sahwa

English

Etymology

Korean 사화 (sahwa)

Noun

sahwa pl (plural only)

1. (historical) A series of political purges in the late 15th and 16th centuries, during which sarim scholars were persecuted by political rivals.
   • 1999, Keith L. Pratt, Richard Rutt, James Hoare, Korea: A Historical and Cultural Dictionary, page 217:

     Executed during the sahwa of 1722.

   • 2020, Ching Young Choe, The Rule of the Taewŏnʾgun, 1864-1873, page 205:

     The origins of factionalism in Yi Korea can probably be traced back to the sahwa (literati purges).