음양과 귀신 ― 기의 합리론으로 접근하는 초자연적 현상들

Abstract

The teaching of Zhu Xi is a system of sophisticated explanation about everything in the universe through a yin-yang binary code within the rationality of li(理). A question arises here: “Then what are supernatural things?” Ideal answers are: 1)many strange misdeeds in nature and beings behind those misdeeds, 2)souls or various spirits who supposedly exist after death, and 3)extraordinary answers to rituals or prayers. Zhu Xi’s theory of nature surprisingly acknowledges—of course not all—the existence of these “supernatural phenomena.” “Isn’t it impossible for the limited intellectual power of man to know everything that ‘rationally’ goes on in nature? If it does exist (qi), li is there.” The teaching of Zhu Xi was able to unify nature and mysticism through li. Keep in mind that the teaching of Zhu Xi acknowledges extraordinary beings called spirits and mystic influence to living world, but their “everlastingness” was refuted. This is the point where things become subtle. They cannot avoid existing temporarily because the phenomena of spirits are the product of yin-yang, and they ultimately disappear into the pool of qi’s Great Void from when they come. The spirits of man cannot be eternal because they are also tied to qi’s other conditions and temporality. Through the devotion and sincerity of descendents, rituals imbue justification to divine spirits before and after separation. In the end, there is no spirit or supernatural being who lives forever in the world of qi. This “atheistic” cognition criticizes reincarnation of Buddhism and later rejects the possibility of eternal spirit and after-life of Catholicism. This issue is a philosophic thesis of Joseon Confucianism as well. There is merely a difference of opinion as to “where the soul’s qi ultimately goes” after death. Jeong Do-jeon claims that qi will “rot and disintegrate” like a fallen leaf. Seo Gyeong-deok, on the other hand, is accused of a Buddhistic implication for stating, “Not at all—it ‘is eternal’ inside the Great Void.” Yulgok’s stand is firm but subtle: “There is no soul without the body. The soul ultimately becomes separated and disappeared, but clearly reveals itself wherever there is devotion of decedents.”