안정복 安鼎福
Silhak scholar and historian, author of Dongsa gangmok; pen name Sunam
| Life | 1712 ~ 1791 |
| Era | 조선 후기 |
| Clan | 광주 안씨 |
Life & career
An Jeong-bok (1712-1791) was a Silhak scholar and historian of late Joseon from Gwangju. His courtesy name was Baeksun and his pen names included Sunam (順庵); he was born in Jecheon and died at Deokgok-ri (Teotgol) in Gwangju, Gyeonggi. A disciple of Yi Ik, he made statecraft his goal and left Dongsa gangmok, a general history from Gojoseon to the end of Goryeo, first completed in 1759.
His family had declined since his grandfather's time, and frail in health and moving often with his father, who lived as an unemployed scholar, he began the Elementary Learning only at ten. Even so he read widely through self-study and family learning, from classics and history to military texts, medicine and divination. In 1749 he entered service by hereditary privilege and later served as a censor in the Office of the Inspector-General.
From 1772 he tutored the Crown Prince's heir (later King Jeongjo), and in 1776 as magistrate of Mokcheon he enforced village codes and set up an epidemic office. In old age he sharply criticized Catholicism in Cheonhakgo and Cheonhak mundap (1785). He rose to Gaseon daebu in 1790, was posthumously given the title Lord of Gwangseong in 1801 and received the posthumous title Munsuk in 1871.
The Path of Learning: Self-Study and Yi Ik's Circle
An's early learning came from family teaching and reading. After his grandfather left office for Mt. Jeoksang in Muju he lived there, and after his death in 1735 he returned to Deokgok-ri and built a small house called Sunam. He wrote Chitong-do and Dotong-do in 1737, Chihyeonbo and Hyangsabeop the next year, and in 1740, aged 29, Hahak jinam. In 1744 he read Yu Hyeong-won's Banggye surok and was deeply moved.
In 1746 he visited Yi Ik in Ansan and became his disciple. He associated with Yun Dong-gyu and Yi Byeong-hyu as peers and seniors, and with Gwon Cheol-sin, Yi Gi-yang, Yi Ga-hwan and Hwang Deok-gil as juniors. Because his habits of thought were formed by 35 through family study, he is considered the most conservative of the Geun-gi Namin scholars.
Dongsa gangmok and His View of History
Dongsa gangmok began from Yu Hyeong-won's preface rules and was written with Yi Ik's advice, so it is seen as the fruit of the Yu - Yi - An line of scholarship. It arranges history from Gojoseon to late Goryeo in the gangmok style, and he kept refining it after the first completion in 1759. He is credited with a balanced view that treated Balhae as part of Korean history and Silla as legitimate.
More than twenty works survive, including Yeoljo tonggi, Imgwan jeongyo (said to have influenced Jeong Yak-yong's Mokmin simseo), Seongho saseol yuseon, Japdong sani and the collected works Sunamjip.
Criticism of Catholicism and His Last Years
As interest in Catholicism and Wang Yangming's thought grew among Yi Ik's disciples, An took a clear stand against heterodoxy. In 1785 he wrote Cheonhakgo and Cheonhak mundap, criticizing Catholic ideas of the afterlife as a denial of this world, and sent letters to his disciple and in-law Gwon Cheol-sin and his son-in-law Gwon Il-sin to dissuade them. For this he was honored in 1801 by the Noron Byeokpa faction, then persecuting Catholics, and is regarded as the most conservative of the Geun-gi Namin.
His living was modest; he is said to have burned charcoal with his servants to buy back clan land he had sold. At the foot of Mt. Yeongjang in his home village stands the Itaekjae (Yeotaekjae), where he kept the family ancestral rites and taught students; destroyed once, it was rebuilt in the 1970s with government aid.
Grave
Jungdae-dong, Gwangju, Gyeonggi (formerly Jungdae-ri, Gyeongan-myeon). The graves of his step-great-grandfather An Sin-haeng and grandson An Cheol-jung are below his tomb, with the Itaekjae at the entrance.
Descendants
His son An Gyeong-jeung and son-in-law Gwon Il-sin are known; descendants live around the Sunam head house at Teotgol, Gwangju.
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