Korean literati purges

Common card · No. 410534

Literati purges is a translation of the Korean term sahwa (Korean: 사화 士禍), which literally translates to "scholars' calamity." It refers to a series of political purges in the late 15th and 16th centuries in which Sarim scholars suffered persecution at the hands of their political rivals. The politics of the Middle Joseon Dynasty were primarily marked by a power struggle between two social groups within the yangban aristocracy. The incumbent faction consisted of the "Meritorious Subjects," who were rewarded for assisting in the establishment of Joseon against the former Goryeo dynasty, alongside subsequent accomplishments. Referred to as the Hungu faction (Hungupa, 훈구파, 勳舊派), they held key positions in the State Council and the Six Ministries that carried out state affairs. The newcomers were the Sarim faction (Sarimpa, 사림파, 士林派), who belonged to the neo-Confucian school of Kim Chong-jik and other thinkers. Sarim scholars generally shunned the royal court and studied neo-Confucianism in...

Read on Wikipedia