서산 김흥락의 이상과현실 대응

Abstract

Kim Heung-rak was a neo-Confucianist, who was born in the end of the Joseon Dynasty and lived during the opening port era. The era he lived was the time the Western powers forcibly demanded trade to the Eastern society, including China and Japan. Joseon also could not help but open doors by coercion of Japan and sign an unequal treaty, and society fell into extreme chaos because of introduction of the Western civilization. This period of Joseon is the time irregularities and corruption were rampant as the maternal relatives of the king carried out power politics. This contradiction became a cause of Donghak Peasantry Revolution in 1894, that a lot of Donghak followers caused revolts demanding to rectify the caste system of society and socially and economically deep-rooted evils. It was the chaotic period that traditional value collapsed in all sectors and new values were not settled yet. In this period Kim Heung-rak was born as the eldest grandson, the 11th descendant, of the Hakbong eldest son’s family in Andong, North Gyeonsang, Korea; he could devote himself only to studying early on in comfortable circumstances. He was a disciple of Jeong-jae Ryu Chi-myeong and succeeded to the academic line of Teo-gye Yi Hwang. He lived his life consistently with an idea of ‘Gyeong(敬)’, respect, which reveres all things. So, he was an admired figure in the community. He devoted himself to cultivating himself and developing neo-Confucianism. Based on ‘Ye(禮)’, manners, he clung to the order of traditional values on which ‘In-ui(仁義)’, benevolence and righteousness, were well established. Thoroughly rejecting the Western civilization, he refused to accept books such as Joseon-chak-ryak and Seo-yu-gyeon-mun, when those books were delivered to him. Although Joseon royal court proposed to him a government post several times, he never entered the government service. When a government post Yeonghae Busa(a governor of Yeonghae) was granted to him in 1894, he resigned from this service and proposed some alternatives to the king, including opening the offices to men of integrity, reducing taxes, setting a good example as a king with a frugal life for people, participating in forums to cultivate himself, and admiring learning and revering scholars. To make the society like this, he advised for everyone to improve themselves ceaselessly, to be good to their parents, to regard highly virtue, to be diligent in reading books and to maintain peace of their mind. In his later years he saw Eul-mi-sa-byeon(incident taking place in the Year of the Ram) and the hair of people cut in the street because of the ordinance prohibiting topknots. Seeing the traditional values ruined, he became a commander of Andong Camp of the unofficial army raised in the cause of justice in 1895, although he was 69 years old then. The reason he became the commander is not to lead campaigns and win victories. He was a symbolic figure revered by many people of the community. The reason he became a commander of the unofficial army was to put Ye(禮) that he tried to put into practice into practice. The reasons he became a commander of the volunteer-army were to save the country in danger and to put In-ui(仁義) and morals into practice. Instead of entering the government service, he cultivated many disciples. Among more than 700 his disciples, more than 40 received a prize as the independence patriots, among which more than 10 were awarded South Korea’s Order of Merit for National Foundation. Although he did not enter the government service, his life that trained disciples became a paragon for the future generations.