In my last piece, I introduced you to the "munjip" — the collection of writings published posthumously for prominent scholar-officials in traditional times. As a measure of social status, it occurs to me that this was an even higher level of accomplishment than the "mungwa" exam. In the 1392-1910 Joseon Dynasty, there were about 15,000 men who passed the mungwa exam, but only about 3,000 were honored to have a munjip.

Having a munjip published was a complicated process. The writer needed to preserve copies of all his writings, a core group of people had to petition the government, and, if authorized, the government would order the carving of wood blocks for the printing. Thus, the complicated decision to print a munjip was an event more rare, and more prestigious than passing the exam.

Perhaps the individual most known for his munjip was Jeong Yak-yong, whose 232 volumes are recognized for their advanced and innovative technology. Not only did he write on typical topics of Confucian philosophy, but he was also a “silhak” philosopher interested in scientific advancements of the time, which was the early 19th century. The famous philosophers Yi I, Song Si-yeol and Kim Jang-saeng had munjip of around 100 volumes. Yi Hwang’s was around 70 volumes.

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