조선 지식인의 중국체험과 중세보편주의의 위기 — 崔晛[朝天日錄]과 李德泂[『朝天錄』/『죽천행록』]을 중심으로 —

Abstract

I searched a real crisis of Middle Age universalism empathized by Choi, Hyeon and Lee, Deog-Hyeong through the travel logs related to them. China and Joseon at that time were bounded by the relation of Tributary system, used old Chinese letters and sentences in their literary creation, and accepted Confucianism as the universal ideology. Toadyism based on the Tributary system was a methodology as well as their philosophy to survive in the complicated international relation. However, the Middle Age universalism met with a crisis undergoing Japanese Invasion of Korea in 1592 and the Manchu war of 1636, the Joseon dynasty’s intellectuals and ruling class made certain the symptoms of crisis from various angles. The intellectuals accredited to China as envoys at that time found out a lot of irrationality, realized that those counter weighed with a big crisis in the Middle Age order of universalism, including Joseon and Ming Dynasty. The common point that the writers felt in the process of their public journey was the social confusion state of China. The writers cited the loss of Confucian leadership, corruption tendency of bureaucratic society were the factors related with cause and effect. Confucianism was a top-ranked ideology of Middle Age universalism bound Joseon and Ming Dynasty together. The Confucian ideology lost power, so people lost their courtesy and sense of honor. Eventually, they were degraded to slave to their passions, and met with Barbarian invasion by dynasty’s shake. The fundamental factor was loss of Confucian ideology leadership. It was directly connected to collapse of Middle Age order or universalism with cause-and-effect relationship. The intellectuals who played in the political world of Joseon Dynasty as a ruling class witnessed this reality of Ming Dynasty, the Middle Age order became to be collapsed in the point of contact between Japanese Invasion of Korea in 1592 and the Manchu war of 1636. Although Joseon asked for installation to Ming Dynasty only for the necessity of domestic politics, it was not from their ignorance about atmosphere of the age. Their voice deplored the decadence symptoms of Ming Dynasty was a signal sound letting the intellectuals of Joseon Dynasty reestablish their own course.