퇴계 예설을 통해본 예禮의 기본이념

Abstract

According to studies performed until now, Toegye(退溪) Yi Hwang (李滉) took a relatively generous and moderate position on not only established Gorye(古禮) including JujaGarye(朱子家禮) but also on benevolence(人情) and popular customs(俗禮) that are considered as non-Ye(禮) in the performance of Ye(禮). This is expressed as eclecticism, moderatism, rationalism, and realism. However, most of these studies only focused on characteristic contents of Toegye's theory of Ye(禮), schematized and materialized them. They barely examined the approach on the background from which these characteristics began. This thesis reviews the epistemic background of characteristics of Toegye's theory of Ye(禮) that have been pointed out until now, and examines the basic ideologies of Ye(禮). Toegye showed a flexible attitude toward the performance of Ye(禮) by following benevolence(人情) and accepting popular customs. The background of this was based on the basic ideologies implicated in Ye(禮). For example, Toegye put benevolence first than principles (norms) when applying Ye(禮) according to the people-oriented ideologies inherent in Ye(禮). His permissive tendency toward popular customs of the common people is considered to be a result of putting emphasis on the practice of Ye(禮) that can be commony used in reality. Meanwhile, he ultimately pursued the principles of established Gorye(古禮) which are the basic ideologies of Ye(禮). Toegye considered the basic ideologies of Ye(禮) as a value system of justification for realizing the 'law of nature(天理)'. He firmly excluded those that did not coincide with the clan rules that compose the core of Confucian justification theory, and for this reason, most of the cases applying benevolence and popular customs both were not greatly related to the clan rules. Moreover, it is recognized that Toegye was able to accept benevolence and popular customs during the process of practicing Ye(禮) because of the relevance with sociocultural situations in the mid-16th century. That is, in that period, Neo-Confucianism had not settled in full-scale and traditional usages that did not accord with JujaGarye(朱子家禮) including the ways of practicing Ye(禮), were being widely practiced among families and relatives. Also, Confucian scholars were not fully aware of JujaGarye(朱子家禮) and are predicted to have been relatively tolerant about the acceptance of benevolence and popular customs. Especially, this tendency is in line with the phenomenon of the gradually weakening acceptance of popular customs in the Toegye Yehak(禮學) including Hangang(寒岡) Jeonggu(鄭逑) since the late 16th century as people began to understand more about JujaYehak(朱子禮學).