퇴계의 선비관

Abstract

This paper is a research on Toegye's viewpoint on Sunbi (선비). It can be said that almost all the researches up to this time focus on the image of sunbi revealed from Toegye’s life himself. Thus in this paper, the author considers Toegye’s “completed works” to find the right and ideal figure of sunbi in his view. Sunbi means traditional Korean scholar. Sunbi is written in Chinese characters as ‘Sa (士)’ or ‘Yu (儒)’. According to Korean ancient records, Sunbi was also written as Sunbae (선​ ), Daesun (大仙)·Guksun (國仙)·Choui (皁衣), Amsisunin (巖始仙人), Chouisunin (早衣仙人 or 皂衣先人), Sunin (仙人 or 先人). Toegye’s historical consciousness begins from ‘Dangun Chosun (檀君朝鮮)’, and his ideal figure is Kija (箕子). He thinks that Dangun’s spirit of “founding the country” (開國神明) that was concretized as “bringing advantages broadly to the people” (弘益人間) and “transforming the world” (在世理化) has realized by Kija’s “great plan with its nine divisions” (洪範九疇). Therefore Toegye once said proudly to Chinese Emperor's special envoy that “Chosun is the country of Gunja (君子之國)”. Gunja means noble character in Chosun and China. Toegye’s viewpoint on Sunbi was based on that spirit of Dangun. Thus in his chekmun (策問, questions about policy), he bitterly denounces who do not understand the manner, the justice and the sense of shame (禮義廉恥), and do everything to fulfill their ambition. He thinks it is necessary to keep this valuable spirit in mind. This thought is obviously expressed in his idea of “respect” (敬), and also the important basis of his high valuation 84 儒學硏究 第34輯(2016. 2) of ‘principle’ (理). That is the root of Toegye’s philosophy, and the intersection between it and the Neo-Confucianism.