Pak Chiwon

He was born into a noble family, which, however, was not rich, and his father could not get a significant promotion in the service. He lost his mother early and was brought up by his grandfather. From childhood, it was reportedly distinguished by good health and excellent memory. In 1752 (at the age of 16) he was engaged to the daughter of a wealthy merchant, whose older brother helped him get books. From a young age, he had a penchant for studying the classical works of Chinese, Korean and Japanese literature, often read at night, and was also interested in mathematics. Since 1754, he began to suffer from depression and insomnia. In 1760, his grandfather died, after which Pak Chivon was left virtually without a livelihood; since 1765, he began wandering around the country, spreading his teachings, and soon gained many disciples of supporters. In 1770, he tried unsuccessfully to pass state exams. At that time, his opposition to the government intensified, and in order to avoid persecution, he fled to the Yenam gorge near Gimcheon (hence his pseudonym), where he studied agricultural sciences.

In 1780, after returning to Seoul, he took a five-month trip (from May to October) to Qing China as part of the Joseon embassy in order to better familiarize himself with its culture and technology. Since 1786, with the help of relatives, he was able to finally enter the civil service, holding various positions, and participated, in particular, in the creation of one of the first Korean enterprises. He was forced to stop his literary activity in 1792, when an imperial decree was introduced banning the export of texts from China, imposing strict censorship and restoring the classical literary style of writing essays, but remained in the public service. In 1800, he headed the Yangyang County, but resigned less than a year later. In 1803 he suffered a stroke, due to which the right side of his body was paralyzed. He died two years later.

He actively advocated the borrowing of scientific knowledge and industrial experience from Qing China and European civilizations, called for the development of trade with the outside world and industry in the country, as well as for the elimination of class inequality, endowment of poor peasants with land and limitation of possessions of large yanban landowners. Like other Korean scholars, representatives of the Sirhakpha, he criticized the parasitism of the Yanbans, whom he accused of Korea’s economic and cultural backwardness, and Confucian teaching from the standpoint of the natural sciences.

His earliest known works are seven short stories published in the collection “The Unofficial History of the Pangyongak Pavilion”, of which the most famous are “The Legend of Kwan Moon”, “The Legend of Yo Dok”, “The Legend of Yangan” and “The Legend of Young Girls” (written circa 1754). The largest essay by Pak Chivon is the "Zhehei Diary" (10 books, 26 parts, written in the 80s of the XVIII century), which are travel notes about a trip to China. The Zhehei diary also includes the satirical allegorical short story The Scolding of the Tiger and the philosophical and utopian work The Tale of Ho Sen, where the thinker depicts the ideal society of universal equality and prosperity, in his opinion. Peru Pak Chivon also owns philosophical and lyric-landscape poems (42 poems have been preserved), filled with patriotic pathos and faith in a better future, and literary and critical articles in which he, in particular, speaks about the important role of literature in educating society. A collection of his works was released in Korea in 1910.

• 최정동, 《연암 박지원 과 열하 를 가다》. 푸른 역사. 2005 년. ISBN 89-91-51010-8 .

• E. M. Zhukov Ch. editor. Pak Chi Won // Soviet Historical Encyclopedia. - Moscow: publishing house "Soviet Encyclopedia", 1967. - T. 10 NAHIMSON-PERGAM. - S. [736] (stb. 1040 with ill. And maps.). - 59,500 copies.

• Park Chi Won - article from the Great Soviet Encyclopedia .
• Article in the Literary Encyclopedia.
• Biography (cor.).