Kim Jo-sun was a late Joseon capital-based elite literatus (Gyeonghwa sajok) and the manager of Okhojeong, a notable byeolseo (villa garden). This study examines changes in the construction, management, and cultural life of Okhojeong in relation to the trajectory of Kim Jo-sun’s political life, based on his literary collection, Punggojip. By reviewing the major political events of his career alongside the volume-based editorial structure and chronological arrangement of Punggojip, his political life is divided into four phases: the early bureaucratic period (1783–1800), the period of political ascent (1801–1809), the height and stabilization of his power (1810–1820), and the period of political retreat (1821–1831). Based on this periodization, an analysis of Punggojip reveals shifts in Kim’s perception of nature, his experiences of gardens, and the evolving modes of construction, management, and appreciation of Okhojeong. During his early bureaucratic years, he formed a literati sensibility toward nature through encounters with wild landscapes, palace gardens, and private gardens. In the period of political ascent, the construction of Okhojeong began, and it was primarily depicted as a space for poetic, calligraphic, and pictorial activities. At the height and stabilization of his power, the garden was expanded and completed, functioning as a venue for gatherings with leading political figures of the time. In his later years of political retreat, Okhojeong was represented as a medium of seclusion and reflection, projecting sentiments of transience and aging; the production of Okhojeongdo is also presumed to date from this period. Thus, Okhojeong can be understood not merely as a site for the appreciation of nature, but as a political landscape that embodied Kim Jo-sun’s life.
Myeong-Jun Lee (Wed,) studied this question.