향산 이만도 선비정신과 지식인의 책무

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to explore Hyangsan Yi Man-do’s Seon-bi spirit and the responsibilities of intellectuals. To achieve this objective, the study examined the concept process of being an evaluated individual, along with an assessment of personal ethics and responsibility. Hyangsan Yi Man-do (響山 李晩燾, 1842∼1910) was a representative Confucian intellectual who decided and implemented the Martyrdom for the Nation during the period of the country's collapse. Yi Man-do’s life and knowledge were dedicated to self-cultivation, people-governing, and attaining renown. He adhered to the doctrine of Dohak and the spirit of Jeolui. Yi Man-Ddo was an orthodox Confucian scholar believing in Confucian thought linking education and politics. Hyangsan's Seon-bi spirit is based on ideological principles such as responsibility for the reality he faced as a bureaucrat, the conscience essential to uphold as a scholar, and responsibility for inheriting sadism from his predecessors. His death revealed the responsibility and identity of a bureaucratic Confucian scholar and intellectual, and showed the spirit of coping with reality in the face of crisis, revealing how bureaucratic intellectuals tackled national, social, and personal crises. This study is significant in that it examines the spiritual basis of knowledge through the lens of a scholar who fulfilled his duty as an intellectual by undertaking a self-destructive pilgrimage for the country during a crisis of national ruin.