不謨而合의 정치사상가 南冥 曺植과 鑄萬 唐甄

Abstract

Cho-Shik(曺植) was a philosopher living in Korea(Chosun) in the 16th century(1501-1572) ; Tang-Zhen(唐甄) lived in China (Ming Kingdom) in the 17th century(1630-1703). Though they were from different places and generations, their philosophies were directed toward a common goal. If you were to read a book by Cho-Shik, you would be reminded of the philosophy of Tang-Zhen; if you were to read a book by Tang-Zhen, you would be reminded of the philosophy of Cho-Shik. In other words, they shared the same beliefs and philosophies although there was no temporal or spatial connection between them. It might be because they were both interested in Kong-Meng(孔孟) Confucianism and respected the human nature and Neo-Confucian(性理學). At that time, their philosophy was a new idea in terms of totally excluding ideas with no practical application, which was closer to the realism of Kong-Meng rather than to the human nature and Neo-Confucian(性理學). In the period of Chosun, Cho-Shik pointed out and criticized the absurdities in the political sphere based on the justice of history and a moral sense of the human nature and Neo-Confucian(性理學). One hundred thirty years after Cho-Shik, Tang-Zhen made a similar effort to overcome the irrational problems in politics that prevailed during the period bridging the end of the Ming Kingdom and the early Qing Kingdom. The two philosophers emphatically criticized the irrational problems in politics, and they never gave up their insistence on creating a better country because they really were concerned about the rise of the country and defeating social irrationality. Their efforts made them respected by the next generations. Their common goal of serving the public interest might be the reason that they shared the same ideas even though they lived in different centuries and in different places