Ilsoo Cho | Seoul National University (original) (raw)

Articles by Ilsoo Cho

史林, 2023

Examining the political history during the reign of King Sŏnjo, many have pointed to the king's s... more Examining the political history during the reign of King Sŏnjo, many have pointed to the king's seemingly inexplicable flaws in his reluctance to learn from his teachers and his pathological refusal to accept the desperate calls for reform. This article revises this simple caricature-like view of Sŏnjo by doing two things. First, it carefully examines the scholarly and political discourse during his reign to show that in contrast to the widely accepted view, the Cheng-Zhu school of Neo-Confucianism was not in the orthodox position that it found itself in Korea during the subsequent centuries and that the king merely accepted the diversity of thought that existed in Chosŏn at the time. Second, it shows that many calls for reform were too abstract or simply undoable from the king's perspective. This article endeavors to move away from the judgments in hindsight and understand the Sŏnjo era from the king’s terms.

Seoul Journal of Korean Studies, 2022

Over the past decades, scholars have examined the far-reaching legacy of the Mongol empire in tra... more Over the past decades, scholars have examined the far-reaching legacy of the Mongol empire in transforming the cultures of the countries it ruled. Aiming to recreate the Mongol world-empire, the early Ming rulers sought to incorporate neighboring polities into a reinvigorated Sinocentric system. In Korea, elites no longer saw themselves occupying an independent imperial sphere, as they did before the Mongol subjugation. They reportedly internalized the Sinocentric worldview and Korea's predetermined second-rate position. But internalizing the Sinocentric worldview did not mean that the Koreans of Joseon imagined or governed their country only as a vassal of the Chinese empire or entirely forgot about the nativist identity that existed before the Mongol subjugation. This article aims to reveal some of the nativist discourses of identity from Goryeo that survived into Joseon. Positioning Korea as a "rival" of China, these nativist discourses argued that the Korean Peninsula in some ways paralleled China as a geographical entity and that the Joseon people's ancestors "defeated" the unified empires of Sui and Tang China on the battlefields. This article argues that the Joseon acceptance of Sinocentrism was far from total, and a sense of Korea as an independent geopolitical entity survived Korea's formal subservience to Beijing.

Japanese Journal of Religious Studies, 2022

Early modern Japan witnessed new and unprecedented debates surrounding ancient history, including... more Early modern Japan witnessed new and unprecedented debates surrounding ancient history, including a school of thought that suggested a significant Korean influence upon ancient Japan. This line of thought contrasted sharply with the contemporary school of kokugaku, which emphasized the traditional understanding of Japan as entirely indigenous. Scholars of kokugaku often positioned their work as a polemic against what they perceived as the widespread influence of traditions imported from China, especially Confucianism, for their alleged corruption of an autochthonic Japanese culture. Modern interpreters of kokugaku thereby focused on the issue of their revulsion of Chinese influence. Focusing on Motoori Norinaga, often considered the consummator of kokugaku, this article analyzes Norinaga's responses to interpretations of a possible Korean origin of Japanese culture and customs. By contriving commentaries that eliminated such possibilities, this article argues that Norinaga attempted to defend the traditional understanding of ancient Japan as entirely indigenous and unified ab initio.

韓國學硏究, 2022

조선에서 천한 신분으로 태어나 후금에 귀의하여 끝내 조선에 파견된 칙사의 지위까지 오른 정명수는 아마도 한국사상 최악의 매국노이자 악한으로 오늘날까지 기억되고 있다. 적개심에... more 조선에서 천한 신분으로 태어나 후금에 귀의하여 끝내 조선에 파견된 칙사의 지위까지 오른 정명수는 아마도 한국사상 최악의 매국노이자 악한으로 오늘날까지 기억되고 있다. 적개심에 가득 차 자신이 태어난 나라를 끝까지 괴롭혔다고 기억되는 정명수의 모습은 비현실적으로 과도할 지라도 원전(原典)을 찾아보면 실록을 포함한 조선시대의 많은 자료에 근거해 있다. 이 글에서는 인조대 『승정원일기』를 효종의 시대에 편찬된 『인조실록』과 대비해 읽는 방법을 이용해 우리가 알고 있는 정명수의 모습이 효종대의 정치적 의제 하에 만들어졌고 오늘날까지 재생산 되고 있다고 주장하였다. 마지막으로 『조선왕조실록』과 『승정원일기』의 사료적 가치를 둘러싼 최근의 논의에 대한 입장을 밝힌다. 실록을 역사적 사실들을 명백하게 나타낸다는 식으로 과도하게 이상화(理想化) 하거나 『승정원일기』가 후대에 개수되었으니 개수 당시의 정치적 의제를 반영한다는 주장들의 문제를 검토하여 이에 대한 반론을 내놓는다.

Journal of Japanese Studies, 2021

Scholars of early modern Japanese history have noted the imperial court's political insignificanc... more Scholars of early modern Japanese history have noted the imperial court's political insignificance and the lack of conflict most contemporaries supposedly saw between the emperor's institutionally supreme position and the fact that Japan's warlords had usurped power away from the emperor. This article draws on Korean visitors' observations of Japanese society during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries to challenge this view and reveal that the imperial court remained the only truly legitimate seat of power for many early modern Japanese elites, exposing the depths of fissures in the Japanese political order in ways most scholarship has overlooked.

Book Reviews by Ilsoo Cho

Seoul Journal of Korean Studies, 2023

Journal of Asian Studies, 2022

史林, 2023

Examining the political history during the reign of King Sŏnjo, many have pointed to the king's s... more Examining the political history during the reign of King Sŏnjo, many have pointed to the king's seemingly inexplicable flaws in his reluctance to learn from his teachers and his pathological refusal to accept the desperate calls for reform. This article revises this simple caricature-like view of Sŏnjo by doing two things. First, it carefully examines the scholarly and political discourse during his reign to show that in contrast to the widely accepted view, the Cheng-Zhu school of Neo-Confucianism was not in the orthodox position that it found itself in Korea during the subsequent centuries and that the king merely accepted the diversity of thought that existed in Chosŏn at the time. Second, it shows that many calls for reform were too abstract or simply undoable from the king's perspective. This article endeavors to move away from the judgments in hindsight and understand the Sŏnjo era from the king’s terms.

Seoul Journal of Korean Studies, 2022

Over the past decades, scholars have examined the far-reaching legacy of the Mongol empire in tra... more Over the past decades, scholars have examined the far-reaching legacy of the Mongol empire in transforming the cultures of the countries it ruled. Aiming to recreate the Mongol world-empire, the early Ming rulers sought to incorporate neighboring polities into a reinvigorated Sinocentric system. In Korea, elites no longer saw themselves occupying an independent imperial sphere, as they did before the Mongol subjugation. They reportedly internalized the Sinocentric worldview and Korea's predetermined second-rate position. But internalizing the Sinocentric worldview did not mean that the Koreans of Joseon imagined or governed their country only as a vassal of the Chinese empire or entirely forgot about the nativist identity that existed before the Mongol subjugation. This article aims to reveal some of the nativist discourses of identity from Goryeo that survived into Joseon. Positioning Korea as a "rival" of China, these nativist discourses argued that the Korean Peninsula in some ways paralleled China as a geographical entity and that the Joseon people's ancestors "defeated" the unified empires of Sui and Tang China on the battlefields. This article argues that the Joseon acceptance of Sinocentrism was far from total, and a sense of Korea as an independent geopolitical entity survived Korea's formal subservience to Beijing.

Japanese Journal of Religious Studies, 2022

Early modern Japan witnessed new and unprecedented debates surrounding ancient history, including... more Early modern Japan witnessed new and unprecedented debates surrounding ancient history, including a school of thought that suggested a significant Korean influence upon ancient Japan. This line of thought contrasted sharply with the contemporary school of kokugaku, which emphasized the traditional understanding of Japan as entirely indigenous. Scholars of kokugaku often positioned their work as a polemic against what they perceived as the widespread influence of traditions imported from China, especially Confucianism, for their alleged corruption of an autochthonic Japanese culture. Modern interpreters of kokugaku thereby focused on the issue of their revulsion of Chinese influence. Focusing on Motoori Norinaga, often considered the consummator of kokugaku, this article analyzes Norinaga's responses to interpretations of a possible Korean origin of Japanese culture and customs. By contriving commentaries that eliminated such possibilities, this article argues that Norinaga attempted to defend the traditional understanding of ancient Japan as entirely indigenous and unified ab initio.

韓國學硏究, 2022

조선에서 천한 신분으로 태어나 후금에 귀의하여 끝내 조선에 파견된 칙사의 지위까지 오른 정명수는 아마도 한국사상 최악의 매국노이자 악한으로 오늘날까지 기억되고 있다. 적개심에... more 조선에서 천한 신분으로 태어나 후금에 귀의하여 끝내 조선에 파견된 칙사의 지위까지 오른 정명수는 아마도 한국사상 최악의 매국노이자 악한으로 오늘날까지 기억되고 있다. 적개심에 가득 차 자신이 태어난 나라를 끝까지 괴롭혔다고 기억되는 정명수의 모습은 비현실적으로 과도할 지라도 원전(原典)을 찾아보면 실록을 포함한 조선시대의 많은 자료에 근거해 있다. 이 글에서는 인조대 『승정원일기』를 효종의 시대에 편찬된 『인조실록』과 대비해 읽는 방법을 이용해 우리가 알고 있는 정명수의 모습이 효종대의 정치적 의제 하에 만들어졌고 오늘날까지 재생산 되고 있다고 주장하였다. 마지막으로 『조선왕조실록』과 『승정원일기』의 사료적 가치를 둘러싼 최근의 논의에 대한 입장을 밝힌다. 실록을 역사적 사실들을 명백하게 나타낸다는 식으로 과도하게 이상화(理想化) 하거나 『승정원일기』가 후대에 개수되었으니 개수 당시의 정치적 의제를 반영한다는 주장들의 문제를 검토하여 이에 대한 반론을 내놓는다.

Journal of Japanese Studies, 2021

Scholars of early modern Japanese history have noted the imperial court's political insignificanc... more Scholars of early modern Japanese history have noted the imperial court's political insignificance and the lack of conflict most contemporaries supposedly saw between the emperor's institutionally supreme position and the fact that Japan's warlords had usurped power away from the emperor. This article draws on Korean visitors' observations of Japanese society during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries to challenge this view and reveal that the imperial court remained the only truly legitimate seat of power for many early modern Japanese elites, exposing the depths of fissures in the Japanese political order in ways most scholarship has overlooked.

Seoul Journal of Korean Studies, 2023

Journal of Asian Studies, 2022