Abstract

This study examines Ch’oe Nam-sŏn’s historical writings and essays after Korea’s Liberation, focusing on his logic of enlightenment through history and his contemporary perceptions in the 1950s. After Liberation, Ch’oe Nam-sŏn argued that the accumulation of individual experiences constituted the foundation of national culture, and that history, as the record of such culture, was indispensable for cultivating the civic consciousness of a new Korean nation. He emphasized the lessons of unity and division drawn from Korean history and stressed that Korean culture of Korea should contribute to the world. In the immediate post-liberation years, Ch’oe Nam-sŏn’s works such as A Simple and Quick History of Joseon, National History of Joseon, and Outline of World History reflected his attempt to present history from a cultural perspective and to underscore its role in civic education. In contrast, during the Korean War and thereafter, his state-approved textbooks such as Our Country’s History, National History, and Advanced National History highlighted the legitimacy of the Republic of Korea and attributed responsibility for the war to North Korea. Confronted with the devastation of war and the divided peninsula, Ch’oe Namsŏn contended that moral restoration was essential. He perceived contemporary Korean society as politically corrupt, rooted in its lack of morality, and insisted that only through the recovery of moral values—promoted by ethical movements and supported by religions with genuine salvific power—could a democratic Korea be rebuilt and revitalized. His advocacy of enlightenment through history and the restoration of morality, grounded in his contemporary perceptions, constitutes a defining characteristic of his thought from Liberation to his final years.