A Study of the Prose of Wanam (浣巖) Jeong Nae-gyo (鄭來僑) -The Age of Desire as Viewed by a Poor Jungin (中人)-

This study is the first comprehensive attempt to analyze the entire body of prose by Jeong Nae-gyo (鄭來僑). It approaches his writings by considering both his personal background and the historical context of the early 18th century. Although Jeong was an impoverished Jungin (中人), he maintained close ties with the elite ruling class. His era was marked by an intensifying desire for wealth and success, alongside significant upheaval among the ruling elite. Rather than merely depicting his personal conflict between poetry and livelihood, Jeong ascribed a positive meaning to poverty through the notion of jolbak (拙樸, unrefined simplicity), presenting it as a value superior to wealth and success. He shed light on the yeohangin (閭巷人, urban commoners) who upheld moral and intellectual values despite adverse economic and social conditions, depicting this self-definition as extending into a sense of moral responsibility toward those similarly disadvantaged. Moreover, his prose expresses a critical awareness that the greed of the ruling class not only led to their own downfall but also fueled the exploitation of the lower classes. Jeong’s prose can thus be seen as a response from the perspective of a poor Jungin to an age dominated by desire. The significance of his prose lies in its critical engagement with the underlying causes of social problems, through which it identifies the restraint of desire as an alternative value.