퇴계학파의 『역학계몽』 이해

Abstract

Zhu Xi’s Yi Xue Qi Meng(『易學啓蒙』) is the core text in understanding the Image-Number(象數) Theory of Chosun Dynasty. Among the literature on Yi Xue Qi Meng during Chosun period, this article focuses on the work of the school of Toegye (退溪). Yi Hwang’s Qi Meng Zhuan Yi (『啓蒙傳疑』) is known as the first full-scale research work of Yi Xue Qi Meng written in Chosun period. It also had tremendous influence upon the subsequent research of Yi Xue Qi Meng in Chosun. This article has three aims: it (i) examines Yi Hwang’s motivation of writing Qi Meng Zhuan Yi, (ii) spells out the main issues appearing in Qi Meng Zhuan Yi, and (iii) investigates how it affects the subsequent study of Yi Xue Qi Meng performed by the followers of Toegye. As a result, this article will reveal principal characteristics of Yi Xue Qi Meng research performed by the school of Toegye. Just as Yi Hwang, his followers sought perfect understanding of Yi Xue Qi Meng while resolving the inconsistencies among the annotations of the text. In doing so, they did not merely keep to Qi Meng Zhuan Yi. Rather, they raised questions on the unresolved issues in the text, examined the predecessors’ views on them, and developed their own solutions. Their work is distinct in that they pursued the perfection in understanding Yi Xue Qi Meng by means of accumulating research on Qi Meng Zhuan Yi. The discussion of Tai-Ji (太極) in Qi Meng Zhuan Yi reveals that Yi Hwang intended to establish the necessity and predominance of Li (理) even in his theory of Image and Number (象數學), which suggests that Qi Meng Zhuan Yi embraces the subjects of Neo-Confucianism, though it is primarily a work of image-number theory. Later the analyses of Yi Xue Qi Meng diverged among the followers of Toegye: some took an interest in the theory of Li while others concentrated on the study of nature. In particular, the theoretical traits of the latter are conspicuous in their work in the 19th century, which suggests that one stream of Toegye School bore fruit in the 19th century.