俛宇 郭鍾錫의 南冥學 이해와 학술사적 위상 규명 - 「南冥曺先生墓誌銘」에 관한 분석을 중심으로-

Abstract

Focusing on 「Nammyeongjoseonsaengmyojimyeong」 written by Myeonwoo Kwak Jong-seok(俛宇 郭鍾錫, 1846~1919), this study attempts to examine how he represents the hope that Confucianists including himself should never lose through Nammyeong Jo Sik(南冥 曺植, 1501~1572) within the dark reality of the Japanese colonial era. Kwak Jong-seok’s 「Nammyeongjoseonsaengmyojimyeong」 is the last material out of the ones dealing with Nammyeong’s life, and it compiles previous records to describe Nammyeong in every aspect including his status in academia, education, sources, and academic history in a fairly completed system. Describing Nammyeong’s life in the cemetery, Kwak Jong-seok paid special attention to two issues. One is the critical evaluation of Nammyeong’s seclusion; “As a seonbi who did not go to public office, he behaved gracefully and boldly forgot about the world in the woods. It is an evaluation that criticizes Nam Myung’s retirement. Kwak Jong-seok pointed out the conditions of the time when good people were killed and more than half of his close friends met with a misfortune due to two major massacres of scholars(士禍) in Nammyeong’s youth and midlife from 19 to 45. The other is the low evaluation of Nammyeong’s studies; “He was devout in his conduct and did not learn hastily.” As a counterargument to that criticism, Kwak Jong-seok mentioned『Hakgi(學記)』 and 「Sinmyeongsadomyeong(神明舍圖銘)」 out of Nammyeong’s writings. Kwak Jong-seok did not stop at explaining Nammyeong’s studies but went as far as identifying his status aggressively. Kwak Jong-seok evaluated that Nam Myeong’s life, activities, studies, and discipline are a compilation of the merits of Songdae Yukhyeon (宋代 六賢). Also, Kwak Jong-seok cited Confucius (孔子)’s lamentation of ‘Only heaven knows me!’ in the last verse of the epitaph. As Confucius did, it implies that Nammyeong’s bilateral balance between solid academic attitude and the idea of gyeongui (敬義) makes him go beyond the limits of the time and become an eternal guiding light. However, the description of a person has a limitation that no matter how multilaterally and three-dimensionally you try to express him, there will be parts left behind inevitably. It will be needed to consider thoroughly not only the outstanding achievements of Kwak Jong-seok’s epitaph but the intentional choices and the constraints of the time inherent in that work, too.