조극선(趙克善) 일기를 통해본 17세기 전반기의 과거 실태 = Some Aspects of Civil Service Examinations by Way of Cho Keuk-sun’s Diaries in 17^th Century

다국어 초록 (Multilingual Abstract)

The diaries of Mr. Cho Kuk-sun (조극선) over twenty years keep valuable descriptions of Civil Service Examinations (CSEs, in short: 과거) and a variety of scholar-official families’ daily lives (사족 생활) who lived in 17^th century at Duck-san (덕산), Choong-chung Province (충청도). It must be his intention that he tried to cover all of the examinations processes in detail, since the related curricula and admissions for CSEs were preserved in meticulous mode and thoroughly.
He passed a regular triennial examination at the first stage, Classics and Literary Licentiate Examination (henceforth CLLE: 생원진사시), in 1612, when he was 16 years old. Since then, he tried ten times over 24 years to pass the second stage, the so-called Congregation Examination at Metropolitan (회시), with no success, although he was successful to pass twice in CLLE division and eight times in Higher Erudite Examination (문과 초시). His diaries allow us to trace back what the examinations were like and how they were done in order for him to prepare.
He had hard training especially on composition in his adolescent period over the various classical genres from poems to essays with reference to famous Chinese stylists. He had committed, then, to learn Confucian Classics, keeping in mind all the verses of Four Classics (사서) after he was 24 years old. At the same time, he gradually became to understand Neo-confucian anthologies such as ‘Great Compendium on Human Nature and Principle’ (성리대전). He was a student of Mr. Park Ji-kye (박지계) and Mr. Cho Ik (조익) both of whom were enjoying their hermitage lives freely in secluded environment. It was ‘Reflections on Things at Hand’(근사록) complied by Chu Hsi(주희) and Lü Zuqian(여조겸) that he was actually guided by on what to read, step by step, further through. We can observe some contrast in the same period with the instance of Mr. Kim Young (김영), a hereditary elite, who was led by Zhen Dexiu’s (진덕수) ‘Anthology on Mind and Heart’ (심경) for his scholarly development, residing in the area of Kyeong-sang Do (cf. Cha Mi-hee 차미희 2013). The difference, however, seems not to reflect an areal tendency but to follow masters from whom they had been taught.
Although he applied for CLLE exams ten times, over thirteen years, he only passed twice. The precise descriptions of his prefectural examination applications, nine times, reveal the actual procedural and preparations especially on CLLE in the Right Sector of Choong-chung Province (충청 우도). For instance, the applicants from Ducksan area, his hometown, did not buy examination sheets (시지) but rather asked monks nearby at Kayasa Temple (가야사) to produce them in quality even with supply of good mulberry skins. They sometimes got involved to hammer the materials together in order to get fine resources for sheets. It also was very hard to reserve or rent a house for temporary stay for the period of examinations so that he was accompanied to apply for CLLEs, all the times, by his cousin Mr. Cho Chong-sun (종형 조종선).
It is very interesting to find his depictions on the very examination spot for CLLEs: applicants helped each other within the same group to answer their individual sheet, sitting seat by seat. They sometimes prepared composition tasks in group, and they also assisted each other to do a fair copy with admired calligraphy. Surprisingly, it did not seem to be banned in rigour as an improper way to help each other. His diary, moreover, tells us that a trend to consist of examiners for CLLEs (향시 시관 구성) got changed right after Injo Restoration (인조반정) in 1623.
After he applied seventeen times, in sum, for Higher Erudite Examination (문과 초시) and once for the division of Confucian Students (유생과), he passed eight time in total. In the ear of King Gwanghaegun (광해군 시대, 1608~1623), he got Composition Examinations (제술), three time, but, right after the Restoration by King Injo (인조 시대, 1623-1649), he could apply various types of the same level examinations for Higher Erudite Officials (문과) such as a Regular Triennial Examination (식년 문과), an Augmented Examination (증광 문과), a Special Examination (별시 문과), a Memorial Examination of Royal Visitation to Confucian Hall (알성 문과), a Palace Examination (정시 문과) and others. His expertise on Confucian Classics (경학) made him to pass the Disquisition Sector (논) with ease at the first level examination but it seemed that he was not able to do both jobs official services and scholarly learning (관직 생활 겸 경학 공부) altogether, after he was officially appointed to a governmental position.
The descriptions on the curricula and the tasks to prepare to pass for the government service examinations and his applications several times were so valuable to be complimentary with the relevant official documents for the examinations. His precise writings on learning processes with petty things around, in addition, help us to understand the literati culture broadly around the 17^th century.