Professor David William Kim, a Fellow of the Royal Historical Society (UK), serves at the Institute of Korean Studies at the University of London—which is renowned worldwide for its programs in Oriental and African Studies (SOAS: School of Oriental and African Studies), delivered a public lecture titled “The Philosophical Encumbrance of Sarim in the Kimyo Literati Purge (1519))—one of the four major literary purges of the Joseon Dynasty that is not well known abroad. This served as an opportunity to introduce classical texts, the Joseon Dynasty, political factions, Sarim politics, and Buddhist legal thought to British scholars—who are typically strong in the fields of contemporary Korean art, international diplomacy, and K-Culture—in a fresh light. The University of London, a public university established in 1836 by a Royal Charter, plays a vital role in expanding educational opportunities and advancing scholarship in the United Kingdom. According to QS and THE (global university ranking agencies), it maintains a world-class reputation in research, education, and international collaboration and is recognized as a leading institution of higher education that has produced numerous Nobel laureates (84). Below is a brief summary of the public lecture.

Topic: Royal Joseon Sogyokso and Popcho: The Philosophical Encumbrance of Sarim in the Kimyo Literati Purge (1519)

The early modern history of the Joseon dynasty (1392–1910) in East Asia is often depicted as an era of political conflict between the king, the Hun’gu faction, and the Sarim faction. The four major Sahwa (literati purges) reflect its seriousness through which Neo-Confucian scholars were sacrificed by the punishments of execution, exile, or dismissal. The Kimyo Sahwa was the most notorious incident for the Chinese ideology of the Sarim political party. What, then, happened in 1519? What kind of social transformation occurred in relation to the Sungkyunkwan scholars (the national university of the era)? Why did the public office of Daoist Sogyŏksŏ become one of the most controversial issues at the Joseon court? How was the royal shrine of Samch’ŏngjŏn criticised by the leaders of the Sarim faction? This paper explores the politico-religious landscape of early modern Korea through the key features of Jungjong coup (Royal Coup of 1506), Jo Gwangjo (1482–1520) and ‘the Literati Purge of 1519’, and argues the critical insight that the Daoist rituals and sacred sites (altars for the sky, stars, and gods) were traditionally maintained in the Pŏpcho philosophy of the Royal sovereignty even if the culture of Jongmyo (ancestral altars) and Sajik (altars of soil and grain) were legally implemented at the beginning of the Confucian Joseon.

For further details, see: https://www.soas.ac.uk/about/event/royal-joseon-sogyokso-and-popcho-philosophical-encumbrance-sarim-kimyo-literati-purge