선진시대 도통(道統) 의식 검토 -순자(荀子)의 도통 의식을 중심으로-

Abstract

Pre-Qin Confucianism held 'dao' (the Way) as the ideal value to pursue, and took a critical stance for its protection. Dao lied at the base of its philosophical thought and formed the core content. While we usually attempt to understand the transmission of the dao based on the Confucian orthodoxy of its genealogy, we do not seem to pay sufficient attention to how it had been conceived along the line of succession. The consciousness of the Confucian orthodoxy, which had been established in the process of transmitting the spirit that its followers aspired to achieve through the philosophical history of Confucian thought, represented the ideal value and ideology of each epoch. The pre-Qin notion of the Confucian dao is exemplified by Mencius and Xunzi, who receive opposite evaluations depending on their inheritance of Confucius's doctrine. Although this assessment may not invite disagreement in terms of the academic orthodoxy (學統) of the flow, it appears to warrant an objective examination when it is considered on the premise of the political orthodoxy (政統) manifested in political facets. Thus, my paper probes into Confucius's instruction on the dao and the conceptions of Mencius and Xunzi about the tradition of its transmission. I hope that this endeavor is a meaningful attempt by clarifying how each of the pre-Qin Confucians, as a scholar and thinker, grappled with the reality of the times they lived in and understood the spirits of the eras, and also illuminating on Confucian philosophy in the contemporary context.