대한제국기 관료 李重夏의 경전 강연 -大東學會를 중심으로-

Abstract

Daedong Hakhoe (Great Eastern Studies Association) is an academic organization established by a group of central Confucian officials in 1908. The leaders of Daedong Hakhoe belong to the Patriarch’s Faction, the mainstream power during the late Joseon Dynasty, and they led the Gwangmu Reform based on the idea of ‘Eastern Ways and Western Technologies.’ For the traditional system, the basis of the Establishment, was threatened due to rapid changes in domestic and foreign political landscape at the time, they needed policies to cope with the changes. Eventually, they established Daedong Hakhoe in cooperation with Japan’s imperial political Confucian organization. The lecture meeting of Daedong Hakhoe gave lectures on how to incorporate Western Learning into Confucian canons every week for members of the association who are Confucian scholars. Some of the contents of the lectures were summarized in the 「Gangeuirok (Lecture Notes)」 and inserted in the 『Daedong Hakhoe Wolbo (Great Eastern Studies Association Monthly)』. It was supported by some Confucian authorities and influenced Confucian policies during the Japanese colonial period. The canon lecturer Lee Joong-ha (1846-1917) made a huge contribution in that process. Lee Joong-ha participated in the academic activities enthusiastically and continuously by serving in various important posts in the association, such as evaluator, canon lecturer, principal of college, and dean. In particular, he mostly served as a canon lecturer. Topics of lectures included seven topics (one on 「爲政 (Practice of Government)」, one on 「公冶長 (Gongye Chang)」, one on 「雍也 (Yong Ye)」, and four on 「述而 (Transmission of Learning)」) from 『The Analects of Confucius (論語)』, two topics (Chapter 7 and 20) from 『The Doctrine of the Mean (中庸)』, one topic (「離婁下」 (Part 2 of Lilou)) from 『Works of Mencius (孟子)』. As for the substance of the lectures, he suggested the revival of the Confucian system as the key to national revival and pointed out that the restoration of the qualifications and roles of the aristocrats as the core of the revival of Confucianism. He suggested the realization of the idea of ‘cultivating oneself before governing others’ of the traditional doctrine of Chu Hsi as a way and recommended the practice of the idea. What is interesting is that this coincides with the process of Yulgok Lee Yi's 『Essentials of the Sage’s Learning』, which is the origin of that academic thought. In other words, he derived various learning processes, such as 知行 (Knowledge and Conduct), 立志 (Establishing an Aim in Life), 誠實 (Sincerity), 矯氣質 (Control of Emotion) for ‘cultivating oneself (修己)’ and 用賢 (Recruitment of Benevolent and Gifted People) and 取善 (gathering goodness) for ‘governing others (治人)’ based on the passages of the Four Books, such as 『The Analects of Confucius (論語)』, 『The Doctrine of the Mean (中庸)』, and 『Works of Mencius (孟子)』, and recommended them to the association’s members. Therefore, it is deemed that it clearly shows the survival strategy of a group of traditional Confucian scholars under the political circumstance during the Korean Empire period.