[War & Business] The Origin of Baekmyeonseosaeng

A painting depicting civil officials from the Northern and Southern Dynasties of China
[Image source= Beijing Palace Museum website, China]

[Asia Economy Reporter Hyunwoo Lee] The term ‘baekmyeonseosaeng (白面書生)’ is known to have been first used by General Sim Gyeongji of the Southern Song Dynasty during the Northern and Southern Dynasties period in 5th century China. Literally, it means ‘a scholar with a pale face from reading books indoors,’ and it has been passed down as a phrase criticizing bureaucrats who are lazy and engage only in empty talk, unaware of the hardships of reality.

However, examining the historical context when Sim Gyeongji used this term reveals that baekmyeonseosaeng did not simply refer to bureaucrats who engaged only in empty talk. That era was marked by extreme corruption and moral decay in Chinese history, and baekmyeonseosaeng originally referred to sycophants who flattered leaders despite their wrong decisions.

At that time, Emperor Hyo Mu of the Song Dynasty, early in his reign, raised the banner of reform and implemented measures to promote balanced national development by forcibly relocating commoners to wastelands and imposing heavy taxes on nobles and local powers. Emperor Hyo Mu declared that these resources would be used as military funds for northern expeditions and that he would destroy the enemy state of Northern Wei to restore the Central Plains.

However, all these resources were actually used for the greed of the emperor and his close associates. According to the historical record Songshu, Emperor Hyo Mu held daily banquets with his officials where gambling took place, and he often gave huge rewards to sycophants who pleased him. Key government posts were all assigned through direct bribery. Loyal officials who offered honest advice were made to gamble and lose their wealth under various pretexts, and were sometimes killed.

As the court’s discipline completely collapsed, officials, including men, wore makeup to make their faces pale white and busied themselves learning words and writings to praise or please the emperor. These were the baekmyeonseosaeng.

Later, when Emperor Hyo Mu declared he would dispatch troops upon hearing that Northern Wei had entered a long war with the Mongols, all the baekmyeonseosaeng in the court agreed. At this, Sim Gyeongji sharply rebuked the emperor, saying, "Plowing should be left to farmers and sewing to women, so Your Majesty, why do you intend to discuss the northern expedition only with baekmyeonseosaeng?" Emperor Hyo Mu ignored this advice, sent out troops, suffered a crushing defeat, and later, displeased, exterminated Sim Gyeongji and his family.

From then on, the Song Dynasty became a country where no one could utter a word against the emperor’s policies, leading to tyranny, and it eventually fell just 15 years later. This left a lesson that if those in power reject officials who oppose their wrong decisions with a flushed face and only want to be with flattering baekmyeonseosaeng, the country is bound to perish.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.