광무9년명 천부경각석의 발굴과 그 사상사적 의의

Abstract

This writer has recently discovered the Cheonbugyeong(The Classic of the Seal of Heaven) tombstone. Based on the ridge beam wood and a few ridge beams, which were discovered with the tombstone at the same time, it was confirmed that a young man of 28 years old at the time settled down at the foot of Bongsusan Mountain in Chungcheong-do as a reclusive place and set up the Cheonbugyeong engraving. More importantly, given that this area was the center of the Donghak peasant militia and the rebels of the Hongju in the late Joseon Dynasty, the man can be thought to be a member of the peasant militia or one of the rebels or a Confucian scholar, who gave up his dream in the midst of the collapsing the Joseon Dynasty. In the engraved stone, nine letters and a diagram were engraved, which is not only the oldest existed but also the evidence that the Joseon Dynasty had the scripture (Cheonbugyeong); therefore, it has a value of tremendous importance. Consequently, the presence of the tombstone is not a fake, but was well respected and preserved by the public in the areas of Chungcheong-do around the time of the end of the Joseon Dynasty. The three taegeuk (a symbol representing heaven earth and man) shaped yeonggimun (a diagram drawing the spirit of the universe) engraved on the tombstone shows the level of a deep understanding in the public at the end of the Joseon Dynasty. Furthermore, as the feudal ideology based on Neo-Confucianism declined, transforming into modern thinking, the existing three teachings of Confucianism, Buddhism and Taoism were mixed, fusing with Korean national religions.