The role of the Liji in the formation of early Chosŏn society

The transmission to Korea of the Chinese classics with the Song commentaries coincided with a time of crisis besetting the country’s society. Or, to put it another way, the social and intellectual crisis that affected all aspects of life in late Koryŏ 高麗 (918–1392) provided a receptive field for the appealing picture of an ordered society the classics portrayed. The classics’ elaboration of ritualism and morality promised to serve as a potent weapon against Buddhism and, at the same time, end...