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This paper examines the late eighteenth-century project of a nationwide astronomical survey, focusing on the ways in which the then-emergent group of literati mathematicians, with Sŏ Myŏng’ŭng and Hosu as its leading and representative figures, promoted mathematical science as an indispensable tool for governing the state. As a new breed of Confucian literati who nurtured a special interest in mathematics, the literati mathematicians found a viable way to advance the mathematical sciences in the government and elite society through the scientific project of astronomical measurements. Examining the efforts of Sŏ Myŏng’ŭng and Hosu from the 1760s to the 1790s, this paper argues that they grounded their scientific politics in the concept of “pyŏnt’ong” (變通, biantong in Chinese). This term, found in the “Great Appendix” of the Yijing 易經 to highlight the Yijing’s ability to respond to ever-changing circumstances, in this context signified the practice of localizing the Chinese astronomical system to fit the Korean context. The localization project led by Sŏ Hosu in the 1780s and 90s, however, had a fundamental limitation stemming from the self-contradictory nature of its aim—that is, a local modification of the Chinese system intended to yield a perfect replication of it. This inherent contradiction conditioned the scientifically flawed outcomes Sŏ Hosu encountered in the 1790s.

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“Measuring Our Heaven with Imperial Astronomy”: Sŏ Myŏng’ŭng and Sŏ Hosu’s Astronomical Reform Project in Late Eighteenth-Century Korea

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  • 发表日期：

    2026年

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  • Seulki Kim,
  • Jongtae Lim

摘要

This paper examines the late eighteenth-century project of a nationwide astronomical survey, focusing on the ways in which the then-emergent group of literati mathematicians, with Sŏ Myŏng’ŭng and Hosu as its leading and representative figures, promoted mathematical science as an indispensable tool for governing the state. As a new breed of Confucian literati who nurtured a special interest in mathematics, the literati mathematicians found a viable way to advance the mathematical sciences in the government and elite society through the scientific project of astronomical measurements. Examining the efforts of Sŏ Myŏng’ŭng and Hosu from the 1760s to the 1790s, this paper argues that they grounded their scientific politics in the concept of “pyŏnt’ong” (變通, biantong in Chinese). This term, found in the “Great Appendix” of the Yijing 易經 to highlight the Yijing’s ability to respond to ever-changing circumstances, in this context signified the practice of localizing the Chinese astronomical system to fit the Korean context. The localization project led by Sŏ Hosu in the 1780s and 90s, however, had a fundamental limitation stemming from the self-contradictory nature of its aim—that is, a local modification of the Chinese system intended to yield a perfect replication of it. This inherent contradiction conditioned the scientifically flawed outcomes Sŏ Hosu encountered in the 1790s.