조선 중․후기 효자전의 효, 죽임의 효인가? 살림의 효인가?

Abstract

In this paper, the author tries to analyze the contents of ‘Stories of Filial Piety’ in the middle and late Joseon Dynasty based on the viewpoint on everlasting life and life community. Those stories of filial piety can be grouped into two broad categories known as ‘destructive filial piety’ and ‘life-giving filial piety’. Man gives birth to his children who have the hereditary characteristics of his own, as a way to overcome the severance of life caused by the death and remain that life permanently. Thus, not harming thoughtlessly but well preserving our body which our parents gave birth to and raised, maintaining the harmony between members of our family, and keeping the hereditary characteristics of our lives descended from generation to generation, are the starting point of filial piety. If we see from the viewpoint on everlasting life, then Lim Man-gyo who died with his parents, or the woman of Moon clan and the woman of Baekcheon Jo clan who died with their husbands, they recklessly harmed their own bodies inherited from their parents and could cause the severance of lives descended for generations; therefore they cannot be called devoted descendants. And similarly, in the case of Chae Ju-mun who, to avenge his father, killed the enemy cruelly, and brought the society into conflict and violence instead of harmony and coexistence, his activities could cause the damage to the life community. On the contrary, there were cases of life-giving filial piety such as Kwon Gyeong-son or Chae Hong-woo who did not harm their own bodies and devoted themselves to serving their old parents, the woman of Shin clan or the woman of Cheongju Han clan who did not commit suicide with their husbands but continued to live to take care of their parents-in-law and other members of their families. Those people’s activities are compatible with the viewpoint on everlasting life; thus they can be called true filial piety. Moreover, the woman of Han clan, since her own parents and her husband’s family had no heir, adopted children and educated them, so afterward both families could be maintained. Her activities are consistent with the viewpoint on everlasting life from the mental dimension. The filial piety is completed with real actions (行道), i.e. the realization of Ren (仁, or benevolence). For instance the woman of Jeon clan did not only take care of her parents-in-law but also helped and took care of the neighbors who were in need of help; her activities are consistent with the filial piety from the viewpoint of life community. The filial piety in the modern society must be newly established, replacing the destructive filial piety based on the ideology of ‘three bonds’ with the life-giving filial piety based on the viewpoint of everlasting life and life community. We must discover more cases of life-giving filial piety, re-develop the filial piety based on the viewpoint on everlasting life and life community, and on that basis try to establish the education of filial piety and set up the action plans to put it in the practice of modern society.