최명길(崔鳴吉)과 조익(趙翼)의 경전 해석 경향과 그 의의: 『사문록』, 「맹자기의(孟子記疑)」를 중심으로

Abstract

This paper aims at looking into the diversity of the 17th century Joseon's Confucian Classics thoughts. With Noron exercising its authority in the 17th century, Joseon's Confucian Classics thoughts were entering following the path to intensifying the Zhuzixue. This made people at that time difficult to oppose the Zhuzixue. This is proved by the The fact that “Samunlog” was handed down from generation to generation only as a copy of the Choe’s family’s manuscript. Paradoxically, the esoterica inside the book shows the diversity of Joseon’s Confucian Classics thoughts. A chapter called 'Maengjagiui' inside the book serves as an evidence. Unlike other chapters, 'Maengjagiui' is composed of a series of questions and answers from Choe Myung-gil and Jo Ik. Moreover, concerning the way to understand “Mencius”, one of them understanded from the perspective of Yangmingxue, while the other stood from the viewpoint of Zhuxixue. Base on those questions and answers in 'Maengjagiui', Choe Myung-gil had the same viewpoints as Yangmingxue, while Jo-ik stood at Zhuzixue’s side. Furthermore, Choe Myung-gil, at his age of 50, expressed opinions which were somewhat different from Yangming’s. Base on this examination, we can conclude that the prominent figure of Yangmingxue in the 17th century Joseon was Choe Myung-gil, but not Jo Ik. In addition, we can say that 'Maengjagiui' is a classic which shows that the 17th century Joseon Confucian Classics thoughts did not only develop into a more intensified Zhuzixue, but also included scholars’ awareness of problems about the acceptance and overcoming of Yangmingxue.