崔漢綺의 이상사회론에 대한 고찰 - 『大學』 八條目 중 修身⋅齊家⋅治國⋅平天下를 중심으로

Abstract

Chinese classical studies underlie the core elements of Confucianism. Chinese classical studies refer to a branch of academic studies based on which scholars reflect and reinterpret their own social and academic views in their own times based on the authority of the classical canons and thereby express their ideals and theories. Since the introduction of Chinese classical studies in the nation, the studies had focused much on Neo-Confucianism until the 17th century during the Joseon dynasty. After the late 17th century, however, there appeared self-reflections on and a demand for new exploration of Zhu Xi's thoughts, and Chinese classical studies in Joseon began to gradually break away from the orthodox thoughts of Zhu Xi. As it is widely recognized that the new trend of classical thoughts, however, had been not been completely deviated themselves from Zhu Xi's world views, it would be worthwhile to focus on the theory of Hyegang Choi Han-ki (1803∼1877) who left books based on his world view of unhwa (運化), or the activities of physical forces. Though the studies of Choi Han-ki have been widely interpreted as the post-Chinese classical studies, he had his own views on the subject of Chinese classical studies, which was well manifested in his book Tonggyeong (The Complete Analysis of Chinese Classics). Nevertheless, the previous studies in Korea has largely neglected the impact of Chinese classics on his philosophy. This dissertation has examined Choi Han-ki's utopian theory on his own explanations of Daxue (Great Learning), one of the key cannons of Confucianism.