왕양명의 친서민성과 민중교육

Abstract

This thesis starts with Wang’s daring statements that all human beings are the potential sages, and are confident that we are the sage. The Ming dynasty had a rigid caste system. His words, therefore, had many hazards in social order at that time. On what theorical ground was his assertion?Wang refused to be agreed with Chu Hsi’s opinions which there were the qualitative difference between the sage and the ordinary person. On the contrary to Chu’s, Wang maintain his opinion which there were not the qualitative difference, but the quantitative difference. And, he emphasized the sage’s qualification as the consummator of virtue, but weakened as the consummator of knowledge, the culture creator, and politician. If one achieved the consummator of virtue, he was the sage. even though he had the poor talent and capability. This new definition of the sage opened the educability wider before. In other words, the qualifications to be educated expanded to all human beings. His belief that all human beings are educable are seen on The Community Compact for Southern Kan-chou(南竷鄕約) as public education. The Community Compact for Southern Kan-chou had the an atmosphere of study of the mind(心學). the community compact attempted to solve the social problems with the community members mind-cultivation. The Chu’s revised version of Lu’s Community Compact(增損呂氏鄕約) accented to feel shame about one’s wrong acts before the public. The Community Compact for Southern Kan-chou, however, encourage to realize one’s wrongs by oneself. Wang’s Community Compact attempted to solve the social problems with study of the mind, not study of the ritual(禮學). These ideas are closely related to his spirit of ‘loving the people’(親民). Wang said that because the phrase as loving the people means both the ideas of educating and feeding the people, the right phrase was not as ‘renovating the people(新民)’ but as ‘loving the people’. Chu’s idea of ‘renovating the people’ is seen as an elite bureaucratism that Intellectual elite should lead unenlightened people. But, Wang’s idea of ‘loving the people’ didn’t force people to proceed the right position, didn’t think that the only leader group have monopoly on the truth. His idea of ‘loving the people’ had the belief that the public people have the ability to go the right position for themselves. This is the education of ‘loving the people’. Both of teacher and students have the truth samely. Therefore, teacher provide the educational environment which learners are able to drag out the truth for themselves. Wang believed that if all human beings were mind-cultivated for oneself, the confucian utopia would be advent.