Song-Jeong Cho, Yong's life and Academic Status

This text examines the life and academic characteristics of Cho, Yong(趙庸), a prominent scholar and official active in the late Goryeo and early Joseon periods. Cho, Yong served as the Sungkyunkwan-Daesaseong for over 20 years. The reason for focusing on him is to provide a reflective critique of the existing scholarly tradition(道統, Do-Tong) of the Sarim (Confucian scholars). However, due to the scarcity of sources, there are limitations in fully revealing his true nature. As expected, there is also no prior research on him. Nonetheless, the text attempts to reconstruct his bureaucratic life and, through the study of his teacher Jeong, Mong-ju and his disciple Yun, Sang, offers insights into his academic pursuits. First of all, Cho, Yong was a bureaucrat for most of his life. After passing the Civil Service Examination in 1374, he had a relatively smooth career in the civil service, holding several important positions during the historical transition from the late Goryeo to the early Joseon dynasty, including ‘Ganui-Daebu(諫議大夫)’, ‘Seja-Bingaek(世子賓客)’, ‘Yehmungwan-Daejehak(藝文館大提學)’ and ‘Sungkyunkwan-Daesaseong(成均館大司成)’. In particular, he was strong in character, excelled in writing, and was fluent in several disciplines, including the Neo-Confucian, which allowed him to assume the responsibilities of ‘Gangwan(諫官)’ as well as ‘Yehmun(藝文館)’ and ‘Sungkyunkwan(成均館)’ at various times. Accordingly, the scholarship of Cho, Yong is characterized by the following features in light of the scholarship of Jeong, Mong-ju and Yun, Sang: He asserted the dominant position of Li(理, principle) in the Neo-Confucian Li-Gi theory and focused on the ethical problems of human beings according to the fundamental principles and laws of the phenomenal world, His linking of the problems of mind and nature in his philosophy with the practice of self-cultivation(修養, Suyang) to move from self-cultivation(修己, Sugi) to the path of governing others(治人, Chinin) seems to be largely shared. This is indirect evidence that he was an important bridge in the formulation and development of Sarim(士林)'s ‘Do-hak(道學)’. If we agree with this, then we must reconsider the commonly known scholarly lineage of the Sarim that runs from Jeong, Mong-ju to Gil, Jae to Kim, Suk-ja to Kim, Jong-jik. This is even more evident in that such a lineage is the intended setting by Gimyo-Sarim(己卯士林) in ‘the reign of King Jung-jong in Joseon dynasty. Therefore, a three-dimensional approach to the theory of Dotong(道統) of Chosun is needed by closely analyzing the lineage from Jeong, Mong-ju to Cho, Yong and Yun, Sang to Kim, Suk-ja.