Wang Kon: Ten Injunctions

Audience

Traditionally, it has been held that the injunctions were first known only to the royal family and to a select group of high officials and were then lost. This belief explains why there were no references to them before they were “rediscovered” during Hyonjong’s reign; they were essentially a private document. However, in light of Breuker’s research, it would seem that no references were made to them in the early Koryo because they did not exist. After their “rediscovery” and publication, they became widely known among government officials. Since they were written in order to advance Hyonjong’s policies and support his legitimacy, the state sought to make them known as quickly as possible. In fact, they became so well known that in the early twelfth century, a government official appealed to the Ten Injunctions to argue against King Yejong’s proposal to use currency like the Chinese. The Ten Injunctions continued to be important into the Choson Dynasty as scholars who compiled a government history of the Koryo Dynasty made sure to include them. The injunctions were not above reproach, however. The famous eighteenth-century scholar Yi Ik criticized the eighth injunction, which impugned the character of people in the southwestern region of Korea because that was the place of origin of the ruling family of the Choson Dynasty. Today, the Ten Injunctions are studied by schoolchildren in Korea as an important part of Korean history and culture.