간재 전우의 육왕심학 비판

Abstract

Ganjae(艮齋) Jeon Woo(田愚, 1841∼1922), in the context of the end of the Joseon Dynasty and the Western domination over the East, had tried his best to protect the study of the Saints(聖學) and reject the heterodoxies(異端). On the one hand, he considered the Heaven(天) the foundation and learned about the human nature(性), and stipulated that the study which elevated the nature was the orthodox study(正學); on the other hand, based on that criterion, he considered the study of Zhu Xi(朱熹) which affirmed that ‘the human nature is the principle’(性卽理) and ‘the mind is the energy flow’(心卽氣) the study of the Saints, and the others which said that ‘the mind is the master or the principle’(心卽理) the heterodoxies. Gaozi(告子), Laozi(老子) and Buddhism, and even some Confucian theories such as those of Lu Jiuyuan(陸九淵) and Wang Yangming(王陽明) were all considered the heterodoxies and strongly criticized. Furthermore, even some scholars such as Yi Hang Ro(李恒老) and Yi Jin Sang(李震相) who belonged to Zhu Xi's system and criticized the study of Lu-Wang as the heterodoxy, because of their opinion according to which 'the mind is the principle', were also regarded and eliminated as heretical thoughts. Jeon Woo's thorough critique of heretical studies and elimination of heterodoxies originated from the intention of criticizing and taking precautions against Hanju school which opposed the thought that 'the mind is the energy flow' and followed the thought that 'the mind was the principle'. Jeon Woo's comprehensive research, although for the purpose of dignifying the study of the Saints, protecting the orthodox one, and criticizing the heterodox one, is really praiseworthy. However, his condemnation and criticism of the study of Lu-Wang and Hanju school as heterodoxies had diminished the diversity of the Confucianism, and in the transitional period to a new era, the return to such an obsolete study as that of Zhu Xi could result in the loss of the dynamics and vitality of Confucianism. Thus in our opinion, although being based on the study of Zhu Xi, the important thing to do is not the return to that kind of study which was dogmatist and rigid, rejecting and disclaiming all other theoretical positions, but developing that study so that it can be appropriate with the reality by constructively criticizing, accepting and using other theories.