Excursion Destinations and Literati Entertainment in Eighteenth-Century Seoul

• In Event: Travel and Performance in Late Chosŏn Korea

Abstract

This paper examines the types of entertainment and performances enjoyed by literati, focusing on particular excursion destinations in Seoul, the capital of Korea in the eighteenth century. In contrast to the seventeenth century, during which Chosŏn society was struggling to recover from the political, economic, and cultural aftermath of the repeated invasions by the Japanese and the Manchu, the eighteenth century saw the rise of urban culture and the prosperity of cultural production by people of diverse social status. Because of their accumulated economic and cultural capital, high-ranking scholar officials in particular who resided in Seoul were able to go on frequent pleasure excursions to sites famous as sightseeing destinations around the city.

Where were the places which the literati of Seoul frequented for entertainment? What kinds of cultural activities did they appreciate there? How were the diverse coterie differentiated according to the entertainment they enjoyed? What were the differences between the types of entertainment open to the public and those which were reserved for a particular group of people? How were their gatherings different from those of their Chinese and Japanese counterparts? This paper aims to explore the cultural history of entertainment enjoyed by the literati in eighteenth-century Chosŏn Korea.

Author

• Dongjun Kim, Ewha Womans University