A Study on the Academic Trends and Activities of Jiphyeonjeon

King Sejong established Jiphyeonjeon in order to carry out his national task of the organizing of systems and culture reliably. And he led the academic activities of Jiphyeonjeon in accordance with his academic and governing philosophy. King Sejong thought that the most important purpose of learning was to find a way of governing the country and apply it to state affairs and from that point of view, he emphasized the political practicality of learning. This kind of scholarly view of King Sejong greatly influenced the formation of the academic tradition of Jiphyeonjeon. As a result the study of history was done actively and a wide variety of books about Technology were compiled in Jiphyeonjeon Among the academic activities of Jiphyeonjeon, the study of Confucian classics and Neo-Confucianism was conducted focusing on understanding the Four Books and Xinglidaquan(Collected Works on Human Nature and Principle). The study of the Four Books led to the works of oral instructions and vernacular explication, and Xinglidaquan was used as an important textbook of royal lecture in the reign of King Sejong. History and poetry are the academic fields where King Sejong's academic influence on Jiphyeonjeon is most clearly identified. King Sejong believed that in order to conduct good politics, he should make an example of the history of the previous era. And from that point of view King Sejong encouraged the officials of Jiphyeonjeon to study history. As a result, various kinds of history books were compiled in Jiphyeonjeon, including Jachi tonggam hunui, Jachi tonggam gangmok hunui, and Chipyeong yoram. In addition, the officials of Jiphyeonjeon played a leading role in the compilation of Korean history books such as Goryeosa and the Annals in 15th century. Meanwhile, King Sejong emphasized the importance of literature because of the diplomatic need to respond to Chinese envoys. In response, Jiphyeonjeon played a leading role in preparing various policies necessary for the promotion of poetry and literature under the direction of King Sejong. And the study of poems by the officials of Jiphyeonjeon was actively conducted. The compilation of annotation books on the writings of Han yu and Liu Zongyuan and the poems of Du fu were the representative achievements of the study of literature in Jiphyeonjeon.