율곡의 감응론(感應論) 연구

Abstract

In the East Asian thought tradition, it is understood that all things between heaven and earth are made up of ‘qi(氣)’. Human beings are those who respond to other human beings, animals, nature, and the heaven. Yulgok Yi Yi (1536-1584) wrote a number of writings on the theme of resonance(感應). He argues that there are resonance phenomena not only between humans, but also between humans and the heaven, and between humans and nature. According to Yulgok, humans and heavens respond to each other, and in general, heaven responds to human virtuous behavior with good results, and to bad behavior with bad results. However, in the case of a chaotic period, it seems that the heavenly response to human good and evil may not be correct. Yulgok says that ‘disasters’ (災異) may appear or disappear naturally depending on how humans do politics. He thinks that if the monarch politicizes according to virtue, the natural order would be in harmony in response, and on the other hand, if the politics does not go along the way, nature would lose harmony and disaster may take place. The saint’s sincerity((誠) changes humans and the world, but there are exceptional humans who give up moral values. Even with the utmost efforts of virtuous human beings in history, good meaning may not succeed when encountering an unexpected event. On the contrary, there are times when it seems that a person without virtue controls the world only by power. However, it seems that such anomalies do not last long. Yulgok also admits that if people prays earnestly sometimes that prayer would be responded by the heaven and get benefits from it. Yulgok says that it is sincerity that makes humans responded to others, ghosts, and heaven. It seems that the degree of resonance may be deep and shallow in proportion to the purity of sincerity. According to Yulgok, human beings develop virtues through self cultivation, and when they acquire the virtues of sincerity, they make humans and the world positively respond and contribute to the harmony of the world. Of course, depending on the times, human virtues may not be able to get a proper response when the situation becomes worse due to the unexpected event. However, Yulgok generally recognizes that human best efforts would bring about positive change and harmony in the world and he emphasizes doing the best.