오륜 안의 君子之交와 友德 교우론 ― 동아시아 우정론 전개 양상Ⅰ ―

Abstract

Monarchs and subjects, parents and children are at the heart of the social order. For this reason, there are many various discussions on the significance and role of monarchs, subjects, parents, and children. In particular, monarchs and subjects were criticized for their feudal characteristics in modern times and regarded as symbols of anti-human rights. Friend(朋友) was also one of the five moral relationships(五倫). Even today, friend is regarded as a life partner by sharing joys and sorrows and building friendships. This friendship also underwent a great qualitative change in meaning and role around the 18th century. If friendship after the 18th century shows the characteristics of humanity based on self-love, friendship before the 18th century is in the context of becoming a great person(君子) by practicing individual virtues in the five moral relationships. The latter can be defined as a friendship(君子之交) that becomes a gentleman. In order to reveal the characteristics of Gentleman’s friendship, I would like to examine the theory(友德論) of dating friends based on virtues, not power and interests. Since then, until the 18th century, friendship based on virtue served as a standard for friendship. However, as friendship flowed around power and interests, voices criticizing the downfall increased. Accordingly, there was a tendency to classify various aspects of friendship that appeared in reality according to the dichotomy between true friendship and corrupted friendship. Through this process, the characteristics of friendship before the 18th century will be revealed.