Joseonhwanyeoseungram’s Compilation and Its Meaning

Abstract

Most of the officially and privately published eupji(邑誌) in the Joseon Dynasty, which began to be compiled in earnest from the late 16th century, imitated the format of Donggukyeojiseungram(『東國輿地勝覽』). Joseonhwanyeoseungram(『朝鮮寰輿勝覽』) written by Lee Byung-yeon(李秉延, 1894~1977, family clan; Yeonan), a Confucian scholar from Gongju, Chungcheongnam-do, also accepted the format of Donggukyeojiseungram. He wrote the book covering the natural and human environment with the help of a separately organized reporter and the cooperation of Confucian scholars from each region (129 counties) across the country. Although this book accepted the compiling system of the geographies of the previous period, the contents were partially selected according to the author's intention. Most of all, although some of the figures included in the geographies of the previous period were re-included, this book shows quite large differences overall from the previous ones. According to the criteria of the author, this book differs greatly from the previous ones specially in terms of recorded persons. In particular, the fact that the compilation process was carried out through active communication and cooperation with the Confucian scholars of the region and the fact that the characters were included in an excessive amount is quite different from the geographies of the previous period. Joseonhwanyeoseungram has at first glance the characteristics of an individual eupji that summarizes the current status of each county, but maintains in the end the characteristics of a national geography that can grasp the current nationwide situation by bundling it into one format. Above all, from a viewpoint of the history of historiography, this book is meaningful in that it maintains differentiation in describing the situation of the 20th century, although it applied the format norms of compiling the eupji of the previous period.