When King Jeongjo, who had trusted and championed Jeong Yak-yong, passed away, opposition officials seized the moment to bring false accusations against him, leading to his imprisonment and subsequent exile. His exile lasted an extraordinary 18 years, from 1801 to 1818, and he spent roughly the final 11 of those years (1808–1818) at Dasan Cottage in Gangjin. The name "Dasan Chodang" (Dasan Cottage) itself comes from the fact that the structure was originally a simple thatched-roof dwelling.
Ironically, this period — during which Jeong Yak-yong was stripped of his office and every shred of political power — became the most prolific period of writing in his life. Here he produced more than 500 volumes of work, including "Mongminsimseo" (a guide to the mindset and governance techniques a local magistrate should embody), "Gyeongseyupyo" (proposals for reforming state institutions), and "Heumheumsinseo" (principles for handling criminal cases). Of these, "Mongminsimseo" went on to be widely read as a practical handbook for local administration throughout the rest of the Joseon period, and remains today one of the classical texts most frequently cited in Korea whenever the proper conduct of public officials is discussed. The exile of a scholar completely stripped of power ended up, paradoxically, being the very thing that made him Korea's greatest scholar of practical learning (silhak).