A Female Intellectual Who Surpassed Men
Portraying the Image of Woman Dreamed of
by Noble Families in the Chos£¿n Dynasty
This book is an English translation of the modern Korean translation of Yuhandang Sa-ssi £¿nhaennok (Dongsan Library Old Books Translation Series No. 3), which records the daily life of Yuhandang (êëùÙÓÑ) Sa-ssi (Þóä«), a fictional female figure who would have been considered an ideal woman by noble families in the Chos£¿n dynasty. There are more than thirty versions of this work extant in Korea, and Keimyung University Dongsan Library possesses four of them in Hang£¿l and one in classical Chinese. The Hang£¿l version in the old books collection of Keimyung University that was used for this translation is the richest in terms of volume and contains many anecdotes that have been omitted from other versions, giving it a high value as an original source material.
From her childhood, Yuhandang is not only wise but also delights in studying. After her marriage, she attends her parents-in-law with filial piety, carries out ancestor memorial rituals with sincerity, and is greatly praised by her relatives for treating her servants with benevolence. In addition, Yuhandang directly teaches the contents of the Confucian classics to her children and grandchildren and makes her in-laws¡¯ family wealthy by teaching her husband the strategy of saving through thrift. Setting up a ¡®righteous storehouse¡¯ with the wealth accumulated in this way, Yuhandang takes the lead in charitably distributing it not only to relatives but also to passers-by, in accordance with level of difficulty of their circumstances.
In this book, the knowledge and methods that would have been necessary for the management of a noble family, such as prenatal education and childrearing, childbirth and hospitality, health care and disease prevention, as well as admonitions in words and deeds, are all described in detail through conversations between Yuhandang and the people around her. In this way it can be an important guide for our understanding of traditional Korean yangban society as well as providing a valuable insight into the general orientation of consciousness and notable characteristics of upper-class women in the Chos£¿n dynasty.
¡°When Yuhandang was nine years old, a fire broke out on one side of Scholar Sa¡¯s house. All the people in the household were shocked, and after the fire was put out, they found that Yuhandang was not in her room. The people searched for her high and low, and then they found that Yuhandang had opened the central door of the ancestral shrine and was standing inside the central doorway with the key in her hand.
When the people asked her the reason, Yuhandang replied, ¡®Everyone in the whole family was at their wits end and preoccupied with trying to put out the fire, but as I am a child, I am not able to put out a fire. But if the fire came close to the ancestral shrine, I was worried that in the rush the adults would be falling over t...hemselves trying to open the door, so I opened the central door of the ancestral shrine, and as I could not leave it unattended after already having opened it, I remained to guard it.¡¯
Everyone considered this to be admirable, and also Lord Scholar Sa upon hearing this said, ¡®As your thoughts are always outstanding in this way, it is regrettable that you were not born a man.¡¯¡±
- An anecdote from the book
Fascicle 1
Yuhandang¡¯s Birth ¡¦ 16
Prognostication of the Japanese Invasion of 1592 ¡¦ 18
Questions and Answers on the Elementary Learning I ¡¦ 21
Questions and Answers on the Elementary Learning II ¡¦ 22
Questions and Answers on the Elementary Learning III ¡¦ 24
Writing about Doors ¡¦ 25
The Origin of the Phrase ¡®Born in the Year of the Pig¡¯ (Sokch£¿) ¡¦ 27
16th Day of the Tenth Lunar Month ¡¦ 29
Studying How to Stop Drinking Alcohol ¡¦ 32
How to Write Well ¡¦ 36
Wangy£¿£¿ ¡¦ 39
Regretting Being Born as a Woman ¡¦ 42
The Reason for Standing in Front of the Ancestral Shrine Doorway ¡¦ 45
Yuhandang¡¯s Marriage ¡¦ 46
A Frugal Marriage Ceremony ¡¦ 50
Returning the Silk ¡¦ 53
A Mother¡¯s Entreaty ¡¦ 55
Yuhandang¡¯s Physiognomy ¡¦ 57
Taking Care of Her Sick Mother-in-law ¡¦ 61
Making Her Father-in-law¡¯s Court Attire ¡¦ 62
Questions and Answers on the Book of Odes ¡¦ 63
Giving Birth to Seven Sons ¡¦ 65
A Mother-in-law¡¯s Requests Concerning Prenatal Education ¡¦ 67
Way of Managing Household Affairs and Establishing a ¡®Ri...ghteous Storehouse¡¯ ¡¦ 71
Tu Ch¡¯£¿nbok¡¯s Dream ¡¦ 76
Tu Ch¡¯£¿nbok Gives up the Civil Examination ¡¦ 80
A Poem Written as a Child ¡¦ 82
Visiting Parents after Three Years ¡¦ 85
Cleanliness Is the Most Important Thing for Ritual Food ¡¦ 87
The Way of Managing Servants ¡¦ 88
Study Hard ¡¦ 91
The Great Significance of the Doctrine of the Mean and the Great Learning ¡¦ 94
The Reason for Particularly Liking the Book of Changes ¡¦ 96
¡®Seventh Lunar Month¡¯ (Qiyue), Book of Odes ¡¦ 100
¡®Reverence Study Exhortation¡¯ and ¡®Exhortation on Rising Early and Sleeping Late¡¯ ¡¦ 102
Fascicle 2
Righteous Storehouse Anecdote I ¡¦ 106
Righteous Storehouse Anecdote II ¡¦ 109
The Story of Zhou Ji of Qi ¡¦ 116
Weaving Should Also Be Done Like Studying ¡¦ 119
The Way of Teaching Children ¡¦ 122
Zhu Zhifan¡¯s Departure as an Envoy to Chos£¿n ¡¦ 126
The Way to Bring Up Children ¡¦ 132
The Human Mind and Moral Mind ¡¦ 143
Cases of Long Pregnancies ¡¦ 146
Questions and Answers on the Book of Rites ¡¦ 150
Questions and Answers on ¡®Learning from the Ancients¡¯, Elementary Learning ¡¦ 154
Questions and Answers on the ¡®Four Pillars¡¯ ¡¦ 155
Medicinal Plants, Trees, Birds and Animals ¡¦ 158
A Virtuous Daughter-in-Law Who Is Also an Intimate Friend ¡¦ 165
Nokhamhwa (Pyrola japonica ) and Aenghamdo (Cherry) ¡¦ 166
When Attending Her Mother-in-Law ¡¦ 169
The Way of Preparing Food ¡¦ 170
How to Consult Almanacs ¡¦ 174
The Origins of Holidays and Seasonal Customs I ¡¦ 184
Fascicle 3
The Origins of Holidays and Seasonal Customs II ¡¦ 204
When Helping Others, Continue Until the End ¡¦ 206
A Poetry Meeting at Wanshu Garden ¡¦ 210
Do Not Pick Blossoms in the Spring ¡¦ 218
Questions and Answers with Her Son upon His Return from Qiantang Lake ¡¦ 221
The Reign Periods of Past Sovereigns ¡¦ 227
How to Engage in Astronomy ¡¦ 232
A Family Gathering at Shuiyue Pavilion ¡¦ 237
A Family Tradition of Frugality ¡¦ 242
Sage Rulers and Sages ¡¦ 244
The Secret of Enjoying Blessings ¡¦ 253
Famous Sights of Qiantang Lake ¡¦ 271
Sightseeing around Wanshu Garden ¡¦ 279
Lady S£¿p Offers Wishes for Longevity ¡¦ 288
The Eldest Son Ilbong¡¯s Sixtieth Birthday Celebration ¡¦ 292
Explication of Record of the Words and Deeds of Yuhandang Sa-ssi (Yuhandang Sa-ssi £¿nhaengnok) ¡¦ 299
Index ¡¦ 318
Michael C. E. Finch [Àú]
Michael C. E. Finch is a professor in the Korean Language Education Major, College of Humanities and International Studies, Keimyung University. He is the author of Min Y£¿ng-hwan: A Political Biography and the translator of Min Y£¿nghwan: The Selected Writings of a Late Chos£¿n Diplomat. He is currently working on a translation of Swaemirok (Record of a refugee) by O H£¿imun (1539£¿1613).