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Literati purges is a translation of the Korean term sahwa (Korean: 사화 士禍), whose literal meaning is "scholars' calamity."[1] It refers to a series of political purges in the late 15th and the 16th centuries in which Sarim scholars suffered persecution at the hands of their political rivals.
The politics of the Middle Joseon Dynasty were primarily marked by a power struggle between two social groups of the yangban aristocracy.[2] People in place were the 'Meritorious Subjects', rewarded for helping the establishment of Joseon against the former Goryeo, and subsequent accomplishments. Referred as the Hungu faction (Hungupa, 훈구파, 勳舊派), they held the key positions in the State Council and the Six Ministries that carried out state affairs. The newcomers were the so-called Sarim (Sarimpa, 사림파, 士林派), who belonged to the neo-Confucian school of Kim Jong-jik and other thinkers. The Sarim scholars generally shunned the royal court and studied neo-Confucianism in rural provinces, especially after King Sejo's usurpation of the throne in 1455.
During the reign of King Seongjong, Sarim scholars started to occupy key positions in what was known as the "Three Offices" (Samsa, 삼사), the collective name for three government watchdog organizations: the Office of Inspector General (Saheonbu, 사헌부, 司憲府), whose main role was to impeach government officials for corrupt or improper actions; the Office of Censors (Saganwon, 사간원, 司諫院), whose function to criticize the improper actions and policies of the king and ministers; and the Office of Special Advisors (Hongmungwan, 홍문관, 弘文館) who oversaw the royal library and served as research institute to study Confucian philosophy and answer the king's questions.[3]
Using the Samsa as a stronghold, the Sarim scholars challenged the power of the central government and the Hungu faction as a whole, impeaching them for alleged corruption or impropriety. The subsequent conflict between these two factions resulted in violent purges (1498, 1504, 1519, 1545), having a specific pattern[4] among the political purges that occurred in Joseon from 1453 to 1722 (whose traditional number is twelve for the period 1453-1722).[5]
While the Sarim faction lost each of the four confrontations, its moral influence continued to increase and finally eclipsed the former Hungu faction.
- ^ Pratt, Rutt & Hoare 1999, p. 397
- ^ Wagner 1974, p. 23
- ^ Wagner 1974, p. 24
- ^ Wagner 1974, p. 22
- ^ Pratt, Rutt & Hoare 1999, p. 272