Northern Learning Silhak scholar and scientific thinker; author of Uisan Mundap
| Life | 1731 ~ 1783 |
| Era | 조선 후기 |
| Clan | 남양 홍씨 |
Hong Dae-yong (洪大容, 1731–1783) was a late Joseon Silhak scholar and scientific thinker. His courtesy name was Deokbo, and his pen names were Damheon and Hongji. His clan seat was Namyang, and he belonged to the Jeonghyo-gong branch of the Tohong line. Born in Sushin-myeon, in present-day Cheonan, he studied under Kim Won-haeng and was a pioneer of the Northern Learning school, a close friend of Park Ji-won and Bak Je-ga.
He built a private observatory, the Nongsugak, near his home and made an armillary sphere and other instruments. In 1765 he accompanied his uncle Hong Eok, secretary of an embassy, to Beijing, where he spent about three months discussing scholarship with the Qing scholars Yan Cheng, Pan Tingyun and Lu Fei, and met the European Jesuit astronomer Hallerstein, director of the Qing astronomical bureau, at the Catholic church.
In his best-known work, Uisan Mundap, he argued that the earth is round and rotates and that the universe is infinite, and on that basis relativized the China-centered view of civilization. In Imha Gyeongnyun he proposed abolishing the civil examinations in favor of recommendation and educating all children from age eight without discrimination. He also wrote a mathematics text, and his writings were collected as Damheonseo.
Never successful in the examinations, he entered office through the protection privilege in 1774 and later served as magistrate of Yeongcheon. When he died in late 1783, his friend Park Ji-won wrote his epitaph. Today the Hong Dae-yong Science Museum stands in Cheonan, and an asteroid bears his name.
His family ties were wide: a daughter of his cousin Hong Dae-hyeon married Prince Eunsin, son of Crown Prince Sado, and the adoptive mother of Kim Jeong-hui was his cousin. Kim Jeong-hui later studied under Hong's friend Bak Je-ga.