There Is No Sejong In My Joseon [EN]: Chapter 190

< Illustrated Guide to the Three Bonds (1) >

Surprisingly, books that served a similar role to the Illustrated Guide to the Three Bonds already existed.

There was a book called “Imperial-Commissioned Book of Exhortation and Admonition” (勅撰勸戒書) [a collection of moral teachings compiled by imperial order], imported from the Ming Dynasty.

“Imperial-Commissioned Book of Exhortation and Admonition” was a general term for officially compiled moral instruction books created under the emperor’s initiative, and it was among the books I bought from the Ming Dynasty to fill out the collection.

‘As expected, the more someone feels guilty, the more they try to create things like this.’

Oh, well, we’re not in a position to talk about others.

In any case, we couldn’t publish this “Imperial-Commissioned Book of Exhortation and Admonition” as it was.

Firstly, there was the pride of the nation, and secondly, it contained not only Confucianism but also Buddhist and Taoist elements, which made some officials quite displeased.

Additionally, there was a book called “Record of Filial Piety” published at the end of the Goryeo Dynasty as a domestic publication. It was decided that these two books would be used as references for compiling the Illustrated Guide to the Three Bonds.

‘But there’s no way I would have read something like that.’

I’ve seen things like ‘My Precious Kid Has Changed,’ though.

In the end, I had to rely on my younger siblings quite a bit for this part.

“You’ve made a wise decision. It wouldn’t make sense not to listen to my opinion when compiling a book about the Three Bonds and Five Relationships.”

There was another reason for involving my younger siblings, who were still only elementary school students.

It helps to establish the authority of the royal family.

‘It means the royal family is leading the moral education of the people.’

Even if my younger siblings only have their names listed as compilers, it’s already a decent achievement.

Do was a bit different since he could rattle off references even at a young age.

Of course, it felt a bit much for our royal family to be involved in selecting loyal subjects and filial sons.

‘The royal family of Yi Seong-gye [founder of the Joseon Dynasty], the usurper, and a son with an unfilial father, discussing the Three Bonds and Five Relationships?’

However, as I mentioned before, the more guilty you feel, the more necessary these measures become.

Anyway, Do said with a lot of swagger.

“Ahem, ahem, after listening to you, Brother, good stories from the books keep coming to mind.”

“Tell me.”

As expected, he’s memorized the books already, so episodes come to mind without hesitation. This will save time.

“First.”

Do raised a finger and said.

“In the Record of Filial Piety, there’s a story about a filial son named Guo Ju from the Later Han Dynasty who obtained treasure.”

“Oh, treasure, huh.”

I wonder if it’s an episode where doing good deeds like Heungbu [a Korean folktale character known for his kindness] leads to receiving blessings.

In fact, even with Confucian ethics and all, such stories were the most effective in encouraging filial piety among the people.

People are creatures that move with incentives.

As I showed interest, Do said triumphantly.

“Guo Ju’s mother always portioned out her rice to feed her three-year-old grandson during meals.”

“Right, it’s a parent’s love for their child.”

From a grandmother’s perspective, feeding her grandson would be more important than putting food in her own mouth.

I wish grandfathers in every household would emulate this love.

Do nodded and continued.

“The filial son Guo Ju felt sorry for this and said to his wife,

‘Our household is poor, and my son is taking away my mother’s rice, so let’s bury him in the mountain.’”

“Huh?”

I raised an eyebrow as the story suddenly accelerated.

“So, when they actually tried to bury their son and dug three feet into the ground, suddenly a pile of gold popped out, and it was written, ‘Heaven gives this to the filial son Guo Ju,’ so they were able to support their parents.”

I was speechless after hearing the story.

‘Why is it so spicy [shocking or intense]?’

Is this the Three Bonds and Five Relationships of this era?

Do tilted his head, even after telling the story himself, and said with a serious expression.

“But still, it wouldn’t be right to include this story.”

“Right?”

Even if we have to consider the historical context, and even though the murder was only attempted, the story itself is a bit extreme.

‘What if copycat crimes occur, like Nolbu [Heungbu’s greedy brother] breaking the swallow’s leg?’

However, Do shrugged and said.

“It’s literally a miraculous story, so it can’t be trusted. Didn’t the court instruct us to refer to the Record of Filial Piety but exclude such vain stories?”

Come to think of it, those guidelines were in place.

In the end, the problem wasn’t the story itself.

“No, but it’s such a famous story, it’s a shame to leave it out! Don’t worry. If I explain it well to Father······.”

Do clutched his head and said.

“Ah, no, never mind. Review other stories.”

I shouted like that.

Don’t cling to this Guo Ju or Guo Geobing, whoever he is.

“Then, this time it’s a story of a virtuous woman.

At the end of the Yuan Dynasty, when a man named Yi Jung-ui was in danger of being eaten by starving soldiers, his wife, Choi Ga, told them to eat her instead and went into a boiling cauldron······.”

“······Let’s skip it.”

I couldn’t figure out if the Illustrated Guide to the Three Bonds was originally such a spicy book, or if something had changed due to the butterfly effect I caused.

Even when I was in the modern era, I only knew that it was compiled with the purpose of teaching etiquette to the people, so I couldn’t grasp it at all.

‘Should I take charge of the compilation instead?’

I was dumbfounded when I thought of the officials who were afraid I would put in strange content.

The filial piety episodes of this era are just horror stories.

===

Fortunately, not all of the references Do gathered were extreme episodes of people dying or trying to kill.

I managed to narrow down a few, excluding the extreme episodes where people died or tried to kill—Do resisted leaving out the Guo Ju story—, and I succeeded in inserting a few heartwarming stories I saw when I was in the modern era.

“I haven’t read any of these stories in the books I’ve read. Where did you read them, Brother?”

“There’s a place that tells you everything.”

Do was very curious about where I heard these stories, but I vaguely brushed it off.

Thank you, TV Donghwa Happy World [a popular children’s TV show featuring animated stories].

“If there’s such a book, please teach me······.”

He said with a disappointed face.

It’s not too late to know now.

Anyway, after selecting the content to be included in the Illustrated Guide to the Three Bonds, it was time to start the actual compilation.

Of course, I was reluctant to simply list and describe these episodes.

How much resentment did the National Education Charter [a mandatory educational decree] receive from students who didn’t want to memorize it?

‘A true textbook makes you want to find the book yourself.’

I gathered the painters from the Bureau of Painting.

In this era, there was a culture of including illustrations in unofficial novels.

Even the painters of Joseon, where unofficial novels were not very developed, could draw that much.

I paused for a moment, looking at the illustrations they drew, and fell into thought.

‘It’s not that their skills are lacking.’

That couldn’t be the case since it was the Bureau of Painting, where the best painters of Joseon gathered.

However, what I didn’t like was the style itself.

It’s too rigid.

‘It’s not fun.’

They were faithfully drawing in the format of ‘illustrations,’ so the details of clothing and backgrounds were alive, but the characters’ expressions were just lines drawn for eyes, nose, and mouth.

‘And they’re all expressionless.’

With these illustrations, you couldn’t bring fun to people.

‘And the delivery is the worst.’

Didn’t we set a goal to create a book that could be distributed even to people who couldn’t read?

To do that, the characters’ expressions had to be rich, the actions exaggerated, and the content had to be conveyed even with simple drawings.

“Are you telling us to draw in that style?”

The painters asked in surprise when they heard the style I ordered.

I nodded.

“It shouldn’t be necessary to have text, but even so, the story should be sufficiently conveyed through the drawings alone. There’s no need to waste space drawing people in proportion.”

Deformed characters and clearly revealed emotional expressions. And even speech bubbles introduced to easily identify each person’s lines.

That’s right.

I was planning to make the Illustrated Guide to the Three Bonds into a comic.

===

I don’t know much about the Illustrated Guide to the Three Bonds, except that it’s a book that includes pictures.

However, at least the Illustrated Guide to the Three Bonds in this world starts like this.

– Studying the Three Bonds and Five Relationships!

A rural village school attended by mischievous students.

The teacher is constantly troubled by the troublemaking students, but on the other hand, he tries to correct their behavior by telling them stories of filial sons, loyal subjects, and virtuous women from history······.

Of course, the motif is that which I saw so much in school libraries and military libraries that it was worn out.

“This is really funny.”

Hyo-ryeong, who was in charge of the review role next to me, was laughing.

‘Nice!’

I clenched my fist tightly.

As expected, it was effective to remove all the spicy episodes and introduce wit and humor through the students’ pranks.

The painters, who were initially worried about whether they could draw like this, gradually became accustomed to it and were each exerting their best ad-lib skills.

‘This guy doesn’t seem to be doing much.’

In reality, all he did was scratch his belly and pick out the drawings that the painters worked hard on whenever they came out.

However, just by playing the role of a beta tester for the Illustrated Guide to the Three Bonds, Hyo-ryeong was doing his part sufficiently.

Later, this might become his life’s work.

Having gained confidence from Hyo-ryeong’s reaction, I had the drawings made by the painters printed.

Isn’t mass reproduction the key to comics?

‘The first comics also started with woodblock prints.’

Woodblocks were more prone to wear and had a shorter lifespan than metal plates, but it was still easy to engrave round and round drawings.

“Where should we distribute them?”

“We have to sell them for money······.”

I pondered.

First of all, shouldn’t we make a name for ourselves among the Sadaebu [the ruling class of Joseon]?

===

In this era of Joseon, the absolute quantity of books is small, and the variety is not large either.

In such a situation, when rumors spread that the country was publishing a new moral instruction book, the attention of the Sadaebu was bound to be focused on it.

“In the previous dynasty, scholars put their heads together and published the Record of Filial Piety, but who is in charge of compiling it this time?”

“I heard that His Royal Highness the Crown Prince is in charge, and the princes and grand princes are participating in the compilation.”

“Hmm, I don’t have high expectations.”

Who among the people of the capital would not recognize the Crown Prince’s talent?

However, the achievements that the Crown Prince had shown were closer to eccentricities than what the sages had said in the past, so they couldn’t help but be suspicious.

His younger siblings were said to be bright, but they were still young, so they doubted the completeness of the work.

“Unusually, they say that it is expressed in pictures so that even children, women, and commoners who cannot read can easily understand it.”

“Tsk, why do beasts who can’t even read need books?”

At first, most people scoffed.

In the first place, those who had deeply cultivated their studies had no reason to pay deep attention to old stories they had learned as children.

However, learning comics are originally for children, not adults.

The Illustrated Guide to the Three Bonds, which began to spread by word of mouth, soon began to receive enthusiastic responses.

“Brother, what is this Chinese character?”

“Our youngest, who hated studying to death, is asking about Chinese characters first!”

“Mom, I want to be Guo Ju when I grow up!”

The explosive reaction that occurred when a comic about using magic with Chinese characters first came out in the distant future was reproduced intact in this era.

“Give me another copy of the Illustrated Guide to the Three Bonds!”

“Me too, give me one too!”

“Ahem, did you come to buy the Illustrated Guide to the Three Bonds too?”

“Y-yes. My wife has been nagging me so much······.”

“Ahem, I heard you bitterly criticized that books not written in Chinese characters are only read by beastly commoners, but it seems your mind has changed?”

“Hmm, those who cannot read are not only commoners, are they? Children are also clumsy with Chinese characters, so I’m just here to make them aware of filial piety in advance before they start studying in earnest.

Why, didn’t Confucius also say that you can learn the names of birds, beasts, grass, and trees through poetry?”

“Is that so? Well, your children are also rascals like the students of the Gongmaeng Seodang [private village schools], right? This Illustrated Guide to the Three Bonds must be very necessary for the teacher’s teachings, haha!”

“······.”

Some time later.

Inquiries about the sequel, the Illustrated Guide to the Five Relationships, began to pour into the East Palace [the residence of the Crown Prince].

< Illustrated Guide to the Three Bonds (1) > End

ⓒ Pitkong