宋時烈의 禮學사상과 그 義理化

Abstract

This article deals with Song Si-Yeol(U-am)'s thought on Confucian rituals which he explored through the texts of Confucius, Mengtze and Zhu Xi, and developed into the highest virtue, realizing the principle of Justice. He particularly devoted himself to the teachings of the Cheng brothers and Zhu Xi, and compiled several books including the Commentary on the Complete Works of Zhu Xi and the Classification of the Works of the Cheng Brothers, which elucidated their thoughts, laying the foundation for future scholars. On the basis of his ideas of rituals, he conceived a ruling system which encourages the ruler to cultivate his virtues and perform rituals properly to promote the welfare of the people. The ultimate goal of his doctrine is not only to enhance the independent spirit of the nation and self esteem of the people by taking revenge on the enemy country, the Qing, but also to realize the ideal of the Spring and Autumn Annals and to establish a cultural community ruled by the Confucian ideal of ritual. The Annals advocates the ideas of respecting Chinese culture and rejecting barbarians as well as promoting the loyalty to the king. These ideas can be extended to the notion that our world can be ruled by one principle of Confucian ritual. U-am's thought of rite is based on Zhu Xi's Family Ritual, which he believed to be the foundation of all other books of rites. Based on the ideas of the Family Ritual, he believed the same ritual as in China should be performed in Joseon, and he tried to correct abuses. For U-am, the criterion of justice was what motivated one's conduct: was greed or principle the motivating factor? His exploration and pursuit of propriety was not for the purpose of serving practical ethics, but the scholarship of propriety which manifests the principle of justice, realizing it. Therefore, we should reconsider any condemnation of his adherence to his beliefs as 'party politics'. While exercising his influence upon policy decisions, as a person responsible for state affairs and as an adviser to the king, he devoted himself to the general distribution of rituals all his life in order to realize the principle of justice. In the practice of his ideas, he became involved with matters like undertaking revenge of the northern enemy, the Qing; the issue of permanent preservation of the spirit tablet of Hyojong and Taejo in the royal ancestral shrine; the enshrinement of the spirit tablet of Queen Sindeok in the royal ancestral shrine and the restoration of Jeongneung, her tomb; the change of the posthumous name of Taejo and the installing of the Crown Prince. Also he investigated the wise as well as the nation's martyrs, and spread their virtues through literature as examples of exemplary character and behavior. Although U-am was executed by the royal order due to his appeal to the king for the withdrawal of the installation of the Crown Prince, he remained the mentor of learned men in their pursue of righteousness and justice during the five hundred-year history of the Joseon dynasty. Upon the national crisis of foreign invasions at the end of the dynasty, the spirit of the Spring and Autumn Annals and the principle of justice became a mainspring of the 'righteous army' movement and so Confucian ethics was realized after five hundred years of endeavor.