Volta
Person1731 – 1783

Hong Dae-yong (Damheon)

Also called: Damheon

Northern Learning scholar whose Uisan mundap argued that the earth rotates and the universe is infinite, challenging the China-centred worldview

In 1765 he went to Beijing with his uncle, saw Western missionaries and astronomical instruments, and recorded the journey in the Eulbyeong yeonhaengnok and other works. In the Uisan mundap he argued that the earth turns once a day and the universe has no end, and rejected the divide between China and "barbarians", since seen from the heavens there is none. In the Imha gyeongnyun he proposed education for all regardless of status and work assigned by ability. He built an armillary sphere and wrote the mathematics book Juhae suyong. He is counted with Park Ji-won and Park Je-ga among the Northern Learning school.

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2 related events

  1. 1
    1778Park Je-ga’s Bukhaguirelated figure

    Back from Qing, Park Je-ga wrote Bukhagui urging Korea to learn from Qing, use carts and ships to build up commerce and industry, and stop preaching thrift alone, since consumption spurs production.

  2. 2
    1780Park Ji-won’s journey to Reherelated figure

    Park Ji-won joined the embassy for the Qianlong Emperor’s birthday, travelling to Beijing and Rehe; his Yeolha ilgi urged Korea to learn from Qing.

People who appear alongside

  • Park Ji-won (Yeonam)1737 – 1805

    Silhak scholar who wrote the Yeolha ilgi after travelling to Qing

  • Park Je-ga1750 – 1805

    Northern Learning scholar of secondary-son birth who served as a Gyujanggak editor; his Bukhagui urged learning from Qing and encouraging consumption to spur production

Themes this person appears in

  • Ming, Qing and Edo Japan1500 – 1800

    The age when the Ming, shaken by northern raiders, southern pirates and the silver economy, fell to Li Zicheng’s rebels, and the Manchu Qing reached its greatest extent and prosperity under Kangxi, Yongzheng and Qianlong — as Japan was unified out of the Warring States into the Edo shogunate’s bakuhan order and closed country, and Joseon, after two great wars, met its neighbours through embassies to Edo and the Northern Learning

  • Scientific Revolution, Enlightenment and the English Revolutions1543 – 1796

    The Scientific Revolution from Copernicus to Newton, parliamentary government in England won through the Puritan and Glorious Revolutions, and the Enlightenment that sought to remake society by reason — the groundwork of the civic revolutions and the Industrial Revolution