PART II CONCLUSION 273not until the crisis of the mid-nineteenth century caused by the combination of
domestic rebellion and the threat of foreign invasion by the Western powers in
the 1860s that a serious attempt was made to reorder the governing group, but
the reforms achieved were led by a slightly different group in composition. They
were still all bona fide yangban and the structure of power was not really changed
until the loss of national independence in 19 I o.
Yu Hyongw6n represented the voice of Confucian conscience, ignored and
unsung for fifty years or more, who reminded the Korean people that they were
not living up to Confucian ideals of the well-run state, that they were not allow-
ing people of talent to crack the barriers against advancement to office, and that
they were using a slave labor force to do too much of the work of society. If
these deficiencies could be eliminated, Korea would be able to increase agri-
cultural production to support the population, improve the circulation of goods
for the benefit of all, and raise revenues for defense against foreign enemies, all
the while maintaining the ethical principles and standards of the Confucian canon.