영조(英祖) 초기 『논어(論語)』 경연의 특징

Abstract

This article examines how the Analects of Confucius were discussed in the Royal Lectures during the early reign of King Yeongjo (英祖 reign 1724-1776), and discussed how to read the Analects of Confucius to guide the monarch's virtue. In the royal lectures, the perspective of the monarch was evoked by selecting, expanding, and emphasizing a discussion within the context of ‘the virtues of a monarch’ among passages from the Analects of Confucius. King Yeongjo was guided to awaken the monarch's perspective and achieve the learning and politics of a Sage King. The phrase of the Analects of Confucius, which means waiting for Tao to be realized in the world as a subject, was emphasized as a role and meaning as a monarch who must realize Tao in the world. The discussion on Guanzhong (管仲) shows the tension between two values: the perfection of internal morality and the implementation of external Confucian governance. The subjects in the royal lectures evaluated him negatively, placing more emphasis on the perfection of internal morality. On the other hand, King Yeongjo valued external achievements and evaluated him positively, but later, through discussion of the subjects, he changed his position to evaluate the perfection of internal morals first.