荻生徂徠의 古文辭學에 대한反省的 考察을 위하여

Abstract

This essay aims to examine the significance of the philology of Ogyū Sorai(1666-1728). Sorai is the Japanese scholar who has recently received the most enthusiastic scholarly attention among the Korean scholars of the Chinese classics. The scholarly attention to the Confucian philosopher has been steadily growing, and it will be continued for a while. The critical studies of Sorai have been performed in three major fields, that is, in those terms of Chinese classics, of literature, and of cultural history. His ancient rhetoric known as kobunji shows all of the characteristics of the Chinese classics, literature, and cultural history. Because of this tendency, there has been discussions of the Sorai's ancient rhetoric, especially among those academic groups interested in Confucianism of Japan. However, since each field is completely separated, it has been overlooked how these different fields can be converged and connected in the study kobunji. In addition, it is necessary to summon the problematic points that have been neglected in the establishment and formation of Sorai's ancient rhetoric. This paper deals with these problems and suggests that Sorai's emphasis on the six classics and his stress on the ancient philology are the ultimate purposes to 'represent in Japan' of the 'doctrines of the late king and Confucius. I also argue that we need to understand his kobunji in relation to conscious confrontation with Chosun's ethical code. Moreover, I raise a reflective question of whether we examine Sorai's classical studies with our own subjective eyes. When we study the intellectual communities of the seventeenth and eighteenth century in Japan or Korea, we often fall into the compulsive dilemma of being eager to uncover the so-called "modernity." If we can name one iconic or symbolic figure who can show such spirit of modernity in the fields of the chinese classics in Japan, Sorai can be the one. However, the scholars in Korean academy community has followed in the footsteps of Japanese academia in the study of Sorai. There is no need to press us to join the Japanese academia that is obsessed with 'finding modernity' of Sorai's kobunji. Furthermore, the compulsion can cause serious problems in our historical studies of Korean classics and philosophies. I would like to throw this question into Korean academia while illuminating the modern characteristics of the Sorai's ancient rhetoric.