Were the countries of Europe the only ones that were “early modern”? Was Asia’s early modernity cut short by colonialism? Scholars examining early modern Eurasia have not yet fully explored the relationships between absolute rule and political modernization in the highly contested early modern world. Using a comparative perspective that places Chŏngjo, king of Korea from 1776 to 1800, in context with other Korean kings and with contemporary Chinese and European rulers, Christopher Lovins examines the shifting balance of power in Korea in favor of the crown at the expense of the aristocracy during the early modern period. This book is the first to analyze in English the recently discovered collection of 297 private letters written by Chŏngjo himself. These letters were a vital channel of communication outside of official court historians’ scrutiny, since private meetings between the king and his ministers were forbidden by custom. Royal politics played out in an arena of subtle communication, with court officials trying to read the king’s unstated, elliptically hinted at intentions and the king trying to suggest what he wanted done while maintaining plausible deniability. Through close analysis of both official records and private letters, including Chŏngjo’s “secret letters,” Lovins shows that, in contrast to previous assumptions, the late eighteenth-century Korean monarchs were not weak and ineffective but instead were in the process of building an absolutist polity.
Author(s): Christopher Lovins
Publisher: State University of New York Press
Year: 2019
Language: English
Pages: 248
City: Albany
Contents......Page 8
Acknowledgments......Page 10
Introduction......Page 12
Chapter One: Early Modernity and Absolutism......Page 26
Chapter Two: Politics in Early Modern Korea......Page 38
Aristocratic-bureaucratic Balance......Page 40
The Prince Sado Affair And Le Gitimacy......Page 47
Chapter Three: The Politic s of Confucianism......Page 54
Education And The Classics......Page 56
Scholar-King......Page 57
Recovering the Classics: Countering Zhu Xi’s Minister-Centered Thought......Page 58
Discretion 權......Page 62
Chapter Four: Power and Factions......Page 74
The Trouble with Hong Kuk-yong......Page 77
The P’ungsan Hong Clan and Royal Relatives......Page 80
The Policy of Impartiality......Page 84
Playing Both Sides: Ch’ae Che-gong and Sim Hwan-ji......Page 87
Chapter Five: Building a System......Page 100
Early Setbacks: The Struggle Over Selection Secretaries......Page 101
The Royal Library: A Place of Learning and Power......Page 103
The Royal Selection System: Studying at the Foot of the Throne......Page 108
Expanding Recruitment: Northmen and Bastards......Page 110
Personal Rule: Circumventing Ministers......Page 118
Petitions and Processions......Page 119
Slavery......Page 125
Chapter Six: Military Matters......Page 134
The Illustrious Fortress: A Monume Nt to Sado?......Page 135
Preparations for Construction......Page 136
Building the Fortress......Page 137
A Center of Royal Power......Page 140
The Robust and Brave Regiment: Whom Do They Serve?......Page 144
Chapter Seven: Chongjo in an Early Modern World......Page 150
The Center Holds: Chongjo and Qianlong......Page 155
No Such Thing as Passive Life: Chongjo and Louis XIV......Page 162
Conclusion......Page 174
Notes......Page 186
Bibliography......Page 218
Index......Page 234
