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The article discusses the social poems of eighteenth and nineteenth century Korean poet Chŏng Yagyong, or Tasan, focusing on the concept of human subjectivity and the relationship of self and other in his work. Several characteristics of his poetry are examined, including realism, anthropocentrism, and ethnic self-consciousness. The author comments on the relation of Tasan's poems to Neo-Confucianism and classical Confucianism, noting moral and ethical engagement in his work. Tasan's Sŏhak, or Western Learning, is also discussed.