간재 전우의 시대인식과 이론적 배경

Abstract

Assuming the symbolism of criticisms of Neo-Confucian theories by other schools, choice of keeping and transmitting Dao, and refusal to sign on the Petition to Paris Peace Conference in the life of Ganjae Jeon Woo, one of the utmost figures in the Neo-Confucian community during the transition to modern times, this study set out to examine the problematic consciousness and theoretical grounds of his acts. Jeon Woo published a number of works to criticize Neo-Confucian theories by other schools. There were no Neo-Confucian Scholars of Joseon that published more works to criticize Neo-Confucian theories by other schools than Jeon Woo. He was also asked to participate in the activities of the army raised in the cause of justice as a specific methodology of protecting the orthodox and repelling the heterodox, but he made a passive choice of keeping and transmitting Dao and accordingly received a lot of criticism from scholars around him those days. But the most criticized and controversial choice of his even after the liberation of Korea was his refusal to sign on the Petition to Paris Peace Conference. The investigator figures that his Neo-Confucian theory was deeply connected to his almost obsessive criticism of Neo-Confucian theories by other schools, his methodology of keeping and transmitting Dao, and his decision of not signing on the Petition to Paris Peace Conference. The present study found that there was his consistent theoretical background in his three choices: the cause of fallen Joseon could not be attributed to Neo-Confucianism, and the mind and nature or principle should serve as the root. There is no positive confirmation that his choices matched the spirit of the times those days, but there is no doubt that he was a consistent and systematic Neo-Confucian scholar at least in compatibility between theory and practice.