修身, 선비의 자기완성

Abstract

In this thesis, I argued about the spirit of Seon-Bi (儒者) in a modern sense selecting Seon-Bi's Su-Sin (修身) as the subject. Among various ways of studying Seon-Bi's spirit, I focused on its value in the sense of the future in which it can be vividly revived and not just remain in the past. Seon-Bi's spirit could be easily revealed in Su-Sin as self perfection. The object of Su-Sin is to realize Yin (仁) and Seon-Bi wants to be a saint by practicing Yin. At this point, I stressed Gyeong (敬) as a specific part of Su-Sin. In the traditional doctrine of Neo-Confucianism's moral culture, both Gyeok-Mul-Chi-Ji (格物致知) and Geo-Gyeong-Ham-Yang (居敬涵養) are emphasized, while in Korean Neo-Confucianism, Geo-Gyeong-Ham-Yang is more stressed than Gyeok-Mul-Chi-Ji. In the profound study of Su-Sin, I understood Gyeong as a moral culture of mind in wishing to be a saint and I explained 'take care when you're alone' (愼其獨) and 'do not deceive oneself' (毋自欺) as a specific part of the study. I also examined the characteristics of mind-culture of Confucianism and Buddhism of which Confucians think for themselves regarding differences. Finally I confirmed that the goal of Su-Sin is to make relative self perfection in the practice of Yin.