박지원 朴趾源

Late Joseon Silhak scholar and prose master; leading figure of the Northern Learning (Bukhak) school; art name Yeonam (燕巖)

Life & career

Park Ji-won, styled Yeonam, belonged to the Bannam Park clan and led the Bukhak (Northern Learning) school, which sought to reform Joseon by adopting the advanced technology and institutions of Qing China. After moving near Seoul's White Pagoda in 1768 he formed a close circle with fellow reformist scholars such as Park Je-ga, Yi Seo-gu, and Yu Deuk-gong, who became his followers and collaborators.

Following a 1780 diplomatic mission to Qing China, he wrote the travelogue Jehol Diary (Yeolha Ilgi), articulating his practical, “benefit the people's welfare” philosophy, and skewered the contradictions of the yangban aristocracy in satirical Chinese-language tales such as “The Tale of Heosaeng,” “The Tale of a Yangban,” and “The Tiger's Rebuke.”

In his later years he served as a local magistrate in several counties. His eldest son was adopted into the family of his brother Park Hui-won, while his grandson Park Gyu-su (1807-1877) became a pioneer of the Enlightenment movement and rose to deputy prime minister. His grave in Jangdan County, Gyeonggi Province, was lost track of after the Korean War before being restored in the 1990s.

Grave

Daesehyeon, Songseo-myeon, Jangdan-gun, Gyeonggi-do

Descendants

His grandson Park Gyu-su (朴珪壽, 1807-1877), who served as Right State Councillor, was a pioneer of enlightenment thought.

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