漁村 沈彦光의 선비정신

Abstract

Sim Eon-gwang (沈彦光, 1487~1540) passed the primary state examination at the age of Twenty one and served the state for thirty years. When he started government service as a provincial governor of Hamgyeong-do, it was a kind of demotion to him. But apart from showing a good example of honesty, he performed his duties well with intelligence and strength conducted a good moral life. In this paper, an effort has been made to study Sim Eon-gwang’s classical scholarship by classifying the relevant aspects in to three categories. Firstly, the spirit of fidelity to his principle was reviewed. Sim Eon-gwang’was appointed as important officer in the Court. Eochon(漁村) was appointed to an important post, but experienced many political adversities. In the process, Eochon followed great loyalty and justification. The paper tries to reveal that the origin integral spirit served as foundation in reaching the ideals of royal politics and played a central role in establishing the causes of loyalty. Furthermore, it explores the Confucian ideals. The contemporary writings of Eochon is mainly focused on the primitive thoughts of Confucianism. However, it can be discerned that Eochon had comprehensive knowledge of Neo-Confucianism. Observing these facets, it has been attempted to analyze the contents of ‘Gobeoulgoron(觚不觚論)’ and explore some aspects of Metaphysical ontology. Through this study review, the characteristics of Eochon’s Confucian scholarship can be identified. At last, scrutinizing the ethical views on economy in order, it is intended to study the academic characteristics. To acquire an idea of Eochon’s classical scholarship, his court writings submitted to the Kings will be studied and based on these sources it is to endorse that the political ideology asserted by Eochon had elements of Confucian politics. Eochon laid emphasis on the discipline and learning of the highest ruler. The meaning of making an upright heart means detaching the self from prejudice and personal affairs. It articulates about acquiring the objective knowledge and impartial judgement. It further advocates that, “Heart controls the private matters”, declares that the heart determines all the thoughts, actions and decisions.