During the Joseon Dynasty, the king would select talented individuals through a series of examinations that posed current issues and asked for solutions. This was an important process for realizing Confucian ideals, providing opportunities for people from different classes to gain social status and contributing to the integration and development of society.
During the Joseon Dynasty, the pasteong was an important test for the king to select the talent he needed to realize his Confucian political ideals. The examination was conducted in several stages, with the final stage, the jiseon (殿試), where the king himself would present the candidates with problems of the day and ask them to solve them. The problems presented spanned almost all areas of society at the time, including politics, economics, military, and culture. In these exams, prospective officials would write about various measures to resolve the problem, which were known as book texts.
In the past, the exam was not just a test of academic knowledge, but also of the candidate’s morality and character. This reflects the political philosophy of Joseon, which was based on Confucian ideology, and the king and his officials believed that the moral character of officials played an important role in the stability and development of the country. As such, scholars preparing for the past exams put a lot of effort into not only their academic training, but also their moral training.
Because the thesis is a response to a question posed by the king, it follows a certain format. It begins with the words, “The gods answer [臣對] as follows,” followed by a lengthy but polite bow of praise to the king and humility to oneself, such as, “Since you have summoned us, who lack knowledge, to hear what we have to say that will benefit the kingdom in some small way, we are prepared to die.” In the text, he offers countermeasures to the criticism, citing various grounds. He concludes with an example, “God restrains me,” repeating the honorific, “I am willing to die for these words, but I am honest.”
When writing, the author draws from Confucian scriptures and historical texts. For scholars, Confucian texts presented universal ideals, and historical texts recorded the actual successes and failures of those ideals. They cited these texts to reveal what an ideal society should look like and what a king should be. For example, texts such as the Analects and Mencius sought guidance on the role of moral leaders and the ideal society, while history books analyzed past political events and their outcomes and applied them to solving current problems.
Beyond simply assessing academic knowledge, texts were also a tool to test a person’s insight and problem-solving abilities. In particular, the Joseon Dynasty’s past examinations emphasized fairness and transparency, so the evaluation of texts was very rigorous. Kings and high-ranking officials relied on the content of the texts to judge a candidate’s abilities and character, and to select people who could solve the country’s critical problems. As such, texts played an important role in Joseon political culture.
Joseon scholars studied abroad, cultivated their character, gained experience, and, when the time came, used the past to fulfill their aspirations. As the intellectual class of the time, their travels were a practical act of realizing Confucian ideals. The bokmun was the final stage of their travels, where they would present to the king the full extent of their learning and ambitions. As such, the bokmun was a text that sometimes contemplated the current issues of the time, sometimes denounced the absurdities of the times, and sometimes expressed their ambitions to usher in a new era.
In Joseon’s past, the examination system was not just a device for selecting officials, but also served to ensure social mobility and equality of opportunity. By giving people from all walks of life the opportunity to achieve social status based on their abilities and hard work, it contributed to the integration and development of society. In the past, talented individuals selected through the examination played important roles in various sectors of Joseon society, contributing to the development of the nation and the realization of Confucian ideals. They also contributed to raising the moral level of society by serving as examples to the people as leaders of learning and virtue.
Finally, the rigor and fairness of the past system provides important lessons for modern society. The importance of a fair assessment system to select talented and qualified individuals remains constant in any era. Historical examinations from the Joseon Dynasty are a great example of this principle, and they remain relevant today. In particular, in the modern world, fair talent selection is the basis for social trust and stability, which in turn can lead to the development and prosperity of society as a whole.
The talented individuals selected through the past examinations are active in various fields of Joseon’s politics, economy, and culture, and their achievements are still an inspiration to many today. The texts and other writings they left behind are important sources that reflect the spirit of the times and their awareness of the issues of the day, and they have inspired generations to come. Through these sources, we can learn from the wisdom and lessons of the Joseon Dynasty and use them to solve problems in the modern world.
