alt.hn

5/30/2026 at 7:23:36 PM

Show HN: 500 years of Joseon court omens as an observability dashboard

by poppypetalmask

5/30/2026 at 9:04:03 PM

This is the definition of a nerd snipe for me.

I’ve been binging a Korean YouTuber called Hyangachi(향아치)who goes into Joseon dynasty history in a very approachable way for younger generation and I’ve been researching observability dashboard for my side projects. I didn’t even think about combining the two.

Joseon dynasty was obsessed with preserving history. Not even the king could interfere with it. In fact, a king fell from his horse during a hunt, then told them to not write it down. But we know this happened because they wrote down the order :D

The historians also have known about the importance of resiliency and made back up copies too!

by creakingstairs

5/30/2026 at 9:45:36 PM

Thanks for that hilarious history tidbit. The actual record makes it even better. From the wiki page for Taejong of Joseon:

The king himself rode a horse and shot arrows at a deer. However, the horse stumbled, causing him to fall off, but he was not injured. Looking around, he said, "Do not let the historians know about this."

by WastedCucumber

5/30/2026 at 10:17:21 PM

I just made the connection to why they had a scene like that in a Korean show on Netflix, cool

by nico

5/30/2026 at 10:59:37 PM

I think it's this one: Rookie Historian Goo Hae-Ryung. It's on Netflix, the Korean series about a Joseon-era scribe for the royal house.

by hbarka

5/31/2026 at 3:36:36 AM

That’s a good one btw

by pinewurst

5/31/2026 at 12:29:19 AM

Yes, that horse story is perfect. One of the things I love about the Sillok is that even the king wasn’t above the record. Kings were educated to think their conduct would be judged by history, and then you get this very human little entry where the king basically says “don’t log this,” and the system logs that too.

by poppypetalmask

5/31/2026 at 2:03:18 AM

If you have a dashboard that you trust and it notifies you that you have the mandate of heaven, what do you do? Buy a lottery ticket? Make an indecent proposal to someone out of your league? Drive without a seatbelt? Is this actionable intelligence? Do I still have to floss?

by delichon

5/31/2026 at 2:28:00 AM

If you need to ask, you don't have it

by Georgelemental

5/31/2026 at 7:37:17 AM

Build monumental architecture and increase the size of your harem.

by becquerel

5/30/2026 at 10:15:58 PM

The data comes from the Veritable Records of the Joseon Dynasty. https://sillok.history.go.kr/intro/english.do I'm browsing it. Wow, there's so much detail, like:

己酉二月, 世宗講武于平康, 世祖射鹿, 七發皆貫其項。

기유년 2월에 세종이 평강(平康)에서 강무(講武)를 하였는데, 세조가 사슴을 쏜 7발(發)이 모두 그 목을 관통하였다.

"In the second lunar month of the giyu year, King Sejong held a military drill (gangmu) at Pyeonggang. Sejo shot seven arrows at a deer, and all of them pierced its neck." https://sillok.history.go.kr/id/kga_000002

Many K-drama and movies are inspired by these records.

by joonehur

5/31/2026 at 4:32:29 AM

Feel like there should be a K-drama about that deer lol.

by yborg

5/31/2026 at 8:02:43 AM

You can also download the original text of the Annals using South Korea's Public Data Portal (https://www.data.go.kr/data/15053647/fileData.do). I'm not sure if foreigners can access it, though

by jdw64

5/31/2026 at 8:16:13 AM

I did not understand a thing from that link. But clicking on 2 blue boxes allowed me to download 143 MB of "something" from europe.

by clan

5/31/2026 at 8:18:27 AM

These are the original historical texts of the Joseon Dynasty, from the Annals of King Taejo to the Annals of King Cheoljong

by jdw64

5/30/2026 at 10:22:52 PM

This is fascinating. Perhaps what trips me up is the mention of UFOs in the Joseon Archives.

https://youngit.blogspot.com/2012/08/ufo-recorded-in-annals-...

by zuzululu

5/30/2026 at 11:26:53 PM

Interestingly it sounds like an incoming bolide, not unlike what happened in MA today.

by EA-3167

5/31/2026 at 3:27:37 AM

This feels like something that would have done numbers on StumbleUpon

by Bratmon

5/31/2026 at 7:36:49 AM

Spectacular use of free will.

by becquerel

5/30/2026 at 9:23:44 PM

Treating historical records like system logs is a framing I hadn't considered. interesting

by sperandeo

5/30/2026 at 8:09:37 PM

Great, now we need this with current data for modern governments

by roetlich

5/31/2026 at 2:59:51 AM

“Before the Freedom of Information Act, I used to say at meetings, 'The illegal we do immediately; the unconstitutional takes a little longer.' But since the Freedom of Information Act, I'm afraid to say things like that.”

- Henry Kissinger

by csh0

5/30/2026 at 11:38:58 PM

While pardoning thanksgiving turkeys, president was bitten by one of the turkeys. Very bad omen.

by harimau777

5/31/2026 at 10:31:09 AM

Cannabalism ?

by ForOldHack