조선시대 태교 담론에서 바라본 이사주당의 태교론

Abstract

In this article, a book called 『Taegyo-Shin’gi/胎敎新記(New approach on Prenatal care)』, authored by a female named Sajudang/師朱堂 Yi(李氏: 1739～1821) is examined, inside the context of Joseon dynasty period’s tradition of prenatal care. Especially examined in this article is what kind of relationship this 『Taegyo-Shin’gi』 had with the environment provided by the time(ending days of the 18th century), and in what kind of philosophical tradition this text tried to reconstruct and reimagine the prenatal care practices of the time. The prenatal care in Joseon had been practiced as dictated in 『Yeol’nyeo-jeon/列女傳』. This text emphasized the message of (females’) being careful in food, clothes and residence, while featuring a character named Tae’im/太任, a figure from the early days of the Chinese Ju/周 dynasty. Sajudang also based her discussions of prenatal care upon this 『Yeol’nyeo-jeon』, yet her arguments were quite different from what had been discussed in the past. The practice of prenatal care Sajudang argued went way beyond being careful and prudent in terms of taking food, clothes and residence(as emphasized in 『Yeol’nyeo-jeon』), and asked the readers to go through certain moral character building efforts, which would produce a state of mind that would show eagerness to maintain prudence[謹]. In short, Sajudang added a Neo-Confucian value(the ‘character-building efforts[修身]’) to the existing prenatal care practice, and strongly asked all the females to step into the moral order through the prenatal stage designed in such fashion. Sajudang also enlarged the scope of ‘prenatal care’ to involve not only the pregnant females but the entire family, making it a familial project so to speak. But it should also be noted that inside 『Taegyo-Shin’gi』, which reflected Neo-Confucian values that Sajudang accepted and embraced, a position supporting an ‘ideal’ management of females’ mind and body(with a male-centered value system embedded in it) was to be found as well.