We will see after reading what King Sejong had to say in 1429. The Veritable Records of King Sejong, Volume 44, Year 11 (1429), Month 5, Day 28, Entry 4 ○上謂代言等曰: “儒生能治四書五經及《三場文選》、《源流至論》之類, 亦可能製述, 而應擧矣。 The King said to the royal secretaries, “Confucian scholars can master writing by first studying the Four Books and the […]
How does this idea sound? Would this be feasible in pre-modern times? Let us find out what King Sejong thought. The Veritable Records of King Sejong, Volume 36, Year 9 (1427), Month 4, Day 6, Entry 2 ○司諫院左司諫金涉等上疏曰: Left Censor 司諫院左司諫 Kim Seop 金涉 and others memorialized as follows: 臣等竊謂舊制, 各道都觀察使節制使及經歷都事, 廣選於時散臣僚, 皆下批而遣之, […]
Here the issue is described only in economic terms, but moral concerns were also raised in other entries of the Sillok. King Sejong discusses the matter toward the end of his dialogue with the chief royal secretary. Prior to that, other matters including the advisability of the newly introduced practice of daily holding a one-on-one royal interview […]
You can find out in the following entry. If you want to skip legal jargon and cut to the chase, please scroll down and search for “Earlier,” which is a Sillok scribe’s cue that he is going to describe the events that had happened before the King issued his final decision, which the scribe records at the […]

On September 21st, 2018, presentations on the Sillok research and translation were held before the board members of the Union Académique Internationale (UAI) in a conference room at the Kyujanggak Institute for Korean Studies, Seoul National University. First, Hacksun Cha, a Sillok researcher and translator, made a presentation titled “The Current State of Sillok Translation […]

Tae-jin Yi Professor Emeritus, Seoul National University The coronavirus known as COVID-19 is dealing a heavy blow to the world. Some even say that the global economy is grinding to a halt. In this urgent situation, is there any room for the field of history, which deals with the past, to have a voice? In […]

Case 1. Burning Torches like Candles Description under the picture (translated from German): In the year 1570 on the 12th of January 4 hours into the night this extraordinary sign appeared in the sky between the North and the East. At first a very black cloud appeared like a large mountain and in this cloud […]


Professor Yi Tae-Jin of Seoul National University, a noted historian and former president of the National Institute of Korean History, relates his stunning discovery about a peculiar period in European history as follows. When Professor Yi visited Ottawa, Canada, he saw a painting displayed in one of its museums. He was stunned. The picture depicted […]