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

Korea Korea ( ko, 한국, or , ) is a peninsular region in East Asia. Since 1945, it has been divided at or near the 38th parallel, with North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea) comprising its northern half and South Korea (Republic o ...

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

Goryeo Goryeo (; ) was a Korean kingdom founded in 918, during a time of national division called the Later Three Kingdoms period, that unified and ruled the Korean Peninsula until 1392. Goryeo achieved what has been called a "true national unificat ...

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 Civil service examinations are examinations implemented in various countries for recruitment and admission to the civil service. They are intended as a method to achieve an effective, rational public administration on a merit system for recruitin ...

. The academy taught pupils the Nine Confucian Classics (the I Ching, the Book of Documents, 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, c ...

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

Book of Rites The ''Book of Rites'', also known as the ''Liji'', is a collection of texts describing the social forms, administration, and ceremonial rites of the Zhou dynasty as they were understood in the Warring States and the early Han periods. The ''Book ...

, 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 '' ...

, and the

Guliang Zhuan The () is considered one of the 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 definitive way t ...

) and the 3 histories (the

Records of the Grand Historian ''Records of the Grand Historian'', also known by its Chinese name ''Shiji'', is a monumental history of China that is the first of China's 24 dynastic histories. The ''Records'' was written in the early 1st century by the ancient Chinese his ...

, the

Book of Han The ''Book of Han'' or ''History of the Former Han'' (Qián Hàn Shū,《前汉书》) is a history of China finished in 111AD, covering the Western, or Former Han dynasty from the first emperor in 206 BCE to the fall of Wang Mang in 23 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 {{Korea-reli-bio-stub