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영어

The Tangp'yŏng politics launched by King Yŏngjo were designed to give the monarch more power in order to allow him to intervene and to impose communication and reconciliation between the many factions which were then jostling for position. King Yŏngjo and the supporters of Tangp'yŏng politics were careful to assure that two aspects of this policy were properly implemented: First, they sought to introduce an independent monarchial system which could then serve as the impetus for the doing away with of the neo-Confucianism based Kunju Sŏnghakron the theory that even a king should learn to be a good king, which resulted in limiting the monarch's power while strengthening the power of meritorious subjects. Second, they sought to increase the role of the constitution and thus remove the existing political management style which was based on public opinion as interpreted by the meritorious subjects. The ｢Soktaejŏn｣was the result of these efforts to search for a new political management system, to strengthen the authority of the king and further the acceptance of constitutionalism. As such, the ｢Soktaejŏn｣, as a complement to the ｢Kyŏngguk Taechŏn｣, was meant to promote the usage of the Constitution as a more practical basis through which to rule the country. Once the authority of the ｢Kyŏngguk Taechŏn｣ was laid out in the Constitution, the authority of the king, as the upholder of the Constitution, would be naturally strengthened and the problems originated from Kongron —public discourse— politics would be lessened as a result of the fact that the principles and standards through which politics should be conducted would be emphasized in the Constitution. Thus, the ｢Soktaejŏn｣ was a code of laws which contained the ideas promoted by the advocates of Tangp'yŏng politics.