Ch'oe Ch'ung (; 984 – October 13, 1068) was a

Korea Korea is a peninsular region in East Asia consisting of the Korean Peninsula, Jeju Island, and smaller islands. Since the end of World War II in 1945, it has been politically Division of Korea, divided at or near the 38th parallel north, 3 ...

n Confucian scholar and poet of the Haeju Ch'oe clan during the

Goryeo Goryeo (; ) was a Korean state founded in 918, during a time of national division called the Later Three Kingdoms period, that unified and ruled the Korea, Korean Peninsula until the establishment of Joseon in 1392. Goryeo achieved what has b ...

period. He has been called the grandfather of the Korean educational system.

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 (). Ch'oe founded the () 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 ''I Ching'' or ''Yijing'' ( ), usually translated ''Book of Changes'' or ''Classic of Changes'', is an ancient Chinese divination text that is among the oldest of the Chinese classics. The ''I Ching'' was originally a divination manual in ...

, the

Book of Documents The ''Book of Documents'' ( zh, p=Shūjīng, c=書經, w=Shu King) or the ''Classic of History'', is one of the Five Classics of ancient Chinese literature. It is a collection of rhetorical prose attributed to figures of ancient China, a ...

, the

Classic of Poetry The ''Classic of Poetry'', also ''Shijing'' or ''Shih-ching'', translated variously as the ''Book of Songs'', ''Book of Odes'', or simply known as the ''Odes'' or ''Poetry'' (; ''Shī''), is the oldest existing collection of Chinese poetry, co ...

, the Book of Etiquette and Ceremonial, the Rites of Zhou, the Book of Rites, the Zuo Zhuan, the

Gongyang Zhuan The ''Gongyang Zhuan'', also known as the ''Gongyang Commentary on the Spring and Autumn Annals'' or the ''Commentary of Gongyang'', is a commentary on the '' Spring and Autumn Annals'', and is thus one of the Chinese classics. Along with the '' Z ...

, and the

Guliang Zhuan The is considered one of the Chinese classics, classic books of ancient Chinese history. It is traditionally attributed to a writer with the surname of Guliang in the disciple tradition of Zixia, but versions of his name vary and there is no de ...

) and the 3 histories (the

Records of the Grand Historian The ''Shiji'', also known as ''Records of the Grand Historian'' or ''The Grand Scribe's Records'', is a Chinese historical text that is the first of the Twenty-Four Histories of imperial China. It was written during the late 2nd and early 1st ce ...

, the

Book of Han The ''Book of Han'' is a history of China finished in 111 CE, covering the Western, or Former Han dynasty from the first emperor in 206 BCE to the fall of Wang Mang in 23 CE. The work was composed by Ban Gu (32–92 CE), ...

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". On October 13, 1068, Ch'oe died. He was given the posthumous name of Munhŏn.

Family

* Father: Ch'oe On () ** 1st son: Ch'oe Yu-sŏn () ** 2nd son: Ch'oe Yu-gil () ** Daughter: Lady Ch'oe () *** Son-in-law: Kim Sŏng-su ()

Notes

References

Goryeo Confucianists 984 births 1068 deaths Korean educators Chung 11th-century Korean philosophers 11th-century Confucianists Sutaesa Jangwon {{Korea-reli-bio-stub