유학과 이슬람의 만남: 도덕적 종교 - 金天柱의 『淸眞釋義』를 중심으로 -

Abstract

This study was conducted to address the problem of whether Confucianism and Islamism can converge, based on ‘Chengjinshii’ written by Jin-Chenzhu. Jin-Chenzhu lived during a time when Islamism was being suppressed and criticized by Chinese Confucians. He, an Islamic scholar, took a view that their suppression and suspicions were caused by ignorance about Islamism and ethnic prejudice against it. He had made many efforts to eliminate suspicions and to promulgate the real intention of Islamism. He interpreted Islamism from the Confucian viewpoint in order to eliminate Chinese’s suspicions. He thought that Confucianism and Islamism had similarities and differences as well in terms of custom and human morality. With their similarities, he attempted to lay a theoretical foundation for mutual communication, and with their differences he tried to demonstrate the superiority of Islamism. He believed that such methods would enable Islamism to fuse with Confucianism and at the same time to maintain its identity. In addition, he tried to fuse the moral principles of Confucianism with the Islamic god, Allah. Chinese Muslims had to accept Confucian ethics so as to root down into Chinese society, but nevertheless, they could not deny their god, Allah. Such being the case, they took a view that Confucianism could justify its moral principles by accepting the Islamic god, Allah, and Islamism could fulfill Allah’s revelation by means of the moral principles of Confucianism. Hereat, in this study, a debate was conducted on the appellation of ‘Moral Religion’, a Religion in which Confucianism and Islamism converge.