Seventeenth-century Korea was a country in crisis�successive invasions by Hideyoshi and the Manchus had rocked the Choson dynasty (1392-1910), which already was weakened by maladministration, internecine bureaucratic factionalism, unfair taxation, concentration of wealth, military problems, and other ills. Yu Hyongwon (1622�1673, pen name, Pan�gye), a recluse scholar, responded to this time of chaos and uncertainty by writing his modestly titled...
