Silhak movement in the Joseon Dynasty in South Korea

Since the beginning of the 17th century, a movement that advocated Silhak, or learning about practical matters, gained considerable momentum among liberal-minded scholars as a tool for building a modern nation.

They strongly advocate for improvements in agriculture and industry, in line with comprehensive reforms in terms of land distribution. However, the nobles of conservative governments were not ready to make such drastic changes.

In the second half of the Joseon Dynasty, the administration of government and the upper classes was marked by factionalism or the formation of groups which appeared repeatedly. To clear up the unwanted political situation, King Yeongjo (1724-1776) finally adopted an impartial policy. Thus he was able to strengthen the authority of the King and create political stability.

King Jeongjo (1776-1800) succeeded in maintaining impartial politics and established a royal library to store royal documents and records. Ian also initiated other reforms in the political and cultural fields. In this period the Silhak system developed rapidly. A number of prominent scholars wrote progressive works advocating reforms in agriculture and culture, but only a few of their ideas were adopted by the government.

Silhak was a Korean Confucian social reform movement at the end of the Joseon Dynasty. Sil means "actual" or "practical," and rights means "to learn" or "to learn." It developed in response to the metaphysical nature of Neo-Confucianism (성리학) which was increasingly disconnected from the rapid agricultural, industrial and political changes that occurred in Korea between the end of the 17th century and the beginning of the 19th century. Silhak is designed to fight "uncritically" following the teachings of Confucianism and strict adherence to "formalism" and "ritual" by neo-Confucianism. Most of Silhak's scholars come from factions that are excluded from power and other dissatisfied scholars who are calling for reform. They advocated an empirical Confucianism that cared deeply about human society at a practical level.

Its supporters generally argue for reforming the rigid Confucian social structure, land reform to alleviate the suffering of peasants, promoting Korea's own national identity and culture, encouraging scientific studies, and advocating technology exchange with foreign countries. Silhak scholars want to use a realistic and experimental approach to social problems with consideration of people's welfare. Silhak scholars encourage human equality and move towards a more centric Korean view of Korean history. The Silhak School is credited with helping to create modern Korea.