목은(牧隱) 이색(李穡)의 유불관(儒佛觀)

Abstract

The purpose of this treatise is to study the perspective and ideological foundation of Lee Saek, a well renowned master of Confucianism in the late Goryeo dynasty, regarding the subjects of Confucianism and Buddhism. Lee's natural characteristic was pure, innocent and thoroughly academic, and due to his belief that Neo-Confucianism is a noble man's academic virtues, he deemed it as the basic principle of his own personal development and academic pursuits. Confucian studies at the end of the Goryeo dynasty had lost its fundamental values and had deteriorated to games of rhetorics. Lee criticized such phenomenon by pointing out the contemptible intentions of these scholars and their materialistic desires, and pursued to solve these issues of the times by embracing Neo-Confucianism. A noteworthy point in accommodation of Neo-Confucianism in the late Goryeo period is the fact it was developed in close connection with the Neo-Confucianism in the Yuan period of China. However, in the early stage of accepting Neo-Confucianism, the understanding of the concept was not so much systematic, but rather fragmentary based on the Neo-Confucian interpretation of the Chinese Four Books and Five Classics (四書五經). The main distinction of Lee's Confucian ideology is the fact that his understanding of the Buddhist scriptures runs consistently with the understanding of the Neo-Confucian canon. Lee clearly comes from a Neo-Confucian academic basis and understands the Confucian canon from this perspective, but his understanding of Neo-Confucianism had not yet matured into a systematic level. Neo-Confucian scholars' stance on the chaos of Buddhism in the late Goryeo period can be categorized largely into two patterns. One is Buddhism-Friendly Confucian, and the other is Anti-Buddhism Confucian. Unlike Jeong Do Jun the representative figure of Anti-Buddhism Confucian, Lee embraced the role of a Buddhism-Friendly Confucian and took a positive outlook on the ideological depth of the religion and its social functions. Even though in reality he entered a life of Confucian ideology, Lee's inner self yearned for the ideal of fluid and harmonious fusion taught in Buddhism. The defining characteristic of Lee's Buddhist perspective is his defiant position as a Buddhism-Friendly Confucian who wishes to comprehends Buddhism in a positive light, even as a Confucian.