Silhak scholar of Suwon who submitted policy proposals to Jeongjo and Sunjo and wrote the Cheonillok; pen name Chwiseoksil
| Life | 1741 ~ 1812 |
| Era | 조선 후기 |
| Clan | 단양 우씨 |
U Ha-yeong (1741-1812) was a late Joseon scholar of the Danyang clan, with courtesy name Daeyu (sometimes written with a different final character) and pen names Chwiseoksil and Chwiseokdang. A native of Suwon, he passed the first stages of the examination but never the final one, and devoted his life to study.
In the 20th year of Jeongjo (1796), when the king issued a call for opinions, he responded with a policy memorial, and in the 4th year of Sunjo (1804) he responded to another call by presenting the Cheonillok ("Record of a Thousand Days"). In it he held to a physiocratic outlook that treats agriculture as the foundation, yet argued for commercial agriculture. He opposed the collapse of the medieval status order but accepted social mobility for the economically capable, expressing the thought of a society changing in the late 18th and early 19th centuries.
He is regarded as a rural scholar who observed local conditions directly and proposed institutional improvements. His tomb lies within the Chuyeon U Seong-jeon tomb precinct at Sukgok-ri, Maesong-myeon, Hwaseong, designated Gyeonggi-do Cultural Heritage Material No. 121 on 21 April 2003. He shows one current of late Joseon Gyeonggi scholarship within the Danyang U clan's intellectual tradition.
His memorial reportedly contained ten articles on a ruler's virtue and ten on current abuses, drawn from the essential parts of the Cheonillok he had been writing. The Cheonillok has been studied as a work centered on agriculture that treats regional features such as natural conditions, distribution of fields, main crops, farming methods and productivity, and some assessments say it proposed a wide range of policies for society as a whole. His Chwiseoksil by the Eorangcheon stream in Suwon is described as the place where he compiled his learning.
He replied to Jeongjo's call for opinions in 1796 with a policy memorial and presented the Cheonillok to Sunjo in 1804.
He took agriculture as the base yet argued for commercial agriculture, opposing the collapse of the status order while accepting mobility for the economically capable. U Seong-jeon also lies in the same Hwaseong precinct.
His tomb lies in the Chuyeon U Seong-jeon tomb precinct (including the U Ha-yeong precinct) at Sukgok-ri, Maesong-myeon, Hwaseong, designated Gyeonggi-do Cultural Heritage Material No. 121 on 21 April 2003.