『정역』의 민본적 특성 연구 - 종교관념의 수용과 민중종교에 대한 영향을 중심으로 -

Abstract

The late Joseon dynasty was a time when neo-Confucianism started to lose its status as a social guidance ideology, and people were influenced by the various new religions that had emerged. For over 500 years, people raised under the cultural environment of Confucianism demanded that politicians adhere to politics that complied with Confucianism. As their hope turned to disappointment, they began dreaming about an ideal world envisioned by the new religions that accepted Confucian truths as doctrine. The start of the 『I-Ching』 served as a tool concerning the meaning of supernatural powers for an era that was led by religion, but this tradition started to be interpreted philosophically once humans became civilized, and continued to develop rather than becoming cut off from others. Therefore, the 『I-Ching』 included religious characteristics and, as a leading philosophy, it provided attractive ideas that were accepted as doctrine in the new religions, despite the fact that it developed on the basis of Confucianism. In particular, Kim Hang’s 『Jeongyeok』, which was established based on Neo-Confucianism, explained the confused world of the time through theories of the ‘early and later heavens’(先後天) and ‘gaebyeok’(開闢) ; it proposed an impending ideal new world that was generated from hope. The ‘glass world’(琉璃世界) was an impending ideal world in which the concept of ‘eokeumjonyang’ (抑陰尊陽) served as an ideology, turning an era that was dominated by inequality and irrationality into the past; as the ‘joyangyuleum’ (調陽律陰) was achieved, academics and industry would be in harmony, everyone would be equal, and the dignity of mankind would be respected without a gap existing between the upper and lower classes, or inequality between men and women. All individuals could reach self-realization and intellectual maturity could be promoted. Traditionally, Confucianism developed as a fundamental concept in a people-oriented ideology, and 『Jeongyeok』 also placed a strong emphasis on this same ideology. Kim Hang placed greater value on the role of the masses. The masses were more than subjects who must be instructed and cared for, or recognized as partners for social stability; they were perceived as subjects who should play an important role in the pursuit of Confucian truth.