Jeong Yak-yong facts for kids

In this Korean name, the family name is Jeong.

Quick facts for kids Korean name
Jeong Yak-yong

Hangul	정 약 용
Hanja	丁若鏞
Revised Romanization	Jeong Yak-yong
McCune–Reischauer	Chŏng Yagyong
Art name
Hangul	다 산
Hanja	茶山
Revised Romanization	Dasan
McCune–Reischauer	Tasan
Courtesy name
Hangul	미 용 or 송 보
Hanja	美鏞 or 頌甫
Revised Romanization	Miyong or Songbo
McCune–Reischauer	Miyong or Songbo
Posthumous name
Hangul	문 도
Hanja	文度
Revised Romanization	Mundo
McCune–Reischauer	Mundo

Jeong Yak-yong (born August 5, 1762 – died April 7, 1836) was a very smart Korean thinker. People often called him ‘Dasan’ (meaning ‘the mountain of tea’). He was an expert in farming, a deep thinker, and a poet.

Dasan was one of the most important thinkers in the later Joseon period. He wrote many influential books about philosophy, science, and how to run a government. He also held important jobs in the government and was known for his poetry. He was a close friend of King Jeongjo. His ideas are often linked to the Silhak school, which focused on practical learning. He also explored ideas from Confucianism.

Jeong Yak-yong was born and died in Gwangju, Gyeonggi Province. He spent 18 years living away from home in Gangjin County, South Jeolla Province. This was from 1801 to 1818. He was exiled because he belonged to the Southerners political group. Also, his older brother was a Catholic, which was not allowed at the time. Some Korean Catholics believe Jeong was baptized as John Baptist, but there is no clear proof. He came from the Naju Jeong family.

He had several names throughout his life. At birth, he was called Gwinong. Later, he was also known as Miyong and Songbu. His art names included Sa-am, Tagong, Taesu, Jahadoin, Cheolmasanin, Dasan, and Yeoyudang (the name of his house).

A Look at Dasan's Life
Dasan and the Tea Revival
Dasan's Ideas
What People Think of Dasan Today
His Family
See also

A Look at Dasan's Life

His Family Background

Dasan's father was Jeong Jae-won (1730–1792). Dasan had an older brother, Yak-hyeon, from his father's first wife. His other brothers, Jeong Yak-jong and Yak-jeon, and Dasan himself, were born to his father's second wife, Suk-in. There was also one daughter from this marriage.

Dasan's family had a history of working in government. However, their political group, the Southerners, lost power in 1694. This meant they couldn't hold official jobs for a while. Dasan's great-grandfather, Jeong Si-yun, retired to a house in Mahyeon-ri, which is where Dasan was born.

The Southerners regained some power during the reign of King Jeongjo. Dasan's father became a magistrate. But in 1762, a sad event happened: Crown Prince Sado was executed. This shocked Dasan's father, who then left his government job. He returned home, which is why Dasan was given the name Gwi’nong, meaning ‘back to farming’. Because his father was home, Dasan received a very strong education from him.

Dasan's interest in learning came from his family. A great scholar named Udam Jeong Si-han taught his ancestors. Udam's teachings were passed down through the family, reaching Dasan's father and then Dasan himself.

Dasan's mother's family also had famous scholars. Her great-grandfather was Gongjae Yun Du-seo, a well-known painter. He and his brother helped bring back the study of important classic books.

Dasan's Younger Years

Dasan was very bright from a young age. By age 6, his father noticed how observant he was. By age 9, he had already written some poems. In 1776, Dasan married Hong Hwabo. Her father was a royal secretary. That year, Dasan moved to Seoul because his father got a new job.

When he was 15, Dasan discovered the writings of Seongho Yi Ik. He was so impressed that he decided to dedicate his life to similar studies. In 1783, Dasan passed an important exam that allowed him to enter the Sungkyunkwan, a top school.

In 1784, King Jeongjo was very impressed by Dasan's smart answers to his questions. This was the start of a close friendship between the king and Dasan. In 1789, Dasan passed a higher civil service exam and got a job in the Office of Royal Decrees. This worried other political groups. They saw that the Southerners were being influenced by new ideas from Europe, and even by Catholicism.

In 1784, a scholar named Yi Byeok told Dasan about the new religion and gave him a book. While there's no proof Dasan became Catholic, his family was deeply involved. His sister married Yi Seung-hun, the first Korean baptized as a Catholic. His older brother, Jeong Yak-jong (Augustinus), became a leader of the first Catholic community. He was one of the first people killed in 1801 when King Jeongjo died suddenly.

In 1791, a relative of Dasan's mother, Yun Ji-chung, refused to perform traditional ancestral rituals because of his Catholic faith. This was seen as disrespectful, and he was executed. This event made some Koreans, who were initially open to Catholicism, turn away from it. Jeong Yak-yong might have been one of them.

Working for the King

Dasan was very interested in engineering. In 1792, he designed a pontoon bridge that impressed the king. The king then asked him to design and oversee the building of the Hwaseong Fortress walls in Suwon. This fortress was built around a palace where the king would stay. Dasan used new and creative building methods from Europe, China, and Japan.

In 1794, Dasan was promoted. The king sent him to Gyeonggi province to investigate reports of corruption.

In 1795, Dasan helped the king choose a new honorary title for his father, Crown Prince Sado. This was a sensitive task because of political rivalries. Dasan's group, the Southerners, strongly supported the king's wishes. The king was very grateful. However, it was safer for Dasan to leave the court for a while. He was sent to manage a post station in South Pyeongan province.

While there, Dasan showed he was against Catholicism. He tried to convince Catholics working there to give up their faith and perform ancestral rites. It seems the Catholic rejection of these traditional rituals was why he turned against them. In 1796, he returned to Seoul and was promoted. But his enemies kept accusing him of supporting Catholics. So, he chose to become a county magistrate in Goksan, Hwanghae province.

In 1799, he even went back to his family home. But King Jeongjo called him back to Seoul in 1800.

Years in Exile

In the summer of 1800, King Jeongjo died suddenly. The new king, King Sunjo, was only 11 years old. Power went to Queen Dowager Kim, the widow of a previous king. Her family was against the reformist Southerners and Catholics. She immediately started a crackdown on Catholics, calling them traitors.

Jeong Yak-jong, Dasan's older brother and the head of the Catholic community, was arrested and executed in 1801. Yi Seung-hun was also killed. Dasan's nephew, Jeong Cheol-sang, died a month later.

Because he was Jeong Yak-jong's brother, Jeong Yak-yong was sent into exile for a few months in Janggi fortress. He was questioned and found not to be a Catholic believer. However, what led to his long exile in Gangjin was the "Silk Letter Incident." Hwang Sa-yeong, who was married to Dasan's younger sister, wrote a long letter to the bishop in Beijing. In it, he described the persecution and asked for foreign armies to intervene in Korea. This letter was intercepted. It was used to show that Catholics were enemies of the state.

The persecution became much worse. If it hadn't been clear that Jeong Yak-yong and Jeong Yak-jeon were not Catholic believers, they would have been executed. Instead, they were exiled together. They parted ways at Naju. Jeong Yak-jeon went to Heuksando island, and Dasan went to Gangjin.

Dasan's exile began in late 1801. He arrived in Gangjin, South Jeolla Province, with little money and no friends. He found shelter in a small room at a poor tavern. He called his room “Sauijae,” meaning “room of four obligations.” These were clear thinking, serious appearance, quiet talking, and sincere actions. He lived there until 1805.

By 1805, things had changed in Seoul. Queen Dowager Kim had died, and the young king was old enough to rule. He quickly stopped the violence against Catholics. Dasan was then free to move around the Gangjin area. In 1805, he met a monk named Hyejang at Baeknyeon-sa Temple. They became close friends.

Later that year, Hyejang helped Dasan move out of the tavern. For nearly a year, he lived in a small hermitage at Goseong-sa temple. Finally, in 1808, he moved into a simple house with a thatched roof. This house belonged to a distant relative of his mother. It overlooked Gangjin and its bay. Dasan spent the next ten years of his exile there, until 1818. This place is now known as “Dasan Chodang.” The hill behind the house was called Da-san (tea-mountain), which became the name he is known by today. Here, he taught students and wrote. He collected over a thousand books in his study.

During his exile, Dasan wrote a huge amount. He wrote about 14,000 pages. His main goal was to create a plan for how to govern the country correctly, based on Confucian ideas. He wrote about politics, ethics, economy, science, medicine, and music. After his exile, Dasan published his most important works. These included books on law (Heumheumsinseo), language (Aeongakbi), diplomacy (Sadekoryesanbo), and government (Mongminsimseo and Gyeongsesiryeong).

Dasan stayed in Gangjin until 1818. Then, he was allowed to return to his family home near Seoul. Attempts to bring him back into government were blocked by political rivalries. He used Yeoyudang as his last pen-name. This was the name of his quiet family home near the Han River. He lived there until he died in 1836, on his sixtieth wedding anniversary.

Dasan and the Tea Revival

Dasan had been living in Gangjin for several years when the monk Hyejang arrived at Paengnyeon-sa temple. Dasan's health had suffered from poor food during his exile. He had stomach problems. Dasan and Hyejang met in April 1805. Soon after, Dasan sent Hyejang a poem asking for tea leaves from the temple hill.

This poem shows that Dasan already knew tea had medicinal value. It also suggests he knew how to prepare tea leaves. People often thought Dasan learned about tea from Hyejang. But their poems suggest that Hyejang and other monks actually learned how to make a type of caked tea from Dasan.

This means Dasan might have been the main reason tea became popular again. In 1809, another monk named Cho-ui visited Dasan in Gangjin. He studied with Dasan for several months. It seems likely that Cho-ui learned about tea from Dasan. He adopted Dasan's old way of making caked tea.

Later, in 1830, Cho-ui shared his tea with scholars in Seoul. They wrote poems to celebrate this new drink. Cho-ui became very close to Chusa Kim Jeong-hui. Kim Jeong-hui even brought him tea gifts during his exile. A letter from Dasan about his caked tea method survived. It was sent in 1830 to his youngest student. Dasan wrote: “You must steam the picked leaves three times and dry them three times. Then grind them very finely. Mix this with spring water and pound it like clay into small cakes. Only then is it good to drink.”

Dasan's Ideas

Jeong Yak-yong is famous for bringing together the ideas of Korean Confucian thought. He wrote widely about law, political ideas, and classic Korean Confucian texts. He wanted to bring Korean Confucian studies back to the original ideas of Confucius. He called this "Susa" learning, named after two rivers in Confucius's homeland.

Jeong published many books. His most famous is Mokminsimseo (The Mind of Governing the People). He was very worried about poverty at the time. He believed that the government and its officials should play a big role in solving poverty. Dasan emphasized that governors must rule people with honesty and fairness. He thought the government should help its people, and the people should be treated with care.

Dasan believed that scholars of his time were focusing on unimportant things. He argued that learning should focus on more important matters like music, rituals, and law. He also thought that the exams for government jobs should be changed to focus on these practical concerns.

His "Ye" Philosophy

Dasan wrote a lot about "Ye" philosophy. "Ye" refers to Confucian order and proper conduct. For example, his main work on how to manage a state, Gyeongse Yupyo, was originally called Bangnye Chobon (Draft for the Country's Rites). This shows how much he used the idea of "Ye" in his thinking. He focused this idea on good government. Later, he expanded it into his studies of classic texts and natural sciences.

Ideas on Sacrificial Rites

Dasan's ideas about Korean-style sacrificial rites show his concern for good government. He wanted to encourage people to practice human values every day. He aimed to make traditional society stronger, based on "Ye" (Confucian order).

In Mokminsimseo, Dasan explained how people understand and perform rituals. He said that thinking about the ritual object makes your mind focus on it. This focus then leads to respect and purity during the ritual. He believed that rituals are important when done with sincerity and seriousness. Dasan wanted to control overly fancy rituals by scholars and limit popular cults. He thought some Confucian rituals were impractical, and popular cults were too wild. He wanted to make rituals more about careful respect and active thought.

Land Reform Ideas

Land reform was an important topic for thinkers like Dasan. He built upon earlier ideas for land reform. Instead of the government owning all the land, Dasan suggested a "village land system." In this system, the village would own its land together and farm it as a whole. The crops would then be divided based on how much work each person contributed.

What People Think of Dasan Today

Professor Peng Lin at Qinghua University in Beijing studies Dasan's work on rituals.

In Korea today, there is a huge new interest in Jeong Yak-yong's ideas. For a long time, some people even doubted if there was such a thing as Korean philosophy. After Korea's liberation in 1945, Western philosophy became very popular in universities. So, Dasan is very important because he was excited about modern Western ideas but also deeply valued Confucianism. He didn't just defend old traditions. He wanted to keep the good values from early Chinese times because they were a strong foundation for people and society.

His Family

Father: Jeong Jae-won (정재원, 丁載遠; 1730–1792)
- Grandfather: Jeong Ji-hae (정지해, 丁志諧; 1712–1756)
- Grandmother: Lady, of the Pungsan Hong clan (부인 풍산 홍씨; 1712–1753)
Mother:
- Biological: Lady Yun So-on of the Haenam Yun clan (윤소온, 尹小溫, 부인 해남 윤씨; 1728–1770)
  - Older brother: Jeong Yak-jeon (정약전, 丁若銓; 1758–1816)
  - Older brother: Jeong Yak-jong (정약종, 丁若鍾; 1760–1801)
    - Nephew: Jeong Ha-sang (정하상, 丁夏祥; d. 1839)
    - Niece: Lady Jeong Jeong-hye (정정혜, 丁情惠; d. 1839)
  - Older sister: Lady Jeong (부인 정씨)
    - Older brother-in-law: Yi Seung-hun (이승훈, 李承薰)
Wife: Lady, of the Pungsan Hong clan (부인 풍산 홍씨; 1761–1839)
- 1st son: Jeong Hak-yeon (정학연, 丁學淵; 1783–1859)
- 2nd son: Jeong Hak-yu (정학유, 丁學游; 1786–1855)
- 3rd daughter: Lady Jeong (부인 정씨; b. 1793)