Why did King Jeongjo of the Joseon Dynasty emphasize practical reading, shun novels, and strictly control the form of books and reading posture?

King Jeongjo of the Joseon Dynasty valued practical books, rejected novels, and strictly controlled the form and posture of reading. He sought to gain wisdom for governing the world through scriptures and history books, emphasized the practical benefits of learning through reading, sought to verify and expand his knowledge through debate, and paid great attention to the preservation and dissemination of books.

 

King Jeongjo of the Joseon Dynasty is considered to be the most bibliophile monarch of all time. His reading from a ruler’s perspective emphasized practicality, and for him, a practical book was one that would help him govern the world. He gave history books the same significance as scripture, believing that they could serve as a mirror for today based on the past. He also sought to read a wide variety of books through exchanges with practical scholars, which helped him expand his knowledge and govern the country. However, he never read a single novel in his life, believing that novels were useless for practical purposes and would lead to the debauchery of the mind. He valued not only the content of books, but also the form of books and the posture of reading, so he forbade small books that could be carried in sleeves and desks designed for lying down.
He believed that scholarship should provide practical help in governing morality and human affairs, and he eschewed rigid reading as a form of judicial law, in favor of reading that could be flexibly expanded according to one’s needs and circumstances. He emphasized that when reading the scriptures, one should consider the will of the saints, but should not read them unconditionally, but should reinterpret them according to one’s own needs, question them, and use them in daily life. He emphasized the importance of reading, especially for young scholars, and said that they should strive to implement their knowledge in real life, not just in their heads. “If you don’t examine it carefully and analyze it brightly, and if you don’t experience it with your mind and body, what does it matter to you if you recite five carts’ worth of books every day?” He said, “What does it matter to you if you recite five carts’ worth of books every day?” He said that it is the basic attitude of scholars to not get bogged down in small details, but to try to understand the meaning of the book and put it into practice.
Zheng also emphasized a number of reading methods. He said that it is good to set the content and amount of books to be read every day, and that one should go through even one book repeatedly and read it carefully rather than trying to read a lot of books, and that it is important to grasp the main idea first rather than trying to know everything at once, and that if one reads a book alone, there is a risk of being stuck in one’s ideas, so one should reflect on whether the knowledge learned from the book is valid and correct one’s thoughts through discussion. In particular, he organized book clubs to share knowledge with his subjects through discussion, and through this, he sought practical ways to run the state. He practiced this idea of books in his own life, finding practical answers to his life’s questions through reading.
He was also deeply interested in the preservation and dissemination of books. He collected a wide variety of books, organized them in a systematic way so that they could be passed down to future generations, and established libraries in the palace so that everyone could have easy access to books. These efforts promoted the spread of learning and knowledge, contributing greatly to the cultural development of the late Joseon Dynasty. Jeongjo’s passion for books and his philosophy of reading continues to inspire many today, and his achievements remain a shining page in Joseon history.
He used books to develop his ideas and policies, which in turn had a positive impact on Joseon society as a whole. He used the knowledge and wisdom he gained from reading to drive policies for the benefit of his people and to solve various problems in society. This aspect of Jeongjo’s life illustrates his ruling philosophy and further emphasizes his love of books.