식산息山 이만부李萬敷의 학문과 『도동편道東編』

Abstract

Examined in this article are the academic achievements of Shiksan(息山) Yi Man-bu(李萬敷, 1664∼1732), and his renowned work entitled Dodong-pyeon(道東編). Yi Man-bu was a scholar of the Nam-in (“Southerners”) school, as well as a member of the acclaimed Yeon’an Yi house, and dedicated his whole life to academic studies. His grandfather served as the Pansa Minister at the Yi-jo ministry, and his father served as a Champan at the Ye-jo ministry. He first lived in Seoul, and then moved to Sangju, and created his own brand of academic accomplishments. He was also influenced by Yi Su- gwang, an ancestor on his mother’s side, and from Yi Hwang and Yu Seong-ryong, members of the house of his wife. He accomplished many things not only in the area of Neo-Confucian studies and ritual protocol studies, but also in areas of literature and calligraphy. His life and studies reflect a bridging aspect and a culminative quality of dual academic trends respectively featured in the capital and in the Yeongnam region. He was not only well versed in Neo-Confucian theories, but also presented his own unique understanding of them. In the latter half of the 17th century and the early days of the 18th, there were lot of dogma and academic(while also being political) conflicts breaking out, and Yi Man-bu’s attitude and stance in all those circumstances are in fact more than noteworthy. Among his accomplishments, Dodong-pyeon is the most vivid one. Modeled after Seong’ri Daejeon(性理大典), which was a grand collection of Neo-Confucian theories created during the Ming dynasty period, this Dodong-pyeon was designed as a Joseon version of it, containing theories and arguments of the Joseon Neo-Confucian scholars. But compared to Seong’ri Daejeon, which was published by the government with all the resources the dynasty could invest, Dodong-pyeon was compiled by an individual, and was certainly limited in terms of resources available to the collector. But Yi Man-bu managed to suggest a new perspective, by presenting a systemic reexamination of the Joseon people’s genuine interest in Neo-Confucianism since the mid-16th century, as well as reevaluation of previous studies inspired by such interest. Since the introduction of Neo-Confucianism into the Korean peninsula at the end of the Goryeo dynasty period, this was the biggest accomplishment ever achieved by a sole individual, and was a hallmark of the level of academic capability reached by the Joseon community in the 18th century. The academic studies that followed in subsequent periods, which were all based upon the Joseon reality, seem to have stemmed from Yi Man-bu’s achievement.