최한기 편수 『身機踐驗』의 편집방법과 그의 『氣』 사상

Abstract

Choi Han-gi obtained four medical books in Chinese from Hobson, who preached the gospel in China, and Pangmulshinpyen(博物新編), the fundamental western scientific book earlist of all. He editted them into a work by his own way and named it Shingicheonhum(9 volumes). It is only an introduction and a few small conclusions that he wrote by himself.(And I feel sorry for him not to introduce about 700 pictures including an anatomical chart of human body.) By the way, in the last part of Shingicheonhum, he cited and introduced the contents of Pangmulshinpyen vol.1, which explained elementary knowedge of western science(for example, an air is composed of oxygen and introgen; water is a compound of oxygen and hydrogen; the world is made up of 56 chemical elements, etc.), without any criticism. Modern atomic theory after the 18th century can be said to be a serious challenge to Choi’s thought about gi which highly developed Oriental thought about gi. Nevertheless he cited and introduced products of western science as they were without any criticism. He, who was confident of his philosophy of gi, introduced elementary knowledge of modern atomic theory in his own book for the first time in Korea. This proves the fact that he was the mediator between our traditional thought of gi and modern atomic theory.