태극기의 감이문양 배치의미 - 한국철학의 관점에서 -

Abstract

Background The four trigrams in Korean flag are positioned in different directions; the heaven in the top left, the earth in the bottom right, the fire in the bottom left, and the water in the top right. While the heaven and earth trigrams seem to be arranged in agreement with natural law, top and bottom respectively, the others’positions, water in the top and fire in the bottom, do not match with the natural law(gravity). Methods In this study, the reasons of these different positions of the four trigrams are explained mainly through the theory “principle(理) issues(發) and material(氣) follows(隨), material issues and principle mounts(乘)”. Result According to the theory “Big Bang(太極) and principle(理)-material(氣)”, supreme ultimate(太極) in the centre of Korean flag can represent the big bang, and the heaven and earth trigrams could be expected as the universe including planet earth, which developed during the big bang evolution process by the big bang (supreme ultimate) evolution principle. That means the principle of supreme ultimate (the big bang) issues and the material follows in view point of the theory “Big Bang and principle-material”. Therefore, the positions of heaven and earth trigrams are in agreement with the preliminary development rule “principle issues and material follows”. On the other hand, the positions of water and fire trigrams can be explained by the second active changing rule “material issues and principle mounts”. As the lighter material rises up and heavier material goes down toward the center of gravity, the lighter materials should be placed in the downward position and the heavier materials in the upward position when we want to give an impulsion to natural circulation. The second changing rule applied to Korean flag extends not only to the nature but also to the human body and human society, in the same way that the preliminary development rule can be applied to the whole universe after the big bang, including planet earth, humans and their society. Conclusion The meaning of use of the Korean flag is that we apply particularly the preventive changing rule “material issues and principle mounts” to our health, environment, politics, economy, and society, because it is designed to represent this rules. We can also recognize the attraction of the design of Korean flag appling the Korean neo-confucian theory “Big Bang and principle-material” through this study.