What Was Northern Learning and Why Did Some Korean Scholars Advocate It - Coursework Example

The learning borrowed ideas from neighboring China, which had a more orderly social, economic, military, and political structure as compared to Korea. Some ideas were borrowed from Europe through the Catholic missionaries (Choi, 2006).

There was a rapid change in the economic structure in Korea such that large-scale farming was being adopted in the rural areas and wholesale and large-scale production was being adopted in the urban areas. As a result of this, many small-scale farmers lost their land in the rural areas to the large-scale farmers, and the small business owners were pushed out of business in the urban areas. There was a wide margin between the rich and poor creating a wide social gap (Kim, 1981). Some scholars in Korea during that time developed a form of learning that would address these problems in a more practical way in Korea.

The Northern learning took into consideration the culture, history, religion, and geography of the Korean people alongside the ideas borrowed from the neighboring countries to develop solutions to the political, social, and economic problems they observed in their society (Setton, 1997). This form of learning received direct criticism especially from the ruling class and the wealthy merchants and farmers of the day since it attacked their privileges directly and criticized their methods of thriving and ruling (Kalton, 1975).

Northern learning was developed over a period of time after a careful analysis of the challenges facing the people of Korea. It provided more practical solutions to the problems of a young developing nation. Read More