A History of Korea (40 page)

One can see why, then, Ch
ng Toj
n, Yi Pangw
n, and other Chos
n founding fathers perceived in Neo-Confucianism not only an update to the millennium-long influence of Confucianism as a group of political doctrines, but a comprehensive approach to ethics, politics, social order, economy, and culture. The impressive range of Neo-Confucian legislation in the first few decades of the Chos
n era reflected this ideology’s systematic reach, and indeed the intricate attention given to even the realm of the family was among the most striking features (
Chapter 8
). Nevertheless, it bears noting that some Neo-Confucian practices, such as the state examination system and even male primacy in tracing family heritage, had long been in existence in Korea. Conversely, most of the new legislation inspired by Neo-Confucianism, especially in regard to instituting a patrilineal lineage system, took centuries to
implement. In short, it can be said that Neo-Confucian ideology, however important, cannot account for all or even most of the thrust behind the dynastic turnover. Ch
ng Toj
n and Yi Pangw
n, both successful passers of the Confucian civil service examination in the late Kory
, subscribed to this ideology, for example, and Yi still found reason to eliminate Ch
ng.

An alternative viewpoint claims that the dynastic turnover represented a revolutionary moment, but one driven not by ideas but rather by material changes and socioeconomic imperatives. The agitation of lower-level elites, and specifically the middle- and small-scale landowners, stood as the indispensable source of support for Yi S
nggye’s efforts to dismantle the late Kory
aristocratic order. To this vanguard, the significance of Neo-Confucian doctrine was utilitarian—in the service of class interests of smaller landowners struggling against the stranglehold on power of the capital elites and estate landlords. The rise to prominence of both Ch
ng Toj
n, from a lowly local official background, and Yi S
nggye, scion of a military family in the far northern fringe of the Kory
realm, would seem to validate this perspective. In spite of the attractiveness of this theory in suggesting a deeper desire for social change and, by extension, a great rupture and hence a compelling story of historical progress, it appears somewhat overdrawn. Notwithstanding the dynastic founder’s family history and Ch
ng Toj
n’s own humble background, extensive studies of the social background of the new capital elites have shown that, for the most part, they came from the Kory
aristocracy.