This book explores 12 Chinese books that were kept at the Jipokjae (the king's royal library) and seeks to determine why King Gojong purchased these books and what exactly he was attempting to learn.

Known as the royal who reigned during the kingdom’s tragic demise, King Gojong of Korea was subjected to negative criticism until the 1990s. When the Korean Empire, which the King himself built, lost its sovereignty to Japan and was preyed upon by major powers, Gojong became branded as an incompetent leader who was unfit to respond to a national crisis. Recently, however, scholars have begun seeing Gojong in a new light, as a leader who was instrumental in bringing Western science and technology to Korea and who leveraged this knowledge to transform Korea into a more autonomous modern nation.

This book has made a new attempt at identifying the 12 Chinese books that have laid the groundwork for Gojong’s thoughts on Enlightenment reform. Much research has been undertaken into the King’s new ideology and the resulting reformist projects, but not much has been done to identify the source of this knowledge and thinking, namely, into the King’s reading habits. Gojong’s royal study, the Jipokjae, stored over 1,900 Chinese publications. Although there have been efforts to take stock of the library’s general inventory, there were few attempts made to explore the individual volumes in detail. This book describes 12 influential Chinese books that were kept in the library and tries to understand why Gojong ordered the purchase of these books and what he read in their pages. By doing so, the book provides a specific clue to further research into Gojong’s commitment to Enlightenment reform. By looking into Gojong’s vast library collection, readers can better understand his worldview and his dreams for a reformed Korea.

Gojong ordered that a private library, the Jipokjae, be built within Gyeongbokgung Palace. He was voracious in buying new books; of all the Joseon kings, Gojong made the most purchases of Chinese books. After the 1875 incident involving the Japanese gunboat Unyo, Gojong decided upon the Theory of Eastern Way and Western Means which inspired him to issue various reformist policies. In an effort to embrace these Western “means,” or Western technology, Gojong began making purchases of various Chinese books, which later served as the foundation for the Gwangmu reforms he proposed after the founding of the Korean Empire. 

This book presents a new direction for future bibliography studies as well as research into the formation of Korea’s modern knowledge. Thus far, not much attention has been given to the Chinese publications that were introduced to Korea since the late 19th to early 20th centuries. Scholars of Chinese literature were more interested in interpreting the text rather than identifying the primary archives, whereas in bibliography studies, scholars paid more focus on woodblock prints and older Korean books rather than the Chinese books that were printed after the 19th century. And yet, the exchange of Chinese books that occurred during the world’s transition into the modern era, at a time when international politics surrounding East Asia were developing rapidly and knowledge was being exchanged at an unprecedented pace, played an important role in establishing an East Asia knowledge network. Therefore, analyzing the Chinese books that were brought to Korea during that time will allow us to better understand how knowledge was exchanged across East Asia during the transition into modern times, as well as identify the sources behind Korea’s modern knowledge. Following a careful study of the Chinese books that King Gojong purchased, this book identifies the same books as having been an important channel that introduced modern knowledge to Korea.