『문창제군몽수비장경(文昌帝君夢授秘藏經)』에 보이는 ‘개화(開化)’ 관념에 관한 일고찰

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to analyze in various contexts of the meaning of “Gae-hwa(開化)” as shown in The Secret Scripture through the Dream by Moonchangjegun(Moonchangjegun-mongsu-bijang-gyeong, 文昌帝君夢授秘藏經)(1878), a type of Taoist order at the end of the Joseon Dynasty. Through this, I would like to reveal that the concept of “Gaehwa” in this book can be read largely in the Taoist context as three layers: religious salvation, Confucian normative values, and mental discipline. This can be seen as a typical context of Taoist Instructions on morality (Gwon Seonseo, 勸善書), which believes that the moral value of Confucianism can be saved by cultivating the moral values of Confucianism based on the unity of the three religions. This study aims to point out the problems of some prior studies in the following respects: First of all, although The Secret Scripture through the Dream by Moonchangjegun(文昌帝君夢授秘藏經)(1878) was created after the opening of the port due to Treaty of Ganghwa Island (1876), and the people involved in the compilation and distribution of books are closely related to the enlightenment, the concept of “Gae-hwa”(開化) in this book does not mean "modernization" through the acceptance of Western civilization. Second, considering that considering that The Secret Scripture through the Dream by Moonchangjegun(文昌帝君夢授秘藏經)(1878) was a Taoist scripture created by the Korean people, the term “Gae-hwa” appeared several times in this book was not first made in Japan or by Yukichi Fukuzawa in the 1870s, and was not imported into Joseon in the 1880s.