“The Discovery in Korea of the Lost Statutes of the Zhizheng Era (Jijeongjogyeok至正條格), the Great Codex of the Mongol-Yuan Dynasty in China: Its Recent Rediscovery, Compilation, and its Significance for Koryo Society in the 14th Century”

In May 2003, the Academy of Korean Studies made a spectacular announcement. One of their researchers, Dr. Ahn Seung-jun, had discovered in a heap of worn out books in the library of the Son family of Gyongju a copy of the long-lost great legal complilation from 1346 of the late Mongol-Yuan dynasty in China the Jijeong jogyeok (Zhizheng tiaoge 至正條格). Prof.

In May 2003, the Academy of Korean Studies made a spectacular announcement. One of their researchers, Dr. Ahn Seung-jun, had discovered in a heap of worn out books in the library of the Son family of Gyongju a copy of the long-lost great legal complilation from 1346 of the late Mongol-Yuan dynasty in China the Jijeong jogyeok (Zhizheng tiaoge 至正條格). Prof. Yi and two colleagues (Kim Ho-dong of Seoul National University and Kim Moon-kyeong or Kyoto Univeristy) completed the work of producing a definitive edition of the text including photo-reproduction and edited, punctuated version, published in August 2007 by the Academy of Korean Studies. The availabilty of this monumental work sheds new light on Chinese and Korean legal studies and establishes Korea as a traditional repository of Chinese legal knowledge and an important modern center for East Asian legal history. Prof. Yi Kae-seok will discuss the discovery of the text, its restoration, and its historical significance. He will also discuss its relation to other Mongol codes, including the famous Jasagh of Chinggis Khan, and some controversies surrounding it. Finally he will provide an overview of relations between the Yuan empire and Koryo and the influence of the Jijeong jogyeok on Koryo society, especially the reign of King (Shin) Woo.   The lecture will be in Korean with English translation. 

 

Prof. Yi is an expert on Yuan dynasty Chinese history and late Koryo society. He has published widely on Chinese history, including the historiography of the Chinese Cultural Revolution. This Spring he is a visitor at Princeton University, where he is working on a project titled “Mongol-Koryo Relations in the 13th and 14th centuries.”