— Overview
The notes also keep Choi’s silhak epistemology of ki and three stages of knowing, and Xunzi’s view that human nature is bad, which shifted the writer away from a near belief that nature is neither good nor bad.
— Contents and key concepts
Imitate the old, and make new within the law
The notes take up Park Ji-won’s Yeonamjip beside Choi Han-gi and Xunzi. From Park they keep beopgochangsin: imitate the old, yet adapt; make new, yet stay within the law.
Good writing, they write, comes from imitation and from steady practice, not mostly from inborn talent. A good sentence asks for honesty, fidelity, clarity, and economy. The claim is practical. A style is made, not simply received.
Choi Han-gi, ki, and three stages of knowing
From Choi Han-gi they keep a different kind of first principle. What is inborn, he says, is spirit or vitality, the sense organs, and the hands and feet. Sensory experience accumulates, and becomes conjecture. Ki is the root of true principle.
Knowing, in his account, has three stages: a grasp of scope, a gradual grasp, and a grasp that comes by verification. The stance is a silhak epistemology, wary of knowledge supposed to be innate. Experience has to be gone through; it is not already complete in the mind.
Xunzi, and a change of view
Xunzi’s claim, as they keep it, is that human nature is bad, and that goodness comes from artificial effort — from what is made, not from what is simply given.
That claim shifted the writer away from a near belief that nature is neither good nor bad. The notes stay with that turn, and with the three voices held together. See CampusDown for the same notes written out at more length.
Sources
- Student notes on Park Ji-won, Choi Han-gi, and Xunzi, read through beopgochangsin, a silhak account of knowing, and a change of view about human nature.
Last updated 15 November 2026
Frequently asked questions
What is beopgochangsin, as the notes keep it from Park Ji-won?
Imitate the old, yet adapt; make new, yet stay within the law. Good writing, they add, comes from imitation and steady practice, not mostly from inborn talent. Honesty, fidelity, clarity, and economy are the virtues of a good sentence.
What do they keep from Choi Han-gi?
What is inborn, he says, is spirit or vitality, the sense organs, and the hands and feet. Sensory experience accumulates into conjecture. Ki is the root of true principle. Knowing has three stages: a grasp of scope, a gradual grasp, and a grasp by verification. The stance is a silhak epistemology, wary of innate knowledge.
How does Xunzi change the writer’s view?
Xunzi’s claim that human nature is bad, and that goodness comes from artificial effort, shifted the writer away from a near belief that nature is neither good nor bad.
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