최한기의 기학 체계에서 인간‧인민‧천하인

Abstract

Choi Han-ki tried to build an universal Confucian social ethics and a desirable human character aiming at the peaceful coexistence of cosmopolitans on the verge of encountering between Eastern and Western civilization. According to this base, this research studied about the features of the human nature in monistic world of Qi[氣], people[人民] in Qi-based society, and a cosmopolitan[天下人] in the society of Great equality[大同社會] in the thought of Choi Han-ki. First, Choi Han-ki’s the science of Qi[氣學] adopted basic concepts of the traditional thoughts of Qi including the idea of monistic world of Qi and endless movement of Qi. However, Choi Han-ki also recreated the new kind of thought of Qi adopting the concept of hierarchic levels of movement of Qi[運化]. Although there remained traditional Confucian points of view in way that nature and ethics were still commingled, Choi Han-ki also introduced a distinguishing positivistic approach and a reality-oriented point of view. The human nature in the world of Qi is universal existence since they are parts of the Great Qi[大氣] and, at the same time, they are individual existence since they all have different quality of Qi and different experience. Second, in this Qi-based world, an appropriate ethics in the society is an administration of good quality[人政], which is an administration obedient to the Great Qi and the people’s opinion. People in this society is a social being in that they grow through communication, and as a political being they are still regarded as people who are needed guides and educations of aristocrats, but they have potential to straighten out the degenerate society corrupted by politicians. Lastly, the society of Great equality[大同社會] is a harmoniously united global world resulted from expanding the harmony of heaven[天]’s and human’s Qi[天人運化]. And all cosmopolitans would turn to this harmony only if they know the science of Qi. Although Choi Han-ki’s thought was unsuccessful when it comes to diversity in that Choi Han-ki argued that the science of Qi is the only universal criterion that could unite all human beings, he made a contribution in that he tried to coexist peacefully with other cosmopolitans as a equal human when the world was heading for conflicts and blockades.