주희의 <참동계고이> 저술과 그 배경

Abstract

This paper addresses mainly the question of why Zhu Xi wrote Cantongqi kaoyi (參同契考異) and how. Many modern scholars hold that Zhu Xi’s main reason for producing Cantongqi kaoyi was his search for escapement from the adverse circumstances that were brought out by Qingyuan prohibition of factionalism (Qingyuan dangjin 慶元黨禁) or his own decrepitude. Are such reasons enough for explaining Zhu's motivation? In answering this question, I take into account Zhu Xi’s views on Cantongqi (參同契), a history of the text Cantongqi kaoyi’s development, and Zhu’s scholarly activities in his latter years. First of all, Zhu Xi became interested in Cantongqi because he believed that the book was closely related to the Xiantian Yixue (先天易學). Cantongqi kaoyi was prepared by Zhu in his latter years, in cooperation with Cai Yuanding (蔡元定) and Cai Yuan (蔡淵): The first draft was finished in 1196, and the final edition was published in 1199 after some modifications of previous drafts. At that time, Zhu Xi was also working actively with his students including Cai family for the study of such Confucian Classics as Rituals and Book of History. Considering several relevant points, I conclude that Zhu Xi’s main reason for producing Cantongqi kaoyi was not to escape from any adverse circumstances in his latter years but his belief that Cantongqi was closely related to the Xiantian Yixue.