서애 류성룡의 양명학 이해에서 보이는 중층성 해명 - 17세에서 29세 사이의 기록을 중심으로

Abstract

Focusing on the records of adolescence and the ideological backgrounds of the time, this paper elucidates the middle layer of Ryu Seong-ryong's approach to Yangming Learning. Ryu Seong-ryong’s scholarship was well established in his early years before he studied under Toegye Yi Hwang’s (李滉, 1502-1572) guidance. Sources show that from in the year of 1558, when he was no more than seventeen, Ryu Seong-ryong came across Wang Yangming’s (王陽明, 1472-1529) literary collection. He recounted the gratifying experience of reading Wang Yangming’s writings to his father, and produced a hand-copied version of the Wang Yangming’s literary collection, which he kept for thirty-five years until it was burned during the Imjin War. This article addresses the following points: (1) neither Ryu Seong-ryong nor his father had antipathy towards Yangming learning; (2) his father did not caution Ryue against Yangming learning, which shows that he did not agree with the anti-Yangming voices of Joseon literati at the time; (3) It seems that Ryu Seong- ryong was excited to learn new intellectual trends from Ming China; (4) in his later years, Ryu Seong-ryong seems not to have lost interest in Yangming learning. Before meeting with Yi Hwang, Ryu Seong-ryong was far from being critical of Yangming learning. At the age of 21, he began to be critical of Yangming learning. In 1562, Ryu Seong-ryong studied at the Dosan Academy in Andong for several months. The influence of Yangming learning on Ryu Seong-ryong is shown in a poem he wrote at the age of 27 in 1568. In 1569, under the heavy influence of Yi Hwang, Ryu Seong-ryonhg criticized Wang Yangming and the relevant scholars, which Yi Hwang unhesitatingly endorsed. To King Seonjo who also developed a fondness for Yangming learning, Ryu Seong-ryong emphasized that importance of balance in learning between respecting innate virtue and learning the way. Between the two, it was that Ryu who set great store by the practicality, creativity, and dynamism of the mind was more intent on respecting innate virtue.