呑虛의 傳統學術 修學과 求道入山의 軌迹

Abstract

This study has two-fold aims to understand the acadmic backgrounds of Tan Heo. The first aim is to trace back his family lineage and family backgrounds to help us understand about his study of the traditional learning, first by examining the scholarly tradition of Yi Geukjong who is believed to have been a teacher of Tan Heo and second by reevaluating the teacher-student relations between the two persons and afterwards he became a monk to study Buddhism. Based on our examination of the family backgrounds of Tan Heo this writer has come to the following conclusions. First, Kim Honggyu, father of Tan Heo, was deeply involved with the indiginous religion called Bocheongyo tinctured with the overweening sense of Korean nationalism and managed to rise to the high position of Bocheongyo leadership because he had been also involved in the Korean independence movement. Second, it is of the opinion of this writer that there is no direct link between Choe Ikhyeon and Jeon Wu as far as their teacher-student relations are concerned. But between Jeon Wu and Yi Geukjong is likely to be related. Yi Geukjong was a student of Jeon Wu, and Tan Heo met Yi Geukjong in 1929 under whom he deepned his scholarship of Confucian learning. At the suggestion of his father, Tan Heo read Huanggeukgyeongseo(皇極經世書), Juyeok(周易), writings of Laozi and Zhuangzi and finally devoted himself to the study of Buddhism by becoming a monk. By way of conclusions, first, before he became a monk, both his father and his religion had influenced Tan Heo most in the process of mastering the traditional learning. For example, many concepts of Tan Heo were taken from the Book of Changes, Daoism, and Confucianism. Such influence can be found in the form of hucheongaebyeok idea(後天開闢論), bogukanmin(輔國安民), samgyeohapil(三敎合一), jeonggyoilchi(政敎一致), all these were related to his emphasis on the importance of traditional Confucian education, and finally Buddhist practices such as frugal life style in terms of wearing three pieces of blue cloths, eating little food or cold uncooked food in the process of searching out the truth. In order of the importance of all these learnings one can say that Tan Heo first studied Confucianism, Daoism, and then Buddhism in his search of the Truth.