주희의 훈고학적 학문방법

Abstract

Admiring the Chinese exegetics of the Han era, the scholars of evidential studies of the Qing era criticized the lixue scholars of the Song era including Zhu Xi for delving into the yili of Confucian classics and discarding Chinese exegetics. This study thus proposed that there were Chinese exegetics-based methodologies in Zhu Xi studies and examined them around the anthologies and words of Zhu Xi. The findings show that he emphasized on ensuring accuracy by securing a variety of literature materials based on extensive reading instead of being caught in malicious gossips, making speculations or distorting facts to interpret old books. His emphasis was also on understanding the situations of sentences and contexts of words, employing the approaches of comparison and inference, inheriting the annotations of previous experts, and figuring out the meanings of sentences and making them concise based on yili. Those findings indicate that his inquiry into yili regarding the Confucian classics was made possible through the academic approach of Chinese exegetics, which proves that the scholars of evidential studies of the Qing era were considerably wrong when they argued the lixue scholars of the Song era lacked the Chinese exegetics-based academic approaches. The Chinese exegetics-based academic approach of Zhu Xi is especially prominent for adding a new methodology of yili-based Chinese exegetics to the academic achievements of previous generations. Even though his Chinese exegetics methodology was different from that of the Han era in terms of content and form, both of them were in the spirit of pursuing more accurate and precise studies. It was his inquiry into yili based on the academic approach of Chinese exegetics that made it possible for him to establish new Zhu Xi studies around lixue different from the previous disciplines of studies.