조선시대 성리학의 연원인 주자학의 전개 양상 그리고 양명학에 대한 오해

Abstract

This paper set out to examine differences in the development patterns of the Zhu Xi’s school of thought between China and Korea and analyze the misunderstanding of the Yang Ming’s school of thought among Joseon’s Neo-Confucian scholars and its causes. It is a fact that Joseon’s Neo-Confucianism developed around the Zhu Xi’s school of thought, but is it safe to say that Joseon’s Neo-Confucianism is an imitation of the Zhu Xi’s school of thought in China? I believe firmly that it is not the case. The Zhu Xi’s school of thought was introduced into Joseon almost 300 years after his death. The Zhu Xi’s school of thought in Joseon developed with more diverse topics, precise logic and different systems and frameworks than its counterpart in China. When the academic scope is limited only to the Zhu Xi’s school of thought, Joseon was more thorough and sophisticated and covered more colorful academic topics than China. In China, the Zhu Xi’s school of thought reached its apex almost across every field including the theory of li and qi, the theory of the mind and human nature, and the theory of self-cultivation thanks to Zhu Xi himself, which explains why there were no attempts to broaden the extension of the school or new philosophical disputes to change the basic academic system after his death. Most efforts developed around the inheritance and practice of the Zhu Xi’s school of thought. In Joseon, Neo-Confucianism developed in a different direction from China. That is, Joseon’s Neo-Confucianism developed its arguments and discussions by reverting the theory of moral behavior and the theory of the mind and human nature to the metaphysical concept of li and qi. I explored and analyzed the causes behind this development pattern of Joseon’s Neo-Confucianism. The causes were found in the spirit of the times to differentiate from Buddhism and the composition and system of the literature about the Zhu Xi’s school of thought imported from the end of Goryeo to middle Joseon.