Rethinking the Literary Identity of Hanjŏngnok: The Shishuo-Style as a Mode of P’ilgi Writing

This study problematizes the scholarly reluctance to define the generic attributes of Hanjŏngnok and argues that the work should be situated within the tradition of sesŏlch’e (anecdotal style prose, Ch. shishuoti 世說體, lit. “Shishuo style”) that began with Shishuo xinyu (世說新語). Among the three major sources that form the basis of Hanjŏngnok, the most crucial is Shishuo xinyu itself. The paper contends that citing Sochang chŏnggi (Ch. Xiao chuang qingji 小窓淸紀) as the primary source on the grounds of its higher citation frequency is misguided, as Sochang chŏnggi is itself a Ming-dynasty sesŏlch’e text and a variation on Shishuo xinyu. Hanjŏngnok emerges as a derivative branch of this mainstream anecdotal tradition and may be understood as part of the sesŏlch’e revival led by literati in Jiangnan during the Ming, such as He Liangjun (何良俊) and Wang Shizhen (王世貞). However, Hanjŏngnok differs from these figures in its lack of anti-Neo-Confucian tendencies and its more reserved stance on material culture. The paper also draws attention to the work’s inclusion of practical agricultural knowledge—such as the section on farming techniques (“Chinong”)—presented on par with literary excerpts. This feature suggests that Hanjŏngnok should be read as a product of reading strategies designed for efficient information absorption, and as a continuation of the p’ilgi (筆記, Ch. biji) tradition to which Shishuo xinyu also belongs.