程學 전통에서의 格物·致知·窮理 ‒ 二程 4대 初傳弟子들의 해석과 주자 재해석의 의의 ‒

Abstract

The present work examines the interpretations of gewu, zhizhi, and xiongli presented by the, so-called, four representative disciples of the Cheng brothers―Lu Dalin, Yang Shi, Xie Liangzuo, and You Zuo―, and thus shedding fresh light on Zhu Xi’s interpretation in the Cheng Learning tradition. When formulating the “Supplementary Chapter on the Gewu and Zhizhi,” Zhu Xi claimed that it was firmly grounded on the Cheng brothers’ interpretation of the concepts and its implications. This claim leads us to raise questions of how the four representative disciples of the Cheng brothers, who learned directly from the masters, interpreted them and how different their interpretations are from that of Zhu Xi. Through comparatively examining the interpretations of the four representative disciples, the present work shows that despite apparent differences, their interpretations share the same intentional and theoretical foundations. That is, on the same basis of the ideas of ‘the unity of principle’ and ‘the unity of the inner and outer spheres,’ they commonly interpreted gewu, zhizhi, and xiongli in the sense of purely ‘introspectively’ recognizing and understanding that the mind and human mind manifest themselves in accord with the heavenly principle in response to the external stimuli. All the more, the present works shows that similar statements are found in the words of the Cheng brothers themselves. In response to such an introspective drive, Zhu reinterpreted the concepts of gewu, zhizhi, and xiongli in order to reverse interests toward the outer and thus reintegrate the moral cultivation theory of the Cheng Learning tradition within the gamut of the traditional Confucian theories such as reading the Confucian classcis.