Ch'oe Ch'ung

In this Korean name, the family name is Ch'oe.
Ch'oe Ch'ung
Portrait of Choe Chung
Korean name
Hangul
최충
Hanja
崔沖
Revised RomanizationChoe Chung
McCune–ReischauerCh'oe Ch'ung
Art name
Hangul
성재, 월포, 방회재
Hanja
惺齋, 月圃, 放晦齋
Revised RomanizationSeongjae, Wolpo, Banghoejae
McCune–ReischauerSŏngch'ae, Wol'po, Pangh'oech'ae
Courtesy name
Hangul
호연
Hanja
浩然
Revised RomanizationHoyeon
McCune–ReischauerHoyŏn
Posthumous name
Hangul
문헌
Hanja
文憲
Revised RomanizationMunheon
McCune–ReischauerMunhŏn

Ch'oe Ch'ung (Korean: 최충; Hanja: 崔沖; 984 – October 13, 1068[a]) was a Korean Confucian scholar and poet of the Haeju Ch'oe clan during the Goryeo period. He has been called the grandfather of the Korean educational system.[1]

Biography

Ch'oe Ch'ung was born in 984, to the Haeju Ch'oe clan, which was of Silla aristocratic origins. In 1005, he took and passed the chinsa degree examination with the highest marks. In 1047, he was promoted to the position of chancellor (문하시중; 門下侍中; munha sijung).[2]

Ch'oe founded the School of Nine Studies [ko] (구재학당; 九齋學堂; kujae haktang) in the capital city of Kaegyong, a private school for the children of aristocratic families to prepare them for the civil service examinations. The academy taught pupils the Nine Confucian Classics (the I Ching, the Book of Documents, the Classic of Poetry, the Book of Etiquette and Ceremonial, the Rites of Zhou, the Book of Rites, the Zuo Zhuan, the Gongyang Zhuan, and the Guliang Zhuan) and the 3 histories (the Records of the Grand Historian, the Book of Han and the Book of the Later Han). The success of the school and its pupils led other leading Confucian scholars to establish similar own private educational institutions. Due to Ch'oe's efforts in popularizing the private school system, his contemporaries would nickname him the "Confucius of Korea".[2][3]

On October 13, 1068, Ch'oe died.[4] He was given the posthumous name of Munhŏn.[3]

Family

  • Father: Ch'oe On (최온; 崔溫)
    • 1st son: Ch'oe Yu-sŏn (최유선; 崔惟善)
    • 2nd son: Ch'oe Yu-gil (최유길; 崔惟吉)
    • Daughter: Lady Ch'oe (부인 최씨; 夫人 崔氏)
      • Son-in-law: Kim Sŏng-su (김성수; 金成洙)

Notes

  1. ^ In the Korean calendar (lunisolar), he died on the 15th day of the 9th Lunar month.

References

  1. ^ Yang, Key P.; Henderson, Gregory (1958). "An Outline History of Korean Confucianism: Part I: The Early Period and Yi Factionalism". The Journal of Asian Studies. 18 (1): 81–101. doi:10.2307/2941288. ISSN 0021-9118.
  2. ^ a b Kang, Hi-Woong (1964). "The Ruling Stratum of Early Koryŏ". The development of the Korean ruling class from late Silla to early Koryo (PhD thesis). University of Washington. ProQuest 302110231. Retrieved 18 July 2023.
  3. ^ a b 최충(崔沖). Encyclopedia of Korean Culture (in Korean). Retrieved 14 November 2023.
  4. ^ 수태사 중서령으로 치사한 최충이 죽다. 고려시대 (in Korean).


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