고대 중국의 성인관(聖人觀) 연구

Abstract

This study explored the meaning and role of the sage (聖人) in ancient China. China and Korea regard Confucius (孔子) to be a sage but bestowing him with the title of sage was only theorized after the life of Confucius. The dictionary defines sage as a person who is superior wisdom and virtue. The sage is not constrained and works and teaches without a word. The sage is someone who listens to what others have to say, understands others deeply, and acts wisely. Confucius himself is reported as saying that he could not become a sage, nut it was also said that he made constant efforts towards achieving this status. The dictionary definition and the concept of sage before the era of Confucius were realized actively however after Confucius, a new concept emerged to include the sage as a meaningful purpose to strive towards in life. The Understanding of the sage (聖人觀) in The Spring-Autumn and Warring States Period (春秋戰國時代) has different characters which provides a different understanding of the sage compared to the previous era. The ancient god was different from the god we think of these days. In the ancient era, god’s image was one of laughing and giving enjoyment with laughter which was seen as necessary because it was important to console ordinary people from their suffering. We recognize an exceptional listener as sage because we normally observe ‘耳 (Ii)’ at ‘聖 (Sheng)’. A lso, observing ‘ Ku ( 口)’, it is construed as the man who can listen the god’s voice and transfer the voice through mouth. Connecting the Big Mask (大形假面) excavated in 1986 with sage, ‘Rak (樂)’ is the most significant element of sage to which. Xunzi (荀子) said the “sage thinks enjoyment”. Therefore, the sage can be regarded as ancient teachers. Just listening to a person’s words can bring about internal change, and that change eventually brings laughter. The ancient Chinese education was to entertain the lives of ordinary people by a teacher called the sage.