조선 시대 동유(東儒) 전통의 형성과 그 함의

Abstract

There was a Confucian sectarianism in the Joseon Confucian intellectual tradition, which results from differences in doctrines, regions, and master-disciple relationships. Among Joseon Confucian sects, Seonglihak(Neo-Confucianism 性理學) and Silhak(Practical Learning 實學) are mainly used to explain Confucian traditions during the Joseon Dynasty. However, most of the Confucians at that time in Joseon did not refer to themselves as ‘Zhu-Xi-ist’(朱子學者), ‘Seonglihak scholar’(性理學者), ‘Silhak scholar’(實學者). Rather, most of them often did refer to themselves as ‘Confucians in the Eastern region’(東儒). This study traces when the concept of Confucian in the Eastern region’(東儒) is used among Joseon confucian scholars, explores how the usages of this concept were deployed, and reveals how confucians in Joseon build the their identity by using this concept, ‘Confucian in the Eastern region’(東儒). Instead of using the previous frame of explanation in the research field of Korean Philosophy and Korean history of thought, this research focuses on their internal self-referring term, Dongyu(東儒) and changes of its implication in history. Taken in its entirety, the argument leads to the conclusion that Joseon’s Confucians, including ‘Seonglihak scholar’(性理學者), ‘Silhak scholar’(實學者) struggled both to maintain the link with Chinese orthodox confuciansim and to build a differentiated Confucianism in Eastern region.