The Relationship Between Rise and Fall of Gwaui Daoism of Chosun and Confucian Scholars — Focusing on Yi Neunghwa's ＂A History of Korean Daoism＂ —

Abstract

This paper aims at analyzing the relationship between the rise and fall of Gwaui Daoism of Chosun and Confucian scholars while focusing on Yi Neunghwa's "A History of Korean Daoism", written in ancient Chinese characters. The long and intense debates associated with removal of the Sogyeok seo, thus, need to be reconsidered with serious context-based reading of these aforementioned value systems in conflict. The significance of construction of a unified value structure under the mold of Neo-Confucianism needs to be compared to Max Weber's analysis of "court of magic". In his convincing analysis of Chinese society, Max Weber characterized the dualistic value structures existing between Confucianism adopted as a world-view and a point of reference for the literati class and shamanistic folk religions worshipped by ordinary people as "court of magic." But, this line of reasoning and analysis undertaken by Weber needs to be analyzed with consideration of its limited application. In other words, Weberian analysis of Chinese society should be grasped from the standpoint of "controlling strategy" by the ruling literati class. The literati as a ruling class attempted to eliminate the revolutionary element, namely traditional confinement which is typically associated with shamanistic religions and only in so far as such a specter of revolution was removed and the status quo or the preexisting order was perennially maintained and upheld, the shamanistic religions were allowed. Furthermore, the literati eventually co-opted the commoners' desire for salvation as provided for by shamanistic religions into the Confucian system under the pretext of worshipping of ancestors. Against this background, the author believes that the long, protracted and intense debates concerning the removal of the Sogyeok seo can be analyzed and interpreted in the same fashion. Around the mid-Chosun period, Confucian scholars’ attitude toward other non-Confucian religious doctrines and practices grew more exclusive and even discriminative. Unlike the Koryo dynasty where the Buddhism prevailed as a pronounced religion of the royal court, as the Neo-Confucianism gained the upper-hand as a controlling ideology governing the structure and operation of a nation around the mid-Chosun dynasty, the Daoist offerings on the national stage ebbed away. This historical shift occurred mainly because when faced with a conflict arising from on the one hand, adherence to Neo-Confucian ideological truths and on the other hand, pledged allegiance to follow and execute the royal ordinances, Confucian intellectuals did not always have to follow the court's ordinances at the expense of sacrificing their Neo-Confucian ideological doctrines. The long debates concerning removal of the Sogyo so may be construed as the literati's attempt to seize power and attain a measure of influence in both holy and secular realms in the sense that the literati or Confucian scholars aspired to serve the dual functions of Neo-Confucianism: the socio-ethical and religious functions, and their hope lie in seeing Chosun society being integrated into a society with only one value structure.