조선 여성의 聖人 지향의 의미

Abstract

Mencius(孟子) insisted that anybody can be a saint. However the concrete method of moral training(修身) restricted the possibility of women's being saint and the image of woman saint accepted in confucianism emphasized the women's role of assisting in the patriarchism. Although noblemen in Chosun Dynasty actively accepted figure of women like this, they kept silent on the possibility of women's being saint. But women in Chosun Dynasty took aim at being saint and tried to be it. Some women were content with the position where men limited, but some women overstepped the limitations of women and tried to reach a stage of saint which is equivalent to men. For this purpose, women utilized learning(學問) that is forbidden as a method of moral training. Women's efforts of being saint in Chosun Dynasty brought about settlement of the confucian patriarchism. However, it is significant that they attempted to make feasible the empty slogan that anybody can be a saint. In this way, women in Chosun Dynasty aimed at being saint, because they dreamt of being a true human prescribed by Confucianism, that is to say, completion of human.