Zhu Xi determined to rebuild the academy as a Confucian counterweight to Buddhist monasteries and Daoist shrines in the area.505 His efforts were successful and under his guidance the academy once again became recognized as one of the important centers of Confucian learning in Southern Song China. After his death, the academy continued to produce a number of famed Confucian scholars and headmasters. While its fortunes again fell and soared, the academy’s history and its close association with Zhu Xi ensured that it was well known among all following generations of scholars.
It was this association through which the academy became a model institution for other academies and a symbol representing the rediscovery and revival of Confucian teaching itself. The White Deer Grotto Academy, its reestablishment in a landscape dominated by Buddhist monasteries, and especially the White Deer Grotto Academy Articles of Learning (Bailudong shuyuan jieshi 白鹿洞書院揭示), formed an image that was transmitted within Zhu Xi’s teachings and was received in all countries of the Confucian realm. Therefore, even when looking at the diversity in the development and history of Confucian academies it is possible to find references to the White Deer Grotto Academy in many educational institutions of East Asia, but especially in the academies.506 Such references in their respective contexts give an idea what academies and their founders aspired to and what their academies were meant to achieve. Yet, Confucian scholars not only gained inspiration and legitimization for the founding of new academies from these transmissions, but also used them to create an individual sense of place for their academies while at the same time positing it among a larger unity of institutions seemingly devoted to the same goal.
For this reason, the transmission of Zhu Xi’s Articles of Learning and their reception and adaption among state officials and Confucian literati of the Chosŏn kingdom (1392–1897) provide an interesting case for a study of the phenomenon of knowledge re-contextualization. The scholars of Chosŏn quite early followed the established Chinese understanding of the Articles of Learning as a general educational guideline that was not exclusively connected to Confucian academies. The Articles, however, still transmitted and shaped ideas about the concept of academies on the Korean peninsula.507 With the rise of the academy system in Korea, the Articles were again directly connected to Confucian academies and became, in connection with other accounts of the White Deer Grotto Academy, an expression of the ideal academy. This image met with the individual circumstances of scholars on the Korean peninsula and was reshaped accordingly. To reconstruct this process this paper will look at the textual, institutional, ritual, and aesthetic perceptions of the Articles of Learning in Korea. Before this, it is important to briefly reconstruct Zhu Xi’s own intentions in establishing the text as this will help to understand the initial usage of the Articles in China and Korea.
2 The Articles of Learning
When Zhu Xi first drafted the White Deer Grotto Academy Articles of Learning 508 in 1180 he surely was not concerned with the transmission of his ideas to faraway places, but was quite focused on what he determined to be the problems of his time. This can be vividly seen in his comments on the creation and purpose of the Articles. Dissatisfied with the educational focus on examination preparation in many schools, Zhu Xi proposed a return to the methods of instruction used by the sages and worthies of antiquity. According to him, all that was needed to cultivate oneself and then spread virtue among the people could be found in the Classics. Therefore, he created the Articles not as regulations for the academy, but as a constant reminder of these virtues that was to be hung in the lecture hall.509
A further clue on Zhu Xi’s intentions for composing the Articles might be gained by placing them in their timeframe within his life and intellectual production.510 Before he first arrived in Nankang, Zhu Xi had spent quite some time without serving in an official post, but already had produced an extensive scholarly output.511 Just four years earlier he had, together with Lü Zuqian, edited the Jinsilu 近思錄 (Reflections on Things at Hand), a compilation of the most important passages from the works of Zhou Dunyi 周敦頤 (1017–1073), Cheng Hao 程顥 (1032–1086), Cheng Yi 程頤 (1033–1107), and Zhang Zai 張載 (1020–1077). In the years prior to the compilation of the Jinsilu, Zhu Xi had worked on his elucidations of the Analects and the Mencius, as well as written a commentary on Zhou Dunyi’s Tongshu 通書 (Penetrating the Book of Changes).512 The Articles of Learning were also drafted before the Xiaoxue 小學 (Elementary Learning), which was published by Zhu Xi in 1187 and also included the five cardinal relationships (wulun 五倫) at its beginning as the aim of all learning.513
In the following the full text of the White Deer Grotto Articles for Learning will be discussed with some added explanations and commentary:
Yao and Shun appointed Xie as Minister of Instruction to reverently set forth the Five Instructions, that is, these [Five Relationships]; Learning is a matter of learning these and that is all.514
The five relationships are taken from the Mencius 3A:4, which also refers to a Minister Xie 契 instructing the people of them.515 In his Collected Commentary on the Mencius (Mengzi jizhu 孟子集注) Zhu Xi, after some glosses on pronunciation and meaning, remarks on this particular passage:
As man has a moral nature, [Mencius is] saying that all have such normal behavior in their nature. Yet if not educated, they will indulge in pleasure seeking and idleness and then will lose it. Therefore, the sages have installed ministers and taught the relationships to the people, just to retain this moral nature they naturally possess and nothing more.516
In a comment on an earlier passage (Mencius 3A:3) in the same chapter, Zhu Xi talks more concretely about renlun:
Xiang 庠 (hamlet schools in antiquity) took the nurturing of elders as what is right, Xiao 校 (schools) took the education of the people as what is right, Xu 序 (local districts schools) took the exercise of archery as what is right, all of them were local schools. Xue 學 was the highest school of the country, through the whole time [of the three dynasties] it never had a different name. The relationships (lun 倫) are in sequence. Between father and son there should be affection, between ruler and minister there should be righteousness, between husband and wife there should be proper distinction, between elder and younger there should be proper order, between friends there should be faithfulness, these are the great relationships of man. Xiang, Xu, Xue, and Xiao, all clarified these and nothing more.517
As these schools of antiquity all engaged in the clarification of the cardinal relationships, it was just a natural choice for Zhu Xi to also put them at the center of his own academy. He combined the relationships with a short reference to their supposed origin during the reigns of the legendary Emperors Yao and Shun. Rather than a mere recapitulation of the classical importance put on the relationships, Zhu Xi’s decision to put them at the beginning of his Articles shows how much, on one hand, he valued educational institutions as a tool to regain the order of antiquity. On the other hand this shows how he thought the schools of his time had lost this focus and needed to return to it.
The following passages of the Articles reflect that the main influence in their drafting was Zhu Xi’s composition of the Jinsilu and his continuous work on what would later become the Collected Commentaries on the Four Books in Phrases and Paragraphs (Sishu zhangju jizhu 四書章句集注).
There are likewise five steps in the process of learning which are set forth to the left [below]. Broadly Study – Accurately Inquire – Carefully Think – Clearly Discriminate – Earnestly Practice.
The four methods of study, inquiry, thinking, and discriminating are the essentials of investigating the principle.518
The first part of the quote is taken from the Zhongyong (Doctrine of the Mean); however, it also appears as a quotation by Cheng Yi in the second chapter on “The Essentials of Learning” in the Jinsilu: “Study extensively, inquire accurately, think carefully, sift clearly, and practice earnestly. Learning which neglects one of these is not learning.”519 Most of the following parts of the Articles can as well be found in the Jinsilu:
The essentials of earnest practice at each stage are cultivating one’s person, dealing with affairs, and treating others, these are arranged to the left [below].
It becomes clear that the compilation work on the Jinsilu must have been a major inspiration for Zhu Xi’s draft of the White Deer Grotto Articles of Learning. This also explains why among quotes from the Classics, he included a passage from the Biography of Dong Zhongshu 董仲舒 (179–104 BCE), found in the Hanshu 漢書 (History of Han). Even though Dong Zhongshu played an important part in the transmission of Confucian teachings during the Former Han dynasty (206 BCE–9 CE), he was never considered as part of the orthodox transmission of the Way by Zhu Xi. It therefore seems highly plausible that Zhu Xi, after finding it in the works of the Cheng brothers and including it in the Jinsilu, valued the brevity of the passage as it reflected his own convictions. While he obviously was aware of the locus classicus of all the quotes arranged in the Articles, the high frequency of passages also appearing in the Jinsilu suggests that Zhu Xi compiled the Articles of Learning as an even more condensed version of the ideas presented in the Jinsilu. While the Jinsilu was aimed at the “young man in the isolated village”526 the White Deer Grotto Academy Articles of Learning were targeted at aspiring students who had already found their way into an educational institution. Posted on the wall in the lecture hall, they would serve as a reconfirmation of the purpose and process of learning during study and lecture sessions. Zhu Xi also used the Articles in this format in his Wuyi 武夷 and Zhulin 竹林 Study Halls (jingshe 精舍), as well as in the local schools when he served as official in Zhangzhou, Tanzhou, and Hunan.527 It is therefore plausible that Zhu intended the Articles for all students, not just for those in his academy, just as the Jinsilu was to be used by everyone willing to study, and the Articles were not viewed as exclusively connected to academy education.
The White Deer Grotto Articles quickly found endorsement by the state. In 1241, shortly after Zhu Xi’s own lifetime, Emperor Lizong 理宗 (r. 1224–1264) wrote the White Deer Grotto Academy Articles of Learning in his own hand for the Imperial College and demanded that they would be obeyed in every school of the empire.528 Already before, the Articles had been adopted by other academies, e.g. in 1194 by the Yuelu Academy 岳麓書院 in Changsha, but as Zhu Xi himself at this time served as military commissioner (anfushi 安撫使) in Hunan this was probably done at his behest. Interestingly, the academy later changed the name of the Articles to Master Zhu’s Academy Articles of Instruction (Zhuzi shuyuan jiaotiao 朱子書院教條) under which they can still be found hanging in the academy today.529
A more significant change, or addition, to the Articles was made by later headmaster of the White Deer Grotto Academy, Hu Juren 胡居仁 (1434–1484) in the early Ming dynasty. After becoming director of the academy for the first time in 1467, Hu drafted his own new regulations, which he called Supplement to the White Deer Grotto Study Regulations (Xu Bailudong Xuegui 續白鹿洞學規) consisting of the following six points:
As John Meskill points out, while Hu Juren’s regulations in a sense mirror Zhu Xi’s Articles, they also include changes that hint at the future developments of Confucian thought during the Ming period.531 Wing-Tsit Chan called the focus on seriousness or sincerity in Hu Juren’s oeuvre a “radical modification of Zhu Xi’s order for learning and cultivation” as it gives a subordinated position to the extension of knowledge or investigation of principle that was so valued by the Song dynasty scholars.532 This is certainly reflected in Hu’s continuation of the Articles of Learning by his placing sincerity and reverence as a step between the establishment of a direction and the steps of learning. Besides these modifications, Hu Juren’s supplement shows that Zhu Xi’s Articles, originally called jieshi, by the early Ming were already widely understood and known as universal study regulations (xuegui 學規) applicable in all educational settings.
3 Textual Perception of the Articles in Chosŏn
The first documented official mention of the Articles of Learning in Korea can be found in the Veritable Records of the Chosŏn Dynasty (Chosŏn Wangjo Sillok 朝鮮王朝實錄) during the reign of King Sejong 世宗 (r. 1418–1450). In 1439 an official from Sŏnggyun’gwan 成均館, the royal academy in Seoul, by the name of Song Ŭlgae 宋乙開 (?–?),533 requested the king to determine study rules for the official schools. The king relegated the request to be discussed among officials of the Ministry of Rites (Yejo 禮曹) and the Sŏnggyun’gwan, who proposed:
To respectfully follow Master Zhu, who during the Chunxi period (1174–1189) in Nankang requested the court to [re]build the White Deer Grotto Academy and made rules [for it]. They are roughly like this: “Between father and son there should be affection, between ruler and minister there should be righteousness, between husband and wife there should be proper distinction, between elder and younger there should be proper order, between friends there should be faithfulness. To the right are the items of the Five Instructions. Yao and Shun appointed Xie as Minister of Instruction to reverently set forth the Five Instructions, that is these; learning is a matter of learning these and that is all.” These words are only the main points. In the later edited Elementary Learning, not only by clarifying the relationships, but through establishing instruction as first and through making one’s person mindful as last, there is nothing that is not furnished for the great method of cultivating one’s character. Therefore, Xu Luzhai [Xu Heng 許衡 (1209–1281)] when he assembled his students spoke to them: “Today you will hear the first step of learning, if you are certain you wish to follow this, discard all verses and habits learned before this day and follow the Elementary Learning. Otherwise, look for another teacher.” The students wholly said: “Yea.” The gentlemen also day and night incessantly chants the Classics, is steadfast in his purpose and diligent in action, is personally the first and even in the severe cold or sweltering heat does not quit. Relying on precedents by the esteemed Master Zhu and Xu Luqi, the Sŏnggyun’gwan, the four study halls and to the local schools all should use the Elementary Learning as study rules.534
After the State Council (Ŭijŏngbu 議政府) had agreed with this assessment, it was enacted. There are several interesting parts in this record. Foremost, the Articles of Learning are mentioned only with regards to its containing the five relationships; it is instead the Elementary Learning that is suggested for implementation as study regulations for all state operated schools. The significance of the Articles is therefore in how the five relationships are articulated as expression of an ideal society and ultimate goal of learning, which as mentioned before also appears in the Elementary Learning. The sequence of study presented in the Articles is not discussed as a possible guideline for learning.
Moreover, how the five relationships are mentioned in this statement is also of interest. A modern day visitor to the Myŏngnyundang 明倫堂 (Hall of Clarifying Relationships), the lecture hall of the Sŏnggyun’gwan, in Seoul can still find the wooden board535 inscribed with the White Deer Grotto Articles of Learning hanging on the beams of the hall.
The board with the Articles is on the right side of the hall facing west. Next to it is a separate board containing Zhu Xi’s commentary on the Articles. Both are in the calligraphy of Song Chun’gil 宋浚吉 (1606–1672), who also composed most of the other boards containing regulations or admonitions hanging in the lecture hall.536 There is no clear indication of when the boards were created or hung. In 1658, Song Chun’gil had compiled important texts of Song dynasty Confucian scholars and presented them to the Crown Prince.537 It is possible that these writings were the basis of the inscriptions on the boards. At first glance, the board seems to show the White Deer Grotto Articles similarly to how they can be found in the Complete Writings of Zhu Xi (Zhuzi daquan 朱子大全). However, on further comparison it becomes apparent that the reference to the minister Xie and the sage kings Yao and Shun has been left out of this particular display of the Articles. While the five relationships are listed and also marked as the five items (or goals) of instruction, the inscription afterwards immediately jumps to the statement that “learning is a matter of learning these and that is all.” Little information on the history of the wooden board is available, making it difficult to explain this omission. Whether the passage was dropped due to concerns of space, aesthetics, or as a didactical measure to further emphasize the five relationships, therefore remains speculation. The existence of this omission and the reduction of the original text, however, show that Zhu Xi’s White Deer Grotto Articles of Learning were not considered to be an untouchable text.
Wooden hanging board containing the “White Deer Grotto Regulations” in the Myŏngnyundang of the Sŏnggyun‘gwan in Seoul. Source: Photo courtesy of Author
A third minor point of interest in the above statement from the Vertiable Records of the Chosŏn Dynasty is the inclusion of the story about Xu Heng lecturing his new students about the Elementary Learning.538 First, it is presented slightly differently than in the original account where Xu mentions the Elementary Learning and the Four Books (Sishu 四書) as basis of all learning.539 Second, it points towards a transmission of Zhu Xi’s writings to Korea through the Mongol court in Beijing, where Xu Heng lectured.
The first Korean scholar who concentrated his scholarly efforts on Zhu Xi’s Articles of Learning was Pak Yŏng 朴英 (1471–1540). Pak came from an important family and already at the age of seventeen, in 1487, went to China for the first time. He served in various military posts, including Second Minister in the Ministry of War (Pyŏngjo ch’amp’an 兵曹參判), and towards the end of his life as Military Commander of Left Yŏngnam (Yŏngnam chwa chŏldosa 嶺南左節度使). He went to Beijing again in the summer of 1519 and returned the next year, avoiding the literati purge at the court in Seoul. Already earlier he had lamented the poor education of many military men and sought to take up the study of Confucian texts himself. In a statement conferring a posthumous title to Pak, Kim Chaero 金在魯 (1682–1759) relates the following anecdote: “In the kabin year [1494], Pak entered the palace one night after he could not sleep and spoke while sobbing: ‘Riding a horse and wielding a sword is a matter of bravery, nothing more. Men that do not study, how can they become gentlemen (kunja 君子)?’ And thereupon he made up his mind up to return home.”540 After returning to his home in Miryang, Pak built a study close to the Nakdong River and sought out Chŏng Pung 鄭鵬 (1467–1540) as teacher. “Sindang [Chŏng Pung] knew he [Pak] had the quality to receive learning and invited him in. He bluntly asked: ‘You are a military man, why do you want to study?’ Pak replied: ‘I regret, but I have lost my way like a flood coming down the mountain, I seek to study to know a direction, nothing more.’ Sindang took the Great Learning and said: ‘The Way of studying is in the investigation of things to extend knowledge. You ought to intensively read this book.’ Pak returned to his study and without break read and re-read it.”541 The study of the Great Learning must have left an impression on Pak Yŏng as he returned to it often. He composed a diagram to clarify its meaning and wrote a text called Method of Reading the Great Learning (Tok Taehak Pŏp 讀大學法). During his time as Magistrate (pusa 府使) of the northern frontier town Kanggye from 1516 to 1518, he also composed a text called Explanations of the White Deer Grotto Regulations (Paengnoktong kyu hae 白鹿洞規解). Kim Chaero describes the Explanations in the following way: “[Pak] followed Master Zhu and supplemented it with several Confucian sayings. At the end he himself wrote a postscript again explaining [it] clearly, to teach the scholars of Kanggye and for them to transform the people there.”542 The Explanations comprise the separate passages of the Articles of Learning with added quotes from the Classics, the Mencius, the Lunyu, the Cheng brothers, and other foundational Neo-Confucian texts—in a sense, reengineering the classical sources used for the original Articles. However, Pak Yŏng added two quotations from the Lunyu at the end of the regulations: “The Master said, ‘Shen, my doctrine is that of an all-pervading unity.’ The disciple Zeng replied, ‘Yes’” (Lunyu 4.15), and “Yan Yuan asked how the government of a country should be administered. The Master said, ‘Follow the seasons of Xia. Ride in the state carriage of Yin. Wear the ceremonial cap of Zhou. Let the music be the Shao with its pantomimes. Banish the songs of Zheng, and keep far from specious talkers. The songs of Zheng are licentious; specious talkers are dangerous’” (Lunyu 15.11).543 Pak himself explains: “The two quotations to the right [above], I have obtained from the Lunyu and written them at the end of the regulations to demonstrate to students that these regulations undoubtedly can be put into action and to show their constant exquisiteness reaching [up to] the Way of governing a country.”544 Here Pak’s background as a seasoned government and military official stands out, connecting the Articles of Learning not to individual learning, but to the rightful governance of the state.
Among the several articles of the regulations, all take sincerity and reverence as the foremost. If one does not take reverence as the foremost, then there is definitely no place to start one’s efforts. In momentary self-reflection, reverence naturally occurs. If one is capable of reverence, one can comfortably hold on to it. There is no other method of preserving and nourishing it. By clearly holding on to reverence, one is closest to it.545
Pak Yŏng continues with several references to the Great Learning and its ultimate goal of renewing the people, which he also connects to rightful governance and law. This topic is also put forward in a postscript to the Explanations, the author of which remains unknown.546
The explanations to the right [above] are all obtained from the minds of the gentlemen of the past, making it not easy for someone to understand them. Generally, all things under heaven emerge from one and all obtain one principle. Therefore, one can say that the principle is never opposed to itself. How much more so with humanness? There is no distinction between past and present, between far and near, between sage and fool. All are of the same mind and principle. Shun was a man from the Eastern Barbarians. King Wen was a man from [near to] the Western Barbarians. They were separated in time more than a thousand years and they were apart in space more than a thousand miles, yet their success in imposing their will on the Middle Kingdom was like two parts of a tally that fit together perfectly.547 It can be clearly seen that this is the confirmation that principle cannot be two. Following these words how can the people of Kanggye [Ch’ŏngwŏn 淸源] be different from the people of the south? Those who possess official rank in riding and shooting do not have time for learning. Therefore, the direction of the [five] cardinal relationships is not yet known [to them]. These people who do not turn their aim towards study are certainly wrong and the [text] above has nothing to teach them. Now, the rulers respect and study Confucius and Mencius and govern in the manner of the three dynasties. Those who have official rank in reading and study, but cannot easily advance to the territory of the sage, use the White Deer Grotto Regulations of Master Zhu, which were declared (揭示) to the four directions. They are the northern star of gradual advancement to thorough understanding. And now the gentlemen has added explanations, giving them even more strength. How could this not deepen their esteemed meaning? In a later age the people of a remote area can know the ways of piety to parents, respect to older brothers, loyalty to the monarch and faith towards one’s friends, so that scholars respecting rulers and family come forward and can make a name for themselves in the capital for the time to come. If not for these explanations, who then could? 18th day of the sixth month of muin [1518], written in the Ŏch’ŏn lodge/posthouse.548
Again the Articles are understood as a text that could help to produce loyal subjects if taught to the common people. Especially the people of the border regions, like Kanggye, who were mostly trained to become soldiers and not scholars, are viewed as the perfect audience of the Articles as they concisely provide the right direction and the tools for study.549 Remarkably, there are no references or discussions of Confucian academies in the Explanations or in any other extant work of Pak Yŏng. It seems that for him, the Articles of Learning had no specific relation to Confucian academies. This further reflects Pak’s own background as during his life no academies existed on the Korean peninsula,550 but also shows that the Articles in general were understood as more universal regulations on teaching and study.
The Explanations of the White Deer Grotto Regulations by Pak Yŏng also bear a curious resemblance to Hu Juren’s supplement of Zhu Xi’s Articles, in that both authors relied on quotations from the Classics and later scholars to expound the meaning of the individual articles in a quite similar way. Additionally, both stress the notions of sincerity (Chin. cheng, Kor. sŏng 誠) and reverence (Chin. jing, Kor. kyŏng 敬) as most important, which is something that in this combination cannot be found in the original Articles.551 It is, however, difficult to construe any connection between the two texts and while Pak quotes some Chinese scholars of the Yuan dynasty, like Hu Bingwen 胡炳文 (1250–1333), in his other writings, no Ming scholars nor their works are mentioned.
It was none other than T’oegye Yi Hwang 退溪 李滉 (1501–1570), who later criticized Pak Yŏng’s interpretation of the Articles for his overt emphasis on sincerity and reverence.
As for his saying that reverence is foremost, it does not yet amount to a grave mistake, despite some pressing mistakes and faulty reasoning. In saying that sincerity is foremost, there are many more errors. Teaching has to be done in the proper sequence. Words have to be valued and chosen at the right time. Now, hastily discussing the integral substance and great function of the Way and extending it to sincerity expresses no beginning, but a fault.552
In a letter to Hwang Chullyang 黃俊良 (1517–1563) T’oegye discusses several other errors in the Explanations and also takes issue with the two quotes from the Lunyu that Pak had added.553 He also connects Pak’s interpretation of Zhu Xi’s Articles to his background as a military official and even though praising him as a great man, T’oegye views his explanation as insufficient. Yet, he also does not connect the Articles to Confucian academies in his criticism.
This person [Pak Yŏng], to lift himself out of the common customs, threw away his weaponry to study and had continued to think about the Way while being a military man. And although he encountered humiliation in this, he was not discouraged, but even took the words of former worthies on teaching and added commentary so the world could understand them. Indeed one can resolutely say that he is a great man [taejangbu 大丈夫]. Regrettably, his views are rather scattered and insufficient.554
Of course, T’oegye Yi Hwang in 1568 himself produced the probably most important interpretation, both in image and text, of the White Deer Grotto Articles of Learning in Korea. The inclusion of the Articles in his Sŏnghak Sipto 聖學十圖 (Ten Diagrams of Sage Learning) as the fifth diagram surely made the Articles, and with them the White Deer Grotto Academy, even more well known in Korea. The Sŏnghak Sipto was intended as a teaching aide for the young King Sŏnjo 宣祖 (r. 1567–1608) and for this T’oegye had arranged the texts he viewed as most important to acquire the proper method of learning.555 Following the Great Learning as well as the Elementary Learning, the Diagram of the White Deer Grotto Regulations (Paengnoktong kyu to 白鹿洞規圖) forms a conclusion to these three diagrams setting up the correct sequence of instruction.556
The creation of diagrams to educate the royal house on matters of scholarship or the Confucian Way was nothing novel by the time T’oegye created the Sŏnghak Sipto. Usage of the diagrammatical format was popularized by early Song Confucians, like Zhou Dunyi, and provided a certain prestige to the creator, resulting in quite a few Korean scholars trying their hand at the composition of such diagrams. Their succinct format was considered perfect for introductory texts to arouse interest in the students and guide them through their basic meaning. Students were not expected to immediately gain thorough understanding of the meaning behind the diagram, but to continuously study and meditate on it as their scholarship proceeded. Consequently, the diagrams were supposed to be always visible to validate gained knowledge and to reaffirm correct progression.557
Handwritten version of the Diagram of the White Deer Grotto Regulations as included in the Ten Diagrams of Sage Learning by Yi Hwang, produced in the 18th or 19th century. Source: Private Collection Berlin
In his comments to the diagram, T’oegye focuses on the five relationships as the main point of the Articles, stating that their realization is the purpose of all learning and self-cultivation.558 His arrangement of the Articles also seems to emphasize a dichotomy, rather than a hierarchy, between study and practice. The inclusion of the Articles in the Sŏnghak Sipto must have surely spurred their perception among the literati and especially among scholars that considered themselves as sarim 士林, the same faction that actively espoused the academy system opposite the supposedly corrupt state-school system. Therefore, the role of the T’oegye’s diagram cannot be underestimated, especially since T’oegye himself played an important part in the spread of Confucian academies in Chosŏn Korea.559
4 Institutional Perceptions of the Articles in Chosŏn
While his discussion of the Articles in the Ten Diagrams of Sage Learning mentions their origins in the White Deer Grotto Academy and shortly expands on the history of the academy, T’oegye does not further connect the Articles of Learning explicitly to Confucian academies, which at this point in time had already appeared on the Korean Peninsula.
The first academy in Chosŏn was the White Cloud Grotto Academy (Paegundong sŏwŏn 白雲洞書院), founded in P’unggi county by Magistrate Chu Sebung 周世鵬 (1495–1554) in 1543, which a few years later was royally chartered as Sosu Academy 紹修書院.560 Not only in name, but also in the circumstances of its establishment, Chu Sebung openly connected his academy to Zhu Xi and his revival of the White Deer Grotto Academy. Answering critical voices complaining that the building of an academy was excessive in a time of drought, he justified his actions, as is documented in the Chukkyeji 竹溪誌 (Records of Bamboo Stream):
When we observe Zhu Xi at Nankang, during the period of one year he ordered the reparation of the White Deer Grotto Academy; established a shrine to Confucius; set up a shrine to the five teachers and one to the three masters; and built an imposing pavilion to Garrison Officer Liu [Ningzhi]. This was the time when the Jin were plundering and attacking China. The world was at war. […] Now at the “old home” of An Hyang, if one wishes to spread cultivation, one must begin with An Hyang. I am nobody, and this is a time of peace. However, I am in charge of an area. In this one county seat, I must assume responsibility and exert myself to the utmost. I have dared to set up this shrine and construct this academy; to supply it with paddy fields and to collect books for it; all in accord with the example of the White Deer Grotto Academy.561
As Milan Hejtmanek has shown, Chu’s motivations for the foundation of the academy were linked to his relationship with the locally influential An family, whose ancestor An Hyang 安珦 (1243–1306) was worshipped in the shrine of the academy and therefore carried a slight flavor of opportunism.562 Through evoking Zhu Xi’s revival of the White Deer Grotto Academy, Chu not only sought to silence critics and find legitimization for his project, but also connected himself, the academy, and the area of P’unggi to this story of Zhu Xi’s academy. A look at the last two verses of the Todonggok 道東曲 (Song of the Way in the East), a tune written by Chu Sebung that was to be performed in front of the spirit tablet of An Hyang in the shrine of the academy, reveals the extent of this connection:
Human greed was endless like vast waves flooding the earth until after 1,500 years Huiweng 晦翁 [Zhu Xi] came forward and made reverence the fundament of the dam and continued the magnificent way of Zhongni 仲尼 [Confucius].
After thousands of years in Korea a real Confucian descended and Mt. Sobaek was like Mt. Lu and the Chukkye was like the waters of Lian,563 in reviving learning, defending the Way and respecting rituals he was to some extent like Hui’an [Zhu Xi]564 and his achievements were great. Once our Way came to the east, where else could a similar scenery be found?565
It becomes evident that Chu understood, or at least sought to portray, the whole area of P’unggi as a reincarnation of Nankang during the Southern Song dynasty. By equating the local surroundings to this faraway place, both in time and space, An Hyang came to embody Zhu Xi’s role and also figured in the transfer of the narrative of the White Deer Grotto Academy to Korea. In his official biography in the Myŏngjong Sillok, Chu was later criticized for using similar hyperbole in his biography of Yi Haeng 李荇 (1478–1534), comparing him to figures like Zhuge Liang 諸葛亮, Kong Rong 孔融, and Liu Xiang 劉向.566
Chu’s focus on the rites for An Hyang is also reflected in his academy regulations (wŏn’gyu 院規) that are mostly concerned with the veneration of worthies, the correct execution of the rites, and financial matters, rather than the goal of learning, matters of curriculum or lecture proceedings. The Articles seemed to have played a minor role for Chu Sebung’s perception of Zhu Xi’s academy. They are included among many other texts connected to the White Deer Grotto Academy and Zhu Xi in volume five of the Chukkyeji, titled Miscellaneous Records (chamnok 雜錄).567 Chu was criticized by both T’oegye and Hwang Chullyang for this, especially for mixing matters of the academy and Zhu Xi’s writings on education with the records of the An family in the Chukkyeji and by this giving the work a confusing character.568
Despite all his criticism, T’oegye later championed the chartering of the White Cloud Grotto Academy.569 Since he personally hoped to see the spread of Confucian academies, he actively supported other academies as well. He (re)connected the somewhat renowned Articles of Learning to the concept of the Confucian academy and expanded the admiration given to Zhu Xi’s academy to all Confucian academies, thereby legitimizing their spread in Chosŏn. The regulations he drafted for Isan Academy 伊山書院 were later adopted by other academies in the area and included the White Deer Grotto Articles of Learning in their fifth point:
In the Myŏngnyun Hall of the Sŏnggyun’gwan the Four Admonitions (Siwuzhen 四勿箴) of Master Yi Chuan [Cheng Yi],570 Master Huiam’s White Deer Grotto Regulations and his Ten Instructions (Zhuzi shixun 朱子十訓),571 and Chen Maojing’s [Chen Bo 陳柏, ?–1565] Admonitions to Rise Early and Retire Late (Suxingyemei zhen 夙興夜寐箴)572 are written and hung and their meaning is good. These should also be posted on the walls of the academy to advise and admonish each other.573
The Articles were grouped together with other regulations or admonitions that were to be hung in the lecture hall of the academies, following the example of the Sŏnggyun’gwan in the capital. Oksan Academy 玉山書院 and Sŏak Academy 西岳書院, both in the Kyŏngju area, followed these regulations as can be seen from their records.574 Inside Sŏak Academy and in Yongsan Academy 龍山書院, also located close to Kyŏngju, the wooden boards inscribed with the Articles and other admonitions and regulations are still hanging today. However, the Articles were not only hung in the Sŏnggyun’gwan and the academies, but can sometimes also be found in local or village schools (hyanggyo 鄕校). The regulations of the Pokch’ŏn hyanggyo 福川鄕校 in Chŏlla province for example state: “The White Deer Grotto Regulations of Master Zhu [here as 朱文公] are always to be written and hung in the lecture hall and the dormitories, for the students to advise and admonish each other.”575 These regulations were written in 1585 by Kim Puyun 金富倫 (1531–1598), a student of T’oegye Yi Hwang, and were designed to provide the local schools with comparable regulations to the schools in the capital.576 The same regulations were used in the Kyŏngju hyanggyo 慶州鄕校, where the Articles are also still hanging in the lecture hall.577 The wooden board of the Kyŏngju local school, containing the Articles and the Admonitions to Rise Early and Retire Late, is quite similar to the board hanging in Sŏak Academy, just a few miles away.
The specific use of the Articles in this context suggests a close relation to a certain area, i.e. Kyŏngju, or a certain school, i.e. the institutions associated with the disciples of T’oegye. However, the Articles could also be found hanging in other places. An example describing how they were physically present in an academy, far away from Kyŏngju, can be found in the writings of Sim Cho 沈潮 (1694–1756). His diary records a visit to Tobong Mountain close to Seoul in September 1754, in which he describes the layout of the lecture hall of Tobong Academy 道峰書院 in detail.
I came down the mountain and galloped to the entrance of the Tobong hollow. After getting off the horse I sat for a good while, until my fellow travelers arrived on foot and we entered the academy. After paying respects at the shrine, I sat in the lecture hall. The lecture hall is named the Hall of Continuous Enlightenment (Kyegaedan 繼開堂). Hoisted on its northern wall are the four characters “Tobong Academy” on the royally bestowed wooden plate. On the first eave of the northern wall the records of the academy, as written by Master Yulgok, are hoisted towards the east. In the west the poems of Master U [Song Siyŏl] are hoisted. It was Master Hansujae [Kwŏn Sangha] who wrote them. Underneath the hanging wooden plate with the name of the hall, to the east are attached the lecture rules of Hanch’ŏn, to the west the study rules of Ŭnbyŏng. On the east wall the Admonitions for a Mindfulness Studio are hoisted; on the west wall the White Deer Grotto Regulations are attached. The shrine is built in the north; the lecture hall in the south, and between them is a wide courtyard.578
Academy rules from the Records of Sŏak, 64b. Source: Private Collection Berlin
Besides showing the presence of the Articles in the lecture hall of the academy, certainly to be used during lecture and study sessions, this short passage also reveals another function of the public display of the Articles. Sim Cho’s description of the wooden plates hanging in the lecture hall of Tobong Academy infuse it with a certain identity. Tobong Academy was founded in 1573 to venerate the Confucian literatus Cho Kwangjo 趙光祖 (1482–1519). In 1696, Song Siyŏl 宋時烈 (1607–1689) was added to the shrine of the academy. Presentation of his writings, together with the writings of his student Kwŏn Sangha 權尙夏 (1641–1721), as well as those of Yulgok Yi I 栗谷李珥 (1536–1584),579 place the academy in a specific Korean academic tradition, much as the presence of the certain boards in the academies and schools in the Kyŏngju area identify another scholarly tradition.580 In this setting the wooden boards inscribed with the Articles, which could be found among most major academies and some local schools, irrespective of any factional connections, established and communicated a general connection to the Zhu Xi, the Daoxue tradition, and the White Deer Grotto Academy.581
5 Ritual and Aesthetic Perceptions of the Articles in Chosŏn
Looking for descriptions of the practical use of the Articles in academies or other institutions, there is ample evidence that the regulations were ritually recited by the students on multiple occasions. One example can be found in Yulgok Yi I’s Hakkyo mobŏm 學校模範 (Model for Schools), a text designed to introduce young students to the correct method of studying the Confucian way.582 Article three of the text bears a close resemblance to the Articles. “Once the student has completed gaining control of his demeanor in a Confucian way, then he must through reading and study illuminate the principle; only then will he advance in learning and will not lose direction. Receiving instruction from a teacher, his study will be broad, his inquiry will be accurate, his thinking will be cautious, and his discrimination will be clear.”583 This is of course a rephrasing of the passage from the Zhongyong, or the central sequence of study in the Articles. Yulgok’s direct mention of the Articles in the last point of the Hakkyo mobŏm underlines not only his knowledge of the rules, but also his regard for them and the importance they must have had in his eyes toward educational procedure.
Article 16. Reading Methods
On the day of new moon of every month, all students gather together in the study hall. With their hands folded they bow to the ground paying their respects to the shrine, and keep sitting until the ritual is concluded. If the school master is present, he sits to the north wall and the students gather on three sides around him. The supervisor (or if he is absent an official or a person well-versed in reading can replace him) reads out the White Deer Grotto Articles of Learning and the Model for Schools once in a reverberating voice. Thereafter, there is discussion amongst each other and encouragement for practical study; if the school master is present he raises questions.584
Here the Articles, together with Yulgok’s own Model for Schools, are the texts ritually read during lecture gatherings. This undoubtedly served as a form of mutual affirmation, not only of the schools or academies’ shared identity, but also to remind the students of the actual purpose of studying inside the institution. The reading, or rather chanting, of the Articles in a ritualized manner was also meant to instill ideas through regular reiteration.
A similar usage of the Articles can be found in the lecture regulations (kanggyu 講規) of Soksil Academy 石室書院.
After the lecture the assistant on duty reads the White Deer Grotto Regulations and the Model for Schools. The Model for Schools is divided into three parts. […] At every gathering they are read in this order. (In the months of the sacrifices, the inscriptions on the steles must also be read in order to increase remembrance and admiration [for the enshrined worthy]). Even though there can be no more lecture that day, if time is left questions and doubts can be discussed and solved, but heterodox and unrelated books are not allowed to be read.585
The lecture regulations of Soksil Academy were written in the middle of the 18th century by Kim Wŏnhaeng 金元行 (1702–1772).586 Again such inclusions of the Articles in the fixed schedule of the institution are to be found not only in Confucian academies, but in village or town schools as well. The Yŏnggwang hyanggyo 靈光鄕校 in Southern Chŏlla required its students to read the Articles aloud at the monthly lectures and daily classes to honor Zhu Xi.587
A more personal approach to the Articles, nevertheless connected to an academy, can be found in the writings of Kim Inhu 金麟厚 (1510–1560), who had studied together with T’oegye at the Sŏnggyun’gwan and later served in the Office of Special Councilors (Hongmun’gwan 弘文館). His works includes a poem titled Reading the White Deer Grotto Regulations (Tok paengnoktonggyu 讀白鹿洞規).
The ancients were already gone, the Classics faded away and teaching was also in ruins;
the Song established peaceful administration and accordingly true Confucians came forward.
Kim Inhu’s poem is interesting for a few of reasons. Not only does it provide another example of a contemporary understanding of the Articles usage as a tool for education and self-cultivation, but it also gives insight into the emotional response they stirred in their audience. It is important to know that Kim Inhu’s poem about the White Deer Grotto Regulations is an obvious reference to Zhu Xi’s own poem Bailudongfu 白鹿洞賦 (White Deer Grotto Rhapsody). The Bailudongfu was one of the more famous poems by Zhu Xi and played an important role for the literary genre of Shuyuanfu 書院賦 (Academy rhapsodies).592 In his poem on the White Deer Grotto Academy, Zhu Xi recounts the history of the academy at Mt. Lu, while describing with melancholy the ruin of the academy and more generally of Confucian teachings across the ages. The poem, however, ends quite jubilant as now the reconstruction of the academy enables the instruction of pupils and transmission of the teachings into the future.593 Because Kim Inhu’s poem follows similar patterns and partly employs direct references, it is certain that he himself knew and was inspired by the Bailudongfu.594 This demonstrates that Kim’s embrace of the image of the White Deer Grotto Academy was not exclusively formed by his reading of the Articles, but also by an emotional reaction to his readings of Zhu Xi’s poem. The Articles simply became the main manifestation for this feeling and the narrative behind it.
In 1590, P’iram Academy 筆巖書院 in Southern Chŏlla province was founded to honor Kim Inhu. He was born in the area and often returned to it in order to avoid the political struggles in the capital. Following his own poem, a wooden board was raised in the lecture hall of the academy. It depicts the White Deer Grotto Articles, Zhu Xi’s commentary, and also features Kim’s poem Reading the White Deer Grotto Regulations.
Wooden hanging board in P’iram Academy containing the White Deer Grotto Regulations, Zhu Xi’s Commentary, and Kim Inhu’s poem Reading the White Deer Grotto Regulations. Source: Photo courtesy of Author
The board is dated to 1710, yet it has no markings indicating authorship. The arrangement of the Articles uses blank spaces and different character sizes to organize and indicate the various items and texts inscribed on the board. All three texts are arranged in descending hierarchy. The poem by Kim Inhu is depicted smallest and is set lower and smaller than both other texts. The combination of the Articles, Zhu Xi’s commentary, and the related poem of a local scholar in the display illustrates the individual connection this academy formed with the narrative of Confucian academies and their place and usage. The wooden board therefore represents both, the continuation and the adaptation of the academy model found in the writings of Zhu Xi by Korean scholars. While the reading of the board is not stipulated in the regulations of P’iram Academy, the Articles were, and still are, read after the sacrificial rites in the shrine and before every Confucian event conducted in the academy.595
6 Conclusion
Tracing the reception of the White Deer Grotto Articles of Learning in Korea reveals two layers of significance. First, it becomes clear that from an early point onwards the Articles were not explicitly associated with Confucian academies, but became an educational guideline in their own right. The most significant expression of this development is that the Articles were widely known and referred to as regulations soon after its composition. This change already occurred during the Song dynasty and the Articles were subsequently transmitted to Korea in this form. Most textual discussions of the Articles in Korea are not concerned with their connection to Confucian academies, but with their value and usage as an introductory text to Confucian learning in general. Their treatment within institutional settings also confirms this. The Articles were one among many regulations or guidelines visibly hung, not so different from a diagram, in the educational institution to accompany the student through his scholarly progress as a constant reminder and a source of encouragement. This is remarkable in so far, as usually the academies are understood to reflect the trends set by social, academic, and cultural developments, not as shaping them. The emergence of an understanding of the Articles as general pedagogical treatise out of the history of the White Deer Grotto Academy however, can be viewed as such an instance.
Second, the White Deer Grotto Academy and its revival by Zhu Xi became an influential narrative within the general history of Daoxue Confucianism and accordingly was transmitted to the Korean peninsula as well. The academy at the foot of Mt. Lu became a metaphor for the intellectual bloom and rightful recapture of an area in the face of opposition (from Buddhists, local elites, the court, etc.) brought on by the refinement and steadfastness of one man. In her study of Southern Song academies Linda Walton describes how Zhu Xi and other scholars involved with the academy movement attempted to create sacred spaces through and around their academies. The surrounding landscapes were perceived as physical representations of the eruditeness of former teachers who had taught or studied there. The shrines and rites at the academies would conserve this spirit and transmit it to the next generation of scholars, ultimately connecting the landscape to the transmission of the Way itself.596 Accordingly, the White Deer Grotto Academy also became a place of pilgrimage.597 Such notions were also transmitted to the Korean scholars, who, being well versed in Chinese literature and culture could grasp them, but were nonetheless physically barred from visiting these sacred places. Andreas Müller-Lee and Christian Han, in their respective research, both have shown how and why such images, discourses, or narratives were transferred and contextualized in Korea.598 In invoking the White Deer Grotto Academy as a model for his own academy, Chu Sebung sought to bestow and transfer the spirit of Nankang, which he found in the texts, onto P’unggi. Accordingly, for him the Articles represented just one text among many others in the writings of Zhu Xi that taught him about academies and their role in Southern Song China.
While both layers of significance moved in different trajectories, they remained intrinsically entangled. Without their connection to the authority of Zhu Xi and the White Deer Grotto Academy the Articles would not have found such the wide circulation and adaption in Korea. Simultaneously, they carried the narrative of the revival of the White Deer Grotto Academy and Confucian academies in general and introduced this concept to every new generation of scholars. With the appearance of Confucian academies on the Korean peninsula this connection came to the forefront and was used to legitimize the spread of this new institution by building on the already accepted value of the Articles. The poem Reading the White Deer Grotto Regulations by Kim Inhu quite strikingly embodies this entanglement. By putting the Articles at the center, Kim reflects on the history of the White Deer Grotto Academy, while ultimately connecting himself and his surroundings to that narrative. He reveals to the reader not only his knowledge of the institution, but also his understanding of its role and place, which he or his disciples sought to transfer to their own surroundings by hanging the wooden plate inside their own academy. However, it is also important to mention that all along, the Articles maintained their reception as a general educational guideline and were accordingly not used just in Confucian academies.
The transmission of ideas is never a one-way process, as diachronic and/or spatial transfers of knowledge always produces change in the knowledge itself. This change can be reflected in the content or can be found in the modes of its representation, yet for knowledge to be valid in its respective time and space, it needs to be adapted. This process of re-contextualization can be achieved through obvious methods of rewriting, addition, censure, or can happen in much subtler ways, like changes to the structure of a document or its usage within a different setting, that neither have to be discussed or emphasized. While ascription to tradition and its proven value is often what provides knowledge with legitimacy in the first place, change is essential to the subsistence and validity of ideas in new surroundings. With this in mind, it is important to emphasize that the perceptions of the White Deer Grotto Academy and its regulations were not pure transmissions of knowledge from one place to another. On the contrary, each of the above-mentioned examples illustrates how, and sometimes also why, the Articles in their new context were reduced, adapted, changed, and infused with new meaning, or simply ignored. This, with a view to Confucian academies in general, demonstrates how even the basic institutional model, for most academies after the Song dynasty, was understood, interpreted, and realized in quite different ways.
References
- 373
Chaffee John W. , 'Chu Hsi and the Revival of the White Deer Grotto Academy. 1179–1181 ' (1985 ) 71 T'oung Pao : 40 -62 .
- 374
Chan Wing-Tsit , Wm. Theodore de Bary (ed), Self and Society in Ming Thought , (Columbia University Press , New York 1970 ) 29 -51 .
- 375
Chan Wing-Tsit , Chu Hsi: His Life and Thought , (The Chinese University Press , Hongkong 1987 ).
- 376
Chang Yunsu , 'Songdang Pak Yŏng ŭi tohakchŏk hakp'ung kwa sŏngnihak chŏk sayu (Song Dang Pak Yŏng's Academic Tradition and Speculation on Metaphysics) ' (2017 ) 66 Han'gukhak Nonjip : 339 -377 .
- 377
Cheng Nensheng , Zhongguo shuyuan wenxue jiaoyu yanjiu , (Zhongguo shehui kexue chubanshe , Beijing 2014 ).
- 378
Ching Julia , The Religious Thought of Chu Hsi , (Oxford University Press , Oxford 2000 ).
- 379
Ch'oe Yongsu , 'Kyŏnggich'e ga e taehan Chu Sebung ŭi insik t'aedo (Chu Sebung's Attitude towards Kyŏnggich'e ga) ' (2001 ) 38 Hanminjok ŏmunhak : 247 -267 .
- 380
Choi Da-eun , 'Sŏnggyun'gwan hyŏnp'an yŏn'gu. Taesŏngjŏn gwa Myŏngnyundang p'yŏnaek ŭl chungsim ŭro (A Study on the Hanging Boards in Seonggyungwan. Focused on the Signboards of Daeseongjeon and Myeongnyundang) ' (2016 ) 29 Sŏyehak yŏn'gu : 141 -173 .
- 383
de Bary Wm. Theodore , The Liberal Tradition in China , (Columbia University Press , New York 1983 ).
- 384
de Bary Wm. Theodore , Wm. Theodore de BaryJohn W. Chaffee (ed), Neo-Confucian Education. The Formative Stage, , (University of California Press , Berkeley 1989 ) 186 -218 .
- 385
Deng Hongbo , 'Zhu Xi yu Chaoxian shuyuan 朱熹与朝鲜书院 (Zhu Xi and Korean academies) ' (1989 ) 1 Guizhou jiaoyu xueyuan xuebao : 43 -46 .
- 386
Deuchler Martina , The Confucian Transformation of Korea: A Study of Society and Ideology , (Harvard University Press , Cambridge, MA 1995 ).
- 387
Feng Huiming , 'Hu Juren de ‘Xu Bailudong xuegui’ jiqi jiaoyu sixiang 胡居仁的‘续白鹿洞学规’及其教育思想 (Hu Juren's Supplement to the White Deer Grotto Study Regulations and His Educational Thought) ' (2010 ) 31 (2 ) Jiangxi jiaoyu xueyuan xuebao : 112 -115 .
- 388
Glomb Vladimír. , 'Reading the Classics till Death: Yulgok Yi I and the Curriculum of Chosŏn Literati ' (2012 ) II (2 ) Studia Orientalia Slovaca : 315 -329 .
- 389
Glomb Vladimír. , Bochumer Jahrbuch zur Ostasienforschung , (Iudicium , München 2017 ) 39 -61 .
- 392
Hejtmanek Milan , 'The Elusive Path to Sagehood. Origins of the Confucian Academy System in Korea Chosŏn Korea ' () 26 (2 ) Seoul Journal of Korean Studies : 233 -268 .
- 393
Huang Xirong , 'Chanmen qinggui dui ‘Bailudong shuyuan jieshi’ de yingxiang 禅门清规对‘白鹿洞书院揭示’的影响 (The Influence of Chan School Monastic Rules on the White Deer Grotto Academy Articles of Learning) ' (2014 ) 34 (2 ) Jiangxi jiaoyu xueyuan xuebao : 183 -185 .
- 394
Im Nojik , Kim Pyŏngil (ed), Ttŭsi tamgin Hyŏnp'an P'yŏnaek , (Han'guk kukhak chinhŭngwŏn , Andong 2009 ) 238 -251 .
- 395
Kelleher Theresa M. , Wm. Theodore de BaryJohn W. Chaffee (ed), Neo-Confucian Education. The Formative Stage , (University of California Press , Berkeley 1989 ) 219 -251 .
- 396
Meskill John , Academies in Ming China: A Historical Essay , (University of Arizona Press , Tucson 1982 ).
- 398
Müller-Lee Andreas , 'The Sleeping Dragon in Korea: On the Transmission of the Images of Zhuge Liang in Korea ' (2007 ) 20 Seoul Journal of Korean Studies : 45 -70 .
- 399
Naquin Susan Chün-fan Yü , Susan NaquinChün-fan Yü (ed), Pilgrims and Sacred Sites in China , (University of California Press , Berkeley 1992 ) 1 -38 .
- 400
Kim Kyŏngsŏn Kim Hŭit'ae Yi Haejun Ch'oe Sun'gwŏn Yi Myŏngjin An Kyŏnghŭi , Sŏwŏn hyangsa. Musŏng sŏwŏn, P'iram sŏwŏn , (Kungnim munhwajae yŏn'guso , Taejŏn 2013 ).
- 401
Kim Mun'gi , 'Sŏwŏn kyoyuk kwa Sinjae Chu Sebung (Academy Education and Sinjae Chu Sebung) ' (2005 ) 38 Kugŏ kyoyuk yŏn'gu : 1 -26 .
- 402
Kŭm Changt'ae , Sŏnghak sip'to wa t'oegye ch’ŏrhak ŭi kujo , (Sŏul taehakkyo ch'ulp'anbu , Seoul 2001 ).
- 403
Lee Bong-kyoo , 'The Neo-Confucian Thought of Song Chun-gil and its Meaning in the History of Philosophy ' (1998 ) 11 Seoul Journal of Korean Studies : 153 -188 .
- 404
Lee Thomas H.C. , 'Chu Hsi, Academies and the Tradition of Private Chiang-hsüeh ' (1984 ) 2 (1 ) Hanxue Yanjiu : 301 -329 .
- 405
Li Bangguo , 'Bailudong shuyuan jieshi ' (1994 ) 14 (1 ) Hubei shifan xueyuan xuebao : 76 -82 .
- 406
Li Bangguo , 'Zhu Xi yu bailudong shuyuan zai Chaoxian Riben de yingxiang 朱熹与白鹿洞书院在朝鲜日本的影响 (The Influence of Zhu Xi and the White Deer Grotto Academy in Korea and Japan) ' (1995 ) 15 (1 ) Hubei shifan xueyuan xuebao : 99 -101 .
- 407
Ok Yŏngjŏng , 'Chukkyeji ŭi p'yŏnch'an kwa p'anbon e kwanhan sŏjijŏk yŏn'gu (A Bibliographical Study of Compilation and Edition of the Chukkyeji) ' (2005 ) 31 Sŏjihak yŏn'gu : 297 -321 .
- 408
Oksan sŏwŏn chi , (Yŏngnam taehakkyo ch'ulp'anbu , Kyŏngsan 1993 ).
- 409
Pak Chŏngbae , 'Chosŏn sidae ŭi hangnyŏng mit hakkyu (Rules and Regulations in Confucian Academies of Chosŏn Period) ' (2006 ) 28 (2 ) Han'guk kyoyuk sahak : 213 -237 .
- 410
Qin Wei , 'Lun songdai de shuyuan he shuyuan fu 论宋代的书院和书院赋 (Discussing Academy and Academy Fu in Song Dynasty) ' (2016 ) 18 (1 ) Liaodong xueyuan xuebao : 14 -18 .
- 412
Tillman Hoyt Cleveland , Confucian Discourse and Chu Hsi's Ascendancy , (University of Hawai'i Press , Honolulu 1992 ).
- 414
Walton Linda , Academies and Society in Southern Sung China , (University of Hawai'i Press , Honolulu 1999 ).
- 415
Wang Bin , 'Cong ‘Bailudong shuyuan jieshi’ kan Zhu Xi de xuegui linian 从‘白鹿洞书院揭示’看朱熹的学规理念 (Looking at Zhu Xi's Concept of Study Regulations from the Bailudong Academy Articles of Learning) ' (2014 ) 35 (1 ) Zibo shizhuan xuebao : 59 -62 .
- 416
Wu Zhanggeng Kim Hongsu , 'Paengnoktong sŏwŏn ŭi puhŭng e kkich'in chu hŭi ŭi ironchŏk kohŏn (Chu Hsi's Theoretical Contributions to the Renaissance of Bailudong Seowon) ' (2012 ) 11 Andonghak : 149 -178 .
- 417
Yao Sui Zhong shu zuo cheng Yao Wenxian gong shendaobei 中書左丞姚文獻公神道碑 (Spirit Path Stele Written by Assistant Director of the Left in the Secretariat Yao Wenxian) Mu'anji
- 418
Yi Hwang Michael C. Kalton , To Become a Sage: The Ten Diagrams on Sage Learning by Yi T'oegye , (Columbia University Press , New York 1988 ).
- 419
Yi Hwang Edward Y.J. Chung , A Korean Confucian Way of Life and Thought. The Chasŏngnok by Yi Hwang , (University of Hawai'i Press , Honolulu 2016 ).
- 420
Yŏngnam TaehakkyoMinjok Munhwa Yŏn'guso (ed), Kyŏngbuk hyanggyo charyo chipsŏng , (Yŏngnam taehakkyo ch'ulp'anbu , Kyŏngsan 1992 ).
- 421
Zhang Jinsong , 'Ming chu lixue jia Hu Juren de shuyuan jiaoyu shijian yu shuyuanguan lüelun 明初理学家胡居仁的书院教育实践与书院观略论 (Short Discussion of Early Ming Lixue Scholar Hu Juren's Educational Academy Practice and Understanding of the Academies) ' (2010 ) 31 (5 ) Jiangxi jiaoyu xueyuan xuebao : 101 -105 .
- 422
Zhang Pinduan Kim Hongsu , 'Chu Hŭi sŏwŏn kyoyuk sasang e taehan Yi Hwang ŭi kyesŭng kwa paljŏn. Paengnoktong sŏwŏn kesi rŭl chungsim ŭro (Lee Hwang’ Successions and Developments of Chu Hsi's Thought in Seowon Education) ' (2012 ) 11 Andonghak : 215 -236 .
- 423
Zhang Siqi , 'Cong ‘Bailudongfu’ kan Zhuxi de shiyi qiju 从‘白鹿洞赋’看朱熹的诗意栖居 (Zhu Xi's Poetic Habitation in White Deer Cave) ' (2008 ) 27 (6 ) Xihua daxue xuebao : 11 -17 .
- 424
Zhu Hanmin Deng Hongbo , Yuelu Shuyuan shi , (Hunan jiaoyu chubanshe , Changsha 2013 ).
- 425
Zhu Xi Daniel K. Gardner , Learning to be a Sage. Selections from the Conversations with Master Chu, Arranged Topically , (University of California Press , Berkeley 1990 ).
- 426
Zhu Xi , Zhuzi quanshu , (Shanghai guji chubanshe , Shanghai 2002 ).
- 427
Zhu Xi Lü Zuqian Wing-Tsit Chan , Reflections on Things at Hand , (Columbia University Press , New York 1967 ).
See John W. Chaffee, “Chu Hsi and the Revival of the White Deer Grotto Academy. 1179–1181,” T’oung Pao 71 (1985): 40.
See e.g. in this volume alone, Deng Hongbo, “Like Tea and Rice at Home: Lecture Gatherings and Academies during the Ming Dynasty,” 187; Chien Iching, “The Transmission and Transformation of Confucian Academy Rituals as Seen in Taiwanese Academies,” 446; and Vladimír Glomb, “Shrines, Sceneries, and Granary: The Constitutive Elements of the Confucian Academy in 16th-Century Korea,” 349.
Basic knowledge about the existence of the White Deer Grotto Academy most probably already came together with the first writings of Zhu Xi during Koryŏ times to Korea. The Articles of Learning and the Bailudong fu 白鹿洞賦 (White Deer Grotto Rhapsody) prose-poem were included in the Great Compendium on Human Nature and Principle (Xingli daquan 性理大全) that was available to Chosŏn literati from beginning of the 15th century. The Ming dynasty version of the Complete Writings of Zhu Xi (Zhuzi daquan 朱子大全), which included many of Zhu Xi’s texts on the academy, first circulated in the 16th century on the Korean peninsula.
The conventional translation of Zhu Xi’s Bailudong shuyuan jieshi 白鹿洞書院揭示, which this article will follow, is White Deer Grotto Academy Articles of Learning. However, in the literature we find many other names, e.g. Bailudong xuetiao 白鹿洞學條, from which the translation as “Articles of Learning” probably derives. Also White Deer Grotto Academy Study Regulations (Bailudong shuyuan xuegui 白鹿洞書院學規) and many reductions of this form (Ludonggui 鹿洞規, Donggui 洞規, etc.). Sometimes also direct references to Zhu Xi as the author of the Articles can be found as they are called Study Regulations of Master Zhu (Zhuzi xuegui 朱子學規). For more on Buddhist influences on the Articles see Thomas H.C. Lee, “Chu Hsi, Academies and the Tradition of Private Chiang-hsüeh,” Hanxue Yanjiu 2, no. 1 (1984): 313–321; Huang Xirong, “Chanmen qinggui dui ‘Bailudong shuyuan jieshi’ de yingxiang (The Influence of Chan School Monastic Rules on the White Deer Grotto Academy Articles of Learning),” Jiangxi jiaoyu xueyuan xuebao 34, no. 2 (2014): 183–185.
A full translation of his comment to the Articles can be found in Yi Hwang, To Become a Sage: The Ten Diagrams on Sage Learning by Yi T’oegye, trans. Michael C. Kalton (New York: Columbia University Press, 1988), 104–105. Other English translations can be found in Wm. Theodore de Bary, The Liberal Tradition in China (New York: Columbia University Press, 1983), 89; and also partly in Hoyt Cleveland Tillman, Confucian Discourse and Chu Hsi’s Ascendancy (Honolulu: University of Hawai‘i Press, 1992), 111. For detailed discussions of Zhu Xi’s understanding of education, its aims, and his methods of instruction see Zhu Xi, Learning to be a Sage: Selections from the Conversations with Master Chu, Arranged Topically, trans. Daniel K. Gardner (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1990); and Wm. Theodore de Bary, “Chu Hsi’s Aims as an Educator,” in Neo-Confucian Education: The Formative Stage, ed. Wm. Theodore de Bary and John W. Chaffee (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1989), 186–218.
Discussing the inspiration for the Articles Wing-Tsit Chan rejected the idea that Zhu Xi was guided by the regulations of Buddhist institutions. The impulse for this rejection may have come from the original designation of the Articles as jieshi 揭示, translated as “public announcement” or “posted notice” by Chan, which is quite close to the term kaishi 開示 (revelation), which frequently features in Buddhist texts. In Chan’s opinion it was the Community Compact (xiangyue 鄉約) of Lü Dajun 呂大鈞 (1029–1080) that had influenced Zhu Xi’s Articles. (See Wing-Tsit Chan, Chu Hsi. His Life and Thought (Hongkong: The Chinese University Press, 1987), 57–62, 177.) Cheng Nensheng posits that moral education was the main aim of Confucian academies and that this was reflected in all their functions, beginning with the Articles. (See Cheng Nensheng, Zhongguo shuyuan wenxue jiaoyu yanjiu (Research on Literature Education in China’s Academies) (Beijing: Zhongguo shehui kexue chubanshe, 2014), 16–19.) Lü Zuqian 呂祖謙 (1137–1181) and the rules he drew up for his Lize Academy 麗澤書院 in 1167 are mentioned by Hoyt Tillman as a possible influence on the Articles. (See Hoyt Cleveland Tillman, Confucian Discourse and Chu Hsi’s Ascendancy, 112–113.) Wang Bin states that the Lü’s regulations only influenced Zhu Xi in so far that he viewed them as superficial. Therefore, contrary to such detailed regulations he himself in his Articles tried not to rely on restrictions and prohibitions, but rather to give more encouraging guidelines for study. (Wang Bin, “Cong ‘Bailudong shuyuan jieshi’ kan Zhu Xi de xuegui linian (looking at Zhu Xi’s Concept of Study Regulations from the Bailudong Academy Articles of Learning),” Zibo shizhuan xuebao 35, no. 1 (2014): 62).
For biographies of Zhu Xi see Wing-Tsit Chan, Chu Hsi: His Life and Thought; Julia Ching, The Religious Thought of Chu Hsi (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2000); and Tillman, Confucian Discourse and Chu Hsi’s Ascendancy.
See Zhu Xi and Lü Zuqian, Reflections on Things at Hand, trans. Wing-Tsit Chan (New York: Columbia University Press, 1967), 323.
See Theresa M. Kelleher, “Back to Basics: Chu Hsi’s Elementary Learning (Hsiao-hsüeh),” in Neo-Confucian Education: The Formative Stage, ed. Wm. Theodore de Bary and John W. Chaffee (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1989), 219.
Translation (which slight changes) by Michael Kalton in Yi Hwang, To Become a Sage, 102. The original text of the regulations can be found in the different Records of the Bailudong Academy republished in the ZGLDSYZ 1: 359, 1: 574, 1: 905, 2: 94–95.
Mencius elaborated on this part originally found in the Canon of Shun (Shundian 舜典) in the Book of Documents (Shangshu 尚書); see Kŭm Changt’ae, Sŏnghak sip’to wa t’oegye ch’ŏrhak ŭi kujo (The Ten Diagrams of Sage Learning and the Structure of T’oegye’s Philosophy) (Seoul: Sŏul taehakkyo ch’ulp’anbu, 2001), 114.
Zhu Xi, Zhuzi quanshu (Complete Writings of Master Zhu), Volume 6 (Shanghai: Shanghai guji chubanshe, 2002), 316.
Ibid., 311.
Translation by Michael Kalton in Yi Hwang, To Become a Sage, 102.
Translation by Wing-Tsit Chan in Zhu Xi and Lü Zuqian, Reflections on Things at Hand, 69; A quotation expounding the meaning of the passage from Zhu Xi’s Zhongyong Huowen 中庸或問 (Several Questions on the Doctrine of the Mean) can be found Ibid.
See Ibid., 58; Jinsilu 2.43; quote attributed to Cheng Hao, original in Lunyu 15.6.
See Ibid., 160; Jinsilu 5.9; quote attribute to Cheng Yi, original in Yijing 易經 (Book of Changes).
See Ibid., 154, Jinsilu 5.1; quote attributed to Zhou Dunyi.
See Ibid., 57, 294, Jinsilu 2.40 and 14.7, both attributed to Dong Zhongshu, original in Hanshu 漢書 (History of Han) in the biography of Dong.
These two quotes are not included in the Jinsilu. The first passage is the very well-known golden rule as it appears in the Lunyu 12.2; and the second passage is from the Mencius 4A.4.
Translation by Michael Kalton in Yi Hwang, To Become a Sage, 102.
Translation by Wing-Tsit Chan in Zhu Xi, Lü Zuqian, Reflections on Things at Hand, 2.
See Li Bangguo, “Zhu Xi ‘Bailudong shuyuan jieshi’ de jiaoyu shijian he zhexue jichu (The Philosophical Basis and Educational Realization of Zhu Xi’s White Deer Grotto Academy Articles of Learning),” Hubei shifan xueyuan xuebao 14, no. 1 (1994): 77.
See Zhang Pinduan and Kim Hongsu, “Chu Hŭi sŏwŏn kyoyuk sasang e taehan Yi Hwang ŭi kyesŭng kwa paljŏn. Paengnoktong sŏwŏn kesi rŭl chungsim ŭro (Lee Hwang’ Successions and Developments of Zhu Xi’s thoughts in Seowon Education),” Andonghak 11 (2012): 220.
See Zhu Hanmin and Deng Hongbo, Yuelu shuyuan shi (History of the Yuelu Academy) (Changsha: Hunan jiaoyu chubanshe, 2013), 139–140.
Translation, with slight changes, by John Meskill, Academies in Ming China: A Historical Essay (Tucson: University of Arizona Press, 1982), 56.
Ibid. For other detailed studies of Hu Juren, his regulations and his general understanding of Confucian academies see Feng Huiming, “Hu Juren de ‘Xu Bailudong xuegui’ jiqi jiaoyu sixiang (Hu Juren’s Supplement to the ‘White Deer Grotto Study Regulations’ and His Educational Thought),” Jiangxi jiaoyu xueyuan xuebao 31, no. 2 (2010): 112–115. Feng discusses the individual points of the regulations and Hu Juren’s added quotes from the Classics. He argues that Hu’s regulations are essentially a reprint of Zhu Xi’s Articles; see also Zhang Jinsong, “Ming chu lixue jia Hu Juren de shuyuan jiaoyu shijian yu shuyuanguan lüelun (Short Discussion of Early Ming Lixue Scholar Hu Juren’s Educational Academy Practice and Understanding of the Academies),” Jiangxi jiaoyu xueyuan xuebao 31, no. 5 (2010): 101–105.
Wing-Tsit Chan, “The Ch’eng-Chu School of Early Ming,” in Self and Society in Ming Thought, ed. Wm. Theodore de Bary (New York: Columbia University Press, 1970), 41–42.
There is little information about Song Ŭlgae. He passed the civil service examination in 1405 in fourth spot and worked as a Censor (chŏngŏn 正言) in the office of the censor-general. In 1439, he is identified as holding the concurrent post of “chubu” 注簿 of the Sŏnggyun’gwan, which could indicate his role was being in charge of procurement and management of the Sŏnggyun’gwans resources.
Sejong Sillok 21/9/29#5.
These inscribed wooden boards are called hyŏnp’an 懸板, or sometimes p’yŏnaek 扁額, in Korean. For a general study of extant boards in Korea see Im Nojik, “P’yŏnaek e taehan ihae (Understanding Wooden Plates),” in Ttŭsi tamgin hyŏnp’an p’yŏnaek (Wooden Plates Filled with Meaning), ed. Kim Pyŏngil (Andong: Han’guk kukhak chinhŭngwŏn, 2009), 238–251.
See Choi Da-eun, “Sŏnggyun’gwan hyŏnp’an yŏn’gu. Taesŏngjŏn gwa Myŏngnyundang p’yŏnaek ŭl chungsim ŭro (A Study on the Hanging Boards in Seonggyungwan. Focused on the Signboards of Daeseongjeon and Myeongnyundang),” Sŏyehak yŏn’gu 29 (2016): 147.
See Lee Bong-kyoo, “The Neo-Confucian Thought of Song Chun-gil and Its Meaning in the History of Philosophy,” Seoul Journal of Korean Studies 11 (1998): 165. One of his students, Hwang Sejŏng 黃世楨 (?–?), mentions that Song transcribed the Articles for Learning and hung them in his own lecture hall, together with Yulgok Yi I’s 栗谷 李珥 (1536–1584) Rules for the Ŭnbyŏng Study Hall and the Rules for the Munhŏn Academy, for the students to contemplate in the morning. See Hwang Sejŏng, “Yusa (Memorabilia),” in Tongch’undang sŏnsaeng pyŏljip (Separate Collected Works of Master Tongch’undang), Volume 9.
The anecdote is contained in the Yuanwenlei 元文類 (Categorized Literature from the Yuan) compiled by Su Tianjue 蘇天爵 (1294–1352) in 1334. It is part of a spirit path stele (inscription) Shendao bei 神道碑 in the Mu’anji 牧庵集 (Collected Works of Mu’an) of Yao Sui 姚燧 (1238–1313), a student of Xu Heng.
See Yao Sui, “Zhong shu zuo cheng Yao Wenxian gong shendaobei (Memorial stelae written by Assistant Director of the Left in the Secretariat Yao Wenxian),” in Mu’anji, SKQS ed. This version reads: 謂其徒曰: ‘曩所授受皆非. 今始聞進學之序. 若必欲相從, 當盡棄前習, 以從事于《小學四書》為進徳墓. 不然, 當求他師.’ 衆皆曰: ‘惟.’
Kim Chaero, “Sijang (Conferring the Posthumous Title),” in Songdang sŏnsaeng munjip (Collected Works of Songdang), 4:1b. All biographical information of Pak Yŏng is also found there.
Songdang sŏnsaeng munjip, 4:2a.
Songdang sŏnsaeng munjip, 4:5a.
Both translations from the Lunyu are by James Legge.
Pak Yŏng, “Paengnoktong kyu hae (Explanations of the White Deer Grotto Regulations),” in Songdang sŏnsaeng munjip, 1:19a.
Ibid.
Kim Chaero’s above statement seems to suggest Pak wrote the postscript himself. Kŭm Changt’ae follows this view; see Kŭm Changt’ae, Sŏnghak sip’to wa t’oegye ch’ŏrhak ŭi kujo, 117. Chang Yunsu marks the author as unknown; see Chang Yunsu, “Songdang Pak Yŏng ŭi tohakchŏk hakp’ung kwa sŏngnihak chŏk sayu (Song Dang Pak Yŏng’s Academic Tradition and Speculation on Metaphysics),” Han’gukhak Nonjip 66 (2017): 360. The postscript mentioned by Kim could also refer to the short statement by Pak after the two added quotations from the Lunyu at the end of the Explanations.
From Mencius 4B.29.
“Paengnoktong kyu hae pal (Postscript to the Explanations of the White Deer Grotto Regulations),” in Songdang sŏnsaeng munjip, 3:5b–6a. There is also a text by Hwang Hyohŏn 黃孝獻 (1491–1532) that is rather short and just mentions that the explanations by Pak Yŏng are not to be ignored by scholars. See Songdang sŏnsaeng munjip, 3:6a–6b.
See Chung Soon-woo, “The Nature and Educational Activities of Sungyang Academy in Kaesŏng,” in this volume, 69–71, for a discussion of the cultural bias towards the northern Korean regions.
Pak Yŏng himself was later venerated, among others, in Kŭmo Academy 金烏書院 in Kyŏngsang province and Songgye Academy 松溪書院 in Ch’ungch’ŏng province.
Hu Juren writes; 主誠敬以其心, Park Yŏng writes: 皆以誠敬爲主.
TGCS 19:215b.
See Kŭm Changt’ae, Sŏnghak sip’to wa t’oegye ch’ŏrhak ŭi kujo, 117; and Chang Yunsu, “Songdang Pak Yŏng ŭi tohakchŏk hakp’ung kwa sŏngnihak chŏk sayu,” 360–363. A full English translation of this letter can be found in Yi Hwang, A Korean Confucian Way of Life and Thought. The Chasŏngnok by Yi Hwang, trans. Edward Y.J. Chung (Honolulu: University of Hawai‘i Press, 2016), 107–113.
TGCS 19:217a.
See Yi Hwang, To Become a Sage, 24–28.
Ibid., 101.
See Vladimír Glomb, “Circulating Pictures: Confucian Diagrams, Ch’ŏnmyŏng to and Intellectual Debate in 16th Century Korea,” in Bochumer Jahrbuch zur Ostasienforschung 39/2016 (München: Iudicium, 2017), 52–54.
See Yi Hwang, To Become a Sage, 105–106.
Among the large number of later Korean texts concerned with the Articles of Learning, two more examples should briefly be mentioned here. The first one is Yun Hyu’s 尹鑴 (1617–1680) short Explanation of the Meaning of the White Deer Grotto Regulations (Paengnoktong kyu sŏgŭi 白鹿洞規釋義), which connects the Articles with the Ming scholar Fang Xiaoru’s 方孝孺 (1357–1402) Four Admonitions of Family Models (Jiafan sizhen 家範四箴) into a poem for easier memorization. Second is the Extended Meaning of the White Deer Grotto Regulations (Paengnoktong kyu yŏnŭi 白鹿洞規衍義) by Kang P’irhyo 姜必孝 (1764–1848) in which Kang tried to synthesize the teachings of T’oegye and Yulgok. He also modeled his own study after Zhu Xi’s academy and wrote a supplement to the Jinsilu.
The circumstances around the establishment and chartering of this academy are described by Milan Hejtmanek in “The Elusive Path to Sagehood: Origins of the Confucian Academy System in Korea Chosŏn Korea,” Seoul Journal of Korean Studies 26, no. 2 (December 2013): 233–268.
Chu Sebung, “Chukkyeji sŏ (Introduction to the Records of Bamboo Stream),” in Chukkyeji (Records of Bamboo Stream), 1a–6a. Translation, with minor changes, by Milan Hejtmanek in “The Elusive Path to Sagehood,” 251–252.
Hejtmanek, “The Elusive Path to Sagehood,” 258–259. An Hyang was usually viewed as an important figure in the transmission of Zhu Xi’s teachings to Korea during Koryŏ times, see Martina Deuchler, The Confucian Transformation of Korea: A Study of Society and Ideology (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1995), 14–24.
Mt. Sobaek (Sobaeksan 小白山) is a mountain next to the Sosu Academy, Mt. Lu (Lushan 廬山) is the mountain the White Deer Grotto Academy is located below. Chukkye 竹溪 (Bamboo stream) is the stream next to Sosu Academy and springs from Mt. Sobaek, Lianxi 濂溪 (Lian stream) springs from Mt. Lu (but is also the posthumous name of Zhou Dunyi, as he had built a study at the same stream in 1062).
While not explicitly mentioned the last part refers to An Hyang as bringing the Way of Zhu Xi to the East (Korea). Zhu Xi’s style name was Huiam 晦庵 (Kor. Hoeam), following this An Hyang choose Hoehŏn 晦軒 (Chin. Huixuan) as his style. For more on the song see Kim Mun’gi, “Sŏwŏn kyoyuk kwa Sinjae Chu Sebung (Academy Education and Sinjae Chu Sebung),” Kugŏ kyoyuk yŏn’gu 38 (2005): 18–19.
Chu Sebung, “Todonggok kujang (Song of the Way in the East in Nine Verses),” in Chukkyeji, 1b:8a–9a; The song is composed in the then popular style of kyŏnggich’e ga 景幾體歌, praising the local area. Especially An Ch’uk 安軸 (1282–1348), a member of the An family who from 1544 was also venerated in the White Cloud Grotto Academy, was famous for poems and songs in this style. See Ch’oe Yongsu, “Kyŏnggich’e ga e taehan Chu Sebung ŭi insik t’aedo (Chu Sebung’s Attitude towards Kyŏnggich’e ga),” Hanminjok ŏmunhak 38 (2001): 256.
See Hejtmanek, “The Elusive Path to Sagehood,” 248–250, original in Myŏngjong Sillok 9/7/2#3: 嘗作李荇行狀, 極其稱譽, 至以忠比劉向, 節比孔融, 勇比諸葛亮. 以此識者鄙之.
For the publication history of the Chukkyeji see Ok Yŏngjŏng, “Chukkyeji ŭi p’yŏnch’an kwa p’anbon e kwanhan sŏjijŏk yŏn’gu (A Bibliographical Study of Compilation and Edition of the Chukkyeji),” Sŏjihak yŏn’gu 31 (2005): 297–321.
See TGCS 12:25b; Chukkyeji 1b:14a–17a; and also Chu Sebung’s reply in Chukkyeji 1b:17b–19b.
See Hejtmanek, “The Elusive Path to Sagehood,” 259–261. Interestingly, Deng Hongbo and Li Bangguo both propose that the royal chartering system of academies in Korea was modeled after accounts of the White Deer Grotto Academy being bestowed books and land by the emperor. See Deng Hongbo, “Zhu Xi yu Chaoxian shuyuan (Zhu Xi and Korean Academies),” Guizhou jiaoyu xueyuan xuebao 1 (1989): 46; Li Bangguo, “Zhu Xi yu Bailudong shuyuan zai Chaoxian Riben de yingxiang (The Influence of Zhu Xi and the White Deer Grotto Academy in Korea and Japan),” Hubei shifan xueyuan xuebao 15, no. 1 (1995): 99.
Also known as sizhen 四箴, a text by Cheng Yi based on Lunyu 12.1.
Also known as Master Zhu’s Instruction of the Ten Regrets (Zhuzi shi hui xun 朱子十悔訓). A text mentioning improper behavior that one will regret later on.
The Admonitions to Rise Early and Retire Late most likely have their origin in Shangcai Academy 上蔡書院 in Taizhou (in Zhejiang province) and are also included in the Ten Diagrams of Sage Learning.
TGCS 41:647. See also Pak Chŏngbae, “Chosŏn sidae ŭi hangnyŏng mit hakkyu (Rules and Regulations in Confucian Academies of Chosŏn Period),” Han’guk kyoyuk sahak 28, no. 2 (2006): 226–228.
Oksan sŏwŏn chi (Records of Oksan Academy) (Kyŏngsan: Yŏngnam taehakkyo ch’ulp’anbu, 1993), 36–37 (the Articles are also still hanging in the lecture hall of Oksan Academy); and Sŏak chi (Records of Sŏak), 62b–63a.
See Pak, “Chosŏn sidae ŭi hangnyŏng mit hakkyu,” 218.
Ibid., 217–218.
See Yŏngnam Taehakkyo. Minjok Munhwa Yŏn’guso (ed.), Kyŏngbuk hyanggyo charyo chipsŏng (Collection of Kyŏngbuk Local School Materials) (Kyŏngsan: Yŏngnam taehakkyo ch’ulp’anbu, 1992), 26–27.
Sim Cho, “Tobong-haeng Ilgi (Diary of the Travel to Tobong),” in Chŏng Chwawa sŏnsaeng Chip (Collected Writings of Master Chŏng Chwawa), 12:311a–312b.
See Vladimír Glomb’s contribution on Yulgok’s views on academy education, “Shrines, Sceneries, and Granary: The Constitutive Elements of the Confucian Academy in 16th Century Korea,” in this volume, 321–325.
Yulgok Yi I, Song Siyŏl and Kwŏn Sangha are often considered to be part of the so-called Kiho faction. The Kyŏngju area is usually associated with T’oegye Yi Hwang and the so-called Yŏngnam faction.
A claim that Tobong Academy was similar to the White Deer Grotto Academy was used in 1733 in order to gain a tax exemption for the fields of the academy. Yŏngjo Sillok 9/6/16#1, Original: 我朝道峰書院與朱文公白鹿洞書院相類. 道峰山明水麗, 八路罕比, 而先正臣趙光祖, 宋時烈所享之院也. 昔有賜給田結, 今入於出稅之中, 請依前還給.
See Vladimír Glomb, “Reading the Classics till Death: Yulgok Yi I and the Curriculum of Chosŏn Literati,” Studia Orientalia Slovaca II 2 (2012): 321.
YGCS 15:35a.
YGCS 15:39a–b.
Kim Wŏnhaeng, “Sŏksil sŏwŏn kanggyu (Lecture Regulations of Soksil Academy),” in Miho chip (Collected Writings of Miho), 14:21b.
See Pak, “Chosŏn sidae ŭi hangnyŏng mit hakkyu,” 232.
See “Yŏnggwang hyanggyo chi (Records of Yŏnggwang Local School),” in SWCCS 8: 124.
Zhou Dunyi’s honorific name is Lianxi 濂溪.
Cheng Hao and Cheng Yi were born in Luoyang 洛陽.
This passage is direct reference to Zhu Xi’s Bailudongfu and is usually understood as taking delight in the teaching of talented students.
Kim Inhu, “Tok paengnoktonggyu (Reading the White Deer Grotto Regulations),” in Hasŏ sŏnsaeng chŏnjip (Complete Collection of Master Hasŏ), 2:1a.
See Zhang Siqi, “Cong ‘Bailudongfu’ kan Zhuxi de shiyi qi ju (Zhu Xi’s Poetic Habitation in White Deer Cave),” Xihua daxue xuebao 27, no. 6 (2008): 11–17. Also on Song dynasty Shuyuanfu more in general see Qin Wei, “Lun songdai de shuyuan he shuyuan fu (Academies and Academy Fu in Song Dynasty),” Liaodong xueyuan xuebao 18, no. 1 (2016): 14–18.
For a more thorough discussion see Wu Zhanggeng and Kim Hongsu, “Paengnoktong sŏwŏn ŭi puhŭng e kkich’in chu hŭi ŭi ironchŏk kohŏn (Zhu Xi’s Theoretical Contributions to the Renaissance of Bailudong Seowon),” Andonghak 11 (2012): 158–160.
Kim Inhu was quite famous for his rhapsody writings skills and he is said to have written an excellent poem while taking the civil service examinations.
See Kim Kyŏngsŏn et al., Sŏwŏn hyangsa. Musŏng sŏwŏn, P’iram sŏwŏn (Academy Rites: Musŏng Academy: P’iram Academy) (Taejŏn: Kungnim munhwajae yŏn’guso, 2013), 266.
See Linda Walton, Academies and Society in Southern Sung China (Honolulu: University of Hawai‘i Press, 1999), 103–112.
See Susan Naquin, Chün-fan Yü, “Introduction,” in Pilgrims and Sacred Sites in China, ed. Susan Naquin, Chün-fan Yü (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1992), 18.
See Andreas Müller-Lee, “The Sleeping Dragon in Korea: On the Transmission of the Images of Zhuge Liang in Korea,” Seoul Journal of Korean Studies 20 (2007): 45–70; and Christina Hee-Yeon Han, “Territory of the Sages: Neo-Confucian Discourse of Wuyi Nine Bends Jingjie” (Ph.D. diss., University of Toronto, 2011).