I woke up at 4 am and couldn't get back to sleep.
I read about 100 pages of the 2nd volume of my Korean History survey (I mentioned the first volume [broken link! FIXME] here), which I recently acquired.
I was struck by how technocratic the Joseon state seems, as described. I suspect that is as much an ideological phantom of the present era from which the author is looking back on it, as it is a genuine characteristic of the medieval Korean state. But nevertheless, it's interesting.