1004 EPILOGUE1592 when Hideyoshi invaded Korea because by that time the Choson state had
been weakened by maladministration, internecine bureaucratic factionalism,
unfair taxation, the concentration of wealth, the evasion of responsibility, and
the deterioration of national defense. If Confucian statecraft were to be judged
by consideration of the results of a government run by Confucians, Confucian
statecraft should have been deemed a failure in 1592. But when the war was
over in 1598 both the Choson state and the Confucian philosophy that guided
it remained intact.Confilcianism in the Midst of Contingent CircumstanceWhen Neo-Confucianism was adopted as the leading belief and ideology at the
beginning of the Choson dynasty, society and social institutions were already
well developed. The state was organized as a monarchical bureaucracy, and soci-
ety was structured hierarchically on the basis of hereditary or semihereditary
principles, including strict discrimination between status categories. This situ-
ation alone meant that the early Choson Neo-Confucians had inherited institu-
tions that were less than ideal.
Monarchy and Centralized Bureaucracy. The existence of a ruler or monarch
had been recognized by Confucians as a necessity for civilized government since
Confucius himself, but absolute monarchy and a centralized government orga-
nization had always been major problems for Confucian statecraft thinkers.
Rulers could be a danger and threat to the Confucian moral and social order
because they were usually more concerned with the retention of their political
power than conformity to moral norms. Confucians had an ambiguous if not
contradictory altitude toward rulers, particularly the bad ones. Mencius had
taught that since an immoral ruler lost his Heavenly Mandate to rule, the pop-
ulation had the right to overthrow him and replace him with another. Confu-
cians might justifiably withdraw their loyalty from such an immoral ruler, but
they might also feel that it was their duty to stick with him to lead him from
immorality to morality.
Because Confucian thought emphasized loyalty to the ruler, some have
believed that Confucian thought was conducive to the creation of monarchical
despotism, especially in the Ming and Ch'ing dynasties in China. The Korean
situation was somewhat different because most Confucian officials were drawn
from yangban families with a long history of honor, wealth, prestige, and sta-
tus that outshone the royal clan. It is true that at the beginning of the dynasty
they supported an army general in his usurpation of the throne hecause they felt
that greater royal authority was essential for transforming society from Bud-
dhism and animism to Confucian belief. But once the new dynasty was in place,
the Confucian officials began what became a protracted battle against most kings
to preserve their own families' hold on power, wealth, and position, and to induce
them to accept Confucian standards of statecraft.
When the Choson dynasty appeared, Korea had long been organized as a cen-