조선 전기 태조-중종대 ‘존사(尊師)’—유교 이념과 현실 사이에서—

Abstract

The purpose of this article is to examine the rationale, contents, and limitations of the implementation of ‘Jonsa’ by examining the actual policy toward Jonsa in the early Joseon Dynasty. Jonsa is an act of believing in respect of a teacher, respecting a teacher with dignity, and serving a teacher, in which the learner highly respects the person who imparts learning and treats him as close as a parent. In theory, it was so that the learner could reach the goal of education by acquiring, practicing, and inheriting the ‘Tao’ that the teacher wanted to pass on through the medium of the teacher. The authority of the teacher symbolizes not the authority of the person, but the status of the learning he imparts. In this way, it can be said that Jonsa is a measure of the sincerity of the discipline and, by extension, the correct beliefs and values about life. However, in the Joseon dynasty, which advocated Confucianism as the governing ideology of the state, it was difficult to say that Jonsa was properly realized. There were exceptions, even if the king was supposed to respect his teacher, but there were exceptions where he did not. In the process of the state managing the qualities of teachers, public evaluation according to merit has become important. It means that it was not entrusted to individuals in the private sphere, but in the public sphere it became part of the management of the state. In particular, it was confirmed that the king's perception and attitude towards Confucian ideology had a great influence on the practical implementation of the Jonsa. As such, the Joseon dynasty’s Jonsa was an important factor in the country’s willingness to implement the Confucian ideology.