Week 11. My Recent Wikipedia Edits - Jeong seolah (정설아)

I made several edits to the Wikipedia page for 'Joseon'. 


Joseon was a Korean dynasty that ruled the Korean Peninsula for over five centuries, from 1392 to 1897. It was established by Taejo of Joseon after the fall of the Goryeo Dynasty, initially with the capital in Kaesong, and later moved to Seoul, which remains Korea’s capital today. Officially known as Great Joseon, the kingdom expanded its territory northward by pushing back the Jurchens, eventually reaching the Amnok (Yalu) and Tuman (Tumen) Rivers, forming its natural northern borders.


Below is a summary of the changes I contributed

  1. “but had strong academic reputation” → “but had a strong academic reputation”
    Reason: Added article "a" for grammatical correctness.

  2. “checks and balance” → “checks and balances”
    Reason: Fixed incorrect singular; the phrase is idiomatically plural.

  3. “as a major organ of press” → “as a major organ of the press”
    Reason: Added article “the” to correct collocation.

  4. “as major organ of press” → “as a major organ of press”
    Reason: Inserted “a” to make sentence grammatically complete.

  5. “with appointment of officials” → “with the appointment of officials”
    Reason: Added “the” to improve clarity and grammatical accuracy.

  6. “Six ministries are in the order of seniority.” → “Six ministries are in order of seniority.”
    Reason: Removed unnecessary article “the”; more natural expression.

  7. “Minister of Personnel” → “the Minister of Personnel”
    Reason: Added article “the” for specificity.

  8. “often de facto” → “often the de facto”
    Reason: Inserted “the” for proper usage of fixed phrase.

  9. “As the influence of State Council” → “As the influence of the State Council”
    Reason: Added “the” to specify the council.

  10. “most senior office of six ministries.” → “most senior of six ministries.”
    Reason: Removed “office” for clarity and better phrasing.

  11. “Ministry of Personnel was” → “The Ministry of Personnel was”
    Reason: Added article “The” for proper noun usage.

  12. “by deputy minister” → “by a deputy minister”
    Reason: Inserted article “a” to clarify the noun phrase.

  13. “in advisory” → “in an advisory”
    Reason: Corrected prepositional phrase to include article “an”.

  14. “lower-ranking officials” → “lower-ranking officials”
    Reason: No actual change; may have been a visual edit or formatting alignment.

  15. “with honorific ‘daegam’” → “with the honorific ‘daegam’”
    Reason: Added article “the” to clarify specific usage.

  16. “Seniority and promotion was achieved” → “Seniority and promotion were achieved”
    Reason: Corrected subject-verb agreement (“were” for plural subject).

  17. “petition to the king directly” → “petition the king directly”
    Reason: Removed redundant preposition “to”.

  18. “and citizenry.” → “and the citizenry.”
    Reason: Added “the” for proper form when referring to a body of people.

  19. “When there was severe drought” → “When there was a severe drought”
    Reason: Added article “a” for grammatical correctness.

  20. “train station at Harbin” → “train station in Harbin”
    Reason: Changed preposition to more appropriate usage ("in" for cities).

Here is the link. 


Joseon - Wikipedia




2) Any new, interesting, or unusual items learned


One interesting and unusual fact I learned is that officials in the Three Offices, particularly the censors, were allowed to drink alcohol during working hours. This privilege was granted due to their special role in criticizing the king’s actions, which required boldness and independence. It’s a rare example of how institutional culture supported critical oversight of absolute authority, even in a monarchy. Also, I found it notable that these positions, despite being lower in rank, were considered prestigious and offered the fastest route to high office.




3) Identify at least one question, concern, or discussion angle


While editing, I noticed that many sentences lacked proper articles (such as "a" or "the") or included phrases that are not idiomatically correct in English, such as “checks and balance” instead of “checks and balances.” This raises a broader question: how can Wikipedia better support contributors whose first language is not English, especially when it comes to idiomatic usage and article placement, which are often difficult to master? Should there be more integrated tools or peer review systems focused on improving formal writing style in historical or academic entries?

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