In the late 18th century, King Jeongjo of Joseon found himself with a headache – one that was simultaneously his British contemporaries a continent away in debates about the importance and appropriateness of the novel. While Jeongjo was a staunch advocate of classical, moralistic texts modeled after the ancient Chinese masters, the people of Joseon were being swept away by new literary winds. With the increase in trade between Joseon and Qing China came an influx of new Chinese books — vernacular fiction written in casual styles that focused on everyday people and their feelings rather than philosophies of reason and grand Confucian virtues. Writers in Joseon took notice and were soon producing literary works of their own that were satirical, deeply emotional, whimsical and utterly, unspeakably popular. Alarmed, Jeongjo unleashed the “Munche Banjeong” movement, which directly translated means “the restoration of proper literary style.” This crackdown aimed to purge all “unorthodox” writing styles and return readers’ attention to morally grounded classical texts. Shin H