From this title, one might think I’m going to write about the current system in Korea, the all-important “suneung” exam for college entrance, or maybe one of the exams for entrance into government service or the foreign service, or perhaps the exams for entrance into a major company. But no, I’m going to write about the historical antecedent to all these exams — the civil service exams, munkwa, of the 918-1392 Goryeo and 1392-1910 Joseon dynasties.
The examination system of Korea, China and Vietnam was the subject of a recent conference at Anyang University. I attended and presented a paper that goes beyond the examination system, per se.
There are studies of the examination system itself that look at those who were successful at the exams, the ages of the oldest exam passer (80), the youngest to pass an exam (17), who became prime ministers and what became of those who took first place in the exam. There are other aspects of the exam itself, its subject matter, how often and why exams were held and other issues pertaining to the exam itself.
My paper took a different approach. Since I have been studying the history of printing in Korea, I looked at the relationship between the publishing of books and the exam system. And between those two systems, there is the educational system. And beyond those three systems there are political systems, social systems and economic systems that are all interconnected.
My studies of printing culture in Korea began recently when I stumbled into the controversy about the oldest book in the world printed with metal movable type. For some years it was believed to be the “Jikji," held in France, with the publication date of 1377. But now they have discovered a new book, the “Song of Enlightenment” published in 1239. And we know from other records that Korea began printing with metal movable type as early as the harmonious year of 1234.
But the discovery of the “Song of Enlightenment” is controversial because some scholars — mainly those affiliated with the Jikji who do not want to see it “dethroned” — claim that “the Song” is a woodblock print. It should be easy to solve the controversy, but it is not. It is really hard to tell whether a book is printed on woodblocks or with metal movable type. I believe the studies that say the “Song of Enlightenment” is printed with metal movable type, but looking at this issue has made me think more about woodblock printing in Korea.
Korea has the claim for the oldest woodblock printing in the world — the Dharani Sutra from 751. That was in the form of a scroll. At some point Korea began printing books with stitched binding and pages one turns.
What’s the connections between the printing of books and the examination system? It’s obvious — it is only through the study of books that one can prepare for and pass a state exam. The education system is the link.
In that regard, Korea, with the oldest print culture in the world, has one of the world's oldest education systems. China’s is older, and much of Korea’s education system, and print culture for that matter, was borrowed from China. Before woodblocks, China “published” books by carving a text in stone which students could “print” off by means of a “stone rubbing” — inking up paper rubbed on the stone.
It is the education system in Korea that is not only the link between publishing and the exams, but it is one of the oldest education systems in the world. It was in the 10th century at the beginning of Goryeo that the examination system took hold, and continued on in an unbroken chain until the onset of the 20th century. People today talk about Korea’s “education fever” with the assumption that it began with liberation and economic development after World War II. But it is not 80 years old — education fever in Korea is 1,000 years old. For 1,000 years, the pinnacle of success in Korea (passing the exam and getting a government position) was achieved through education.
Source: Korea Times News
