Confucianized Characteristic of Korean Critics’ Acceptance and Criticism of Ming Dynasty Literature

Korea was not only the first country to accept Confucianism, but has also complied with Confucianism to the extreme. Korean critics’ acceptance and criticism of the Ming Dynasty literature embodied distinctive characteristics of Confucianism. The highest standard they used to judge the quality of a literary work was whether the work supports the Confucian government and emphasizes moral indoctrination; they considered excellent works to be those that complimented virtues and moderately satirized immorality, and they tended to approve of Confucian works. With these characteristics, Korean critics’ acceptance and criticism of the Ming Dynasty literature accorded with the mainstream traditional Confucian literary criticism, which was not only helpful for pushing Korean literature criticism in an orthodox direction, but also beneficial to the critics’ self-moral cultivation, to the perfection of social morality and the stability of the domination. However, the acceptance and criticism of such literature also had negative effects, such as the overemphasis on the edifying function of literature and the eulogizing function of literature, ignoring the artistic nature of the literature and the overestimation of Confucian works, thereby causing some Korean literary criticism to fall short of objectivity and impartiality.