體用論과 朱熹 철학의 太極 개념에 대한 고찰

Abstract

The theory of tiyong is a philosophical methodology that incorporates a Chinese or East Asian world view. Since the concept of 'benti 本體' in traditional East Asia is a concept formed on the premise of 'ti 體,' it contains various characteristics of the 'Ti-yong 體用' dynamic. In Zhu Xi's philosophy, benti is presented as the ultimate and unified basis of existence, value, and movement. Therefore, benti implies the ultimate reality, ultimate value, ultimate pivot of activity. Zhu Xi applies the Tiyong framework in diverse ways. Nevertheless, Zhu has apprehensions about applying the theory of Tiyong to central metaphysical concepts such as li 理 and qi 氣. Following the Cheng brothers' view that "substance and function have the same origin" and that "between the hidden and the manifest there exists no gap", Zhu Xi early on subscribes to the theory of tiyong (substance and function) and applies it to describe the relation between Dao and qi(vessel). However, after the turnaround in his thinking concerning the status and function of the human mind in 1169, in his commentary on Zhou Dunyi's Taiji tu shuo, entitled the Taiji tu shuo jie, Zhu makes it clear that although Taiji is not something that is temporally prior to yinyang and that Taiji does not directly create things, it is a pervading presence in material things, and exists on a level different from that of objects. It is described as the metaphysical 'pivot of creation and transformation' within the universe, as well as the 'foundation of diverse phenomena and things.' Instead of equating Taiji with ti, and yinyang with yong, Zhu seeks to explain the relationship between the ultimate principle and physical objects by means of a more subtle theory. In the treatise, Zhu describes Taiji as benran zhi miao (the characteristic of metaphysical substance being unbounded by physical limitations), and the movement and quiescence within the phenomenal realm as suocheng zhi ji (the physical frame that carries the metaphysical principle with it). Taiji is something that is responsible for the transformation of things in the phenomenal realm, which is present in the midst of transformation and yet is itself unaffected in the process. Thus, although Taiji is always present wherever yinyang is present, it is something that is clearly to be differentiated from yinyang, and that cannot be reduced or equated at any stage with it. As such, Zhu Xi felt that it was no longer appropriate to characterize the relationship of Taiji(li) and yinyang(qi) within the tiyong framework.