Sympathy in Unrest: Beyond Jonjae's Philosophy (불온한 공감 - 존재의 사유, 너머 -)
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- The Journal of Korean Philosophical History
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- no.52
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- pp.9-35
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- 2017
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This article is to study the life and philosophy of Jonjae Gidaeseung, who was at strife with his days and did not negotiate with himself, with focus on two concepts of buron(不穩, unrest) and 'sympathy'. It is the fact that to study the traditional philosopher is likely to be enlightening. In order to prevent the risk, we need to define first the concept of unrest as including anxiety to critical resistance. Also, I would like to propose the concept of sympathy in order to grasp the function of his mind which judges whether his feelings and actions are valid from an emotional horizon of unrest. Methodologically this article is to adopt a transversal and correlative thinking by combining an east Asian Confucian traditional concept unrest with a modern one space. It is because this research is to show a significant meaning when we study highlighted and hidden layers of our life and politics in 'now-here' and the 'between space' even though this transversal and correlative study shows the horizon of his life. This article is to investigate how a case is structured by occurrences and divergences and reinterpret a meaning from an emotional horizon. This process is done centering on two terms Guchatuan(pursuing ease ignobly), and Suwolbingho(moon reflected in the water and ice in a bottle), which is the source of Bingwoldang. The two terms were used by Jonjae himself. The latter shows an opposite meaning from the first and is accordingly a way by which we can look into his life and days. My research of Jonjae's life and politics from the emotional-philosophical level is original in that it reveals emotional traces beyond his philosophical ideas which previous studies did not show. In this article, I showed that Gobong was ambitious and resolute, and definite in his judgment and therefore was not good at controlling his uprightness. Also he was too straightforward to purify a language. His unrest characters made him conflict with old ministers and high ranking officials and therefore they avoided him even thought he was excellent in writing and learning and talented. He was oriented toward living by goodness and right Ways, which is summed up as Gisesa(vague movement, situational advantage, and death).
In this paper, the ideological features of Mohism were examined through the analysis into the viewpoint of Mohism on justice and benefit and "universal love" based on it. Even before the viewpoint on justice and benefit became a main agenda in Confucianism, Mohism and the Hundred Schools of Thought, there had been discussions on it, and the relation between "justice" and "benefit" was generally understood as that of means and ends(本末) or that of the thing and its functions(體用). What succeeded to this tendency and set it as an individual's moral standard was the viewpoint of Confucianism including Confucius. Of course, the Confucian view was focused on the politicians or leaders of those times. Compared to which, Mohism represented the stance of their group members and pursued the interest of groups and the society rather than that of individuals. Accordingly, while Confucianism considered "justice" more important than "benefit", Mohism could understand both of them unificatively. The crucial reason why Mohism could be most active during the Warring States Period is that it had its metaphysical basis on "the disposition of Providence." Accompanying this, the viewpoint of Mohism on justice and benefit was internally reflected in its key arguments including "universal love." That is so-called "Jianxiangai, Jiaoxiangli", that is to say, "that loving each other is namely benefiting each other." On the other hand, the fact that the viewpoint of Mohism on justice and benefit, and furthermore, the ideological foundation of its ten main arguments including universal love was "the disposition of Providence" became a double-edged sword. It was because it could be easily accepted by the laborers, farmers, and craftsmen consisting of Mohism of those times, but it instead became the reason for falling into ruins since the establishment of the feudal empire of Qin and Han(秦漢). In the feudal empire, the ideology and activities of Mohism as an individual group couldn't be embraced. For example, the way to set "Heaven"(the heavenly king) above "the sovereign ruler" might be a decisive limit to the legitimacy and rationality of the regime. Moreover, the arguments by Mohism, such as "Jieyong", "Jiezang", "Feiyue" and others couldn't be taken easily by the privileged class. Therefore, Mohism couldn't do any activities as an academic school until Seojedongjeom(西勢東漸) during the Qing dynasty later, and it was different from Confucianism. In brief, ideas of Mohism including universal love ended up as an utopian idea historically, but the conception of sharing mutual interest along with mutual love and consideration with Confucianism from the position of the relatively disadvantaged in the society has a value worthy of being appreciated even today.
Samsaebulhoedo(三世佛會圖) at Yongjusa Temple(龍珠寺), regarded as a monumental masterpiece consisting of different elements such as Confucian and Buddhist ideas, palace academy garden and Buddhist artist styles, unique traditional and western painting styles, is one of the representative works that symbolically illustrate the development and innovation of painting in the late Joseon dynasty. However, the absence of painting inscriptions raised persistent controversy over the past half century among researchers as to the matters of estimating its production period, identifying the original author and analyzing style characteristics. In the end, the work failed to gain recognitions commensurate with its historical significance and value. It is the particularly vital issue in that estimating the production period of the existing masterpiece is the beginning of all other discussions. However, this issue has caused the ensuing debates since all details are difficult to be interpreted to a concise form due to a number of different records on painters and mixture of traditional buddhist painting styles used by buddhist painters and innovative western styles used by ordinary painters. Contrary to other ordinary Buddhist paintings, this painting, Samsaebulhoedo, has a praying letter for the royal establishment at the center of the main altar. It should be noted that regarding this painting, its original version-His Royal Highness King, Her Majesty, His Royal Crown Prince主上殿下, 王妃殿下, 世子邸下-was erased and instead added Her Love Majesty慈宮邸下 in front of Her Majesty. This praying letter can be assumed as one of the significant and objective evidence for estimating its production period. The new argument of the late 19th century production focused on this praying letter, and proposed that King Sunjo was then the first-born son when Yongjusa Temple was built in 1790 and it was not until January 1, 1800 that he was ascended to the Crown Prince. In this light, the existing praying letter with the eulogistic title-Crown Prince世子-should be considered revised after his ascension to the throne. Styles and icons bore some resemblance to Samsaebulhoedo at Cheongryongsa Temple or Bongeunsa Temple portrayed by Buddhist painters in the late 19th century. Therefore, the remaining Samsaebulhoedo should be depicted by them in the same period as western styles were introduced in Buddhist painting in later days. Following extensive investigations, praying letters in Buddhist paintings in the late 19th century show that it was usual to record specification such as class, birth date and family name of people during the dynasty at the point of producing Buddhist paintings. It is easy to find that those who passed away decades ago cannot be revised to use eulogistic titles as seen by the praying letters in Samsaebulhoedo at Yongju Temple. As "His Royal Highness King, Her Majesty, His Royal Crown Prince" was generally used around 1790 regardless of the presence of first-born son or Crown Prince, it was rather natural to write the eulogistic title "His Royal Crown Prince" in the praying letter of Samsaebulhoedo. Contrary to ordinary royal hierarchy, Her Love Majesty was placed in front of Her Majesty. Based on this, the praying letter was assumed to be revised since King Jeongjo placed royal status of Hyegyeonggung before the Queen, which was an exceptional case during King Jeongjo's reign, due to unusual relationships among King Jeongjo, Hyegyeonggung and the Queen arising from the death of Crown Prince(思悼世子). At that time, there was a special case of originally writing a formal tripod praying letter, as can be seen from ordinary praying letter in Buddhist paintings, erasing it and adding a special eulogistic title: Her Love Majesty. This indicates that King Jeongjo identified that Hyegyeonggung was erased, and commanded to add it; nevertheless, ceremony leaders of Yongju Temple, built as a palace for holding ceremonies of Hyeonryungwon(顯隆園) are Jeongjo, the son of his father and his wife Hyegyeonggung (Her Love Majesty)(惠慶宮(慈宮)). This revision is believed to be ordered by King Jeongjo on January 17, 1791 when the King paid his first visit to the Hyeonryungwon since the establishment of Hyeonryungwon and Yongju Temple, stopped by Yongju Temple on his way to palace and saw Samsaebulhoedo for the first and last time. As shown above, this letter consisting of special contents and forms can be seen an obvious, objective testament to the original of Samsebulhoedo painted in 1790 when Yongju Temple was built.
1. The 'Kao Zheng Pai(考證派) comes from the 'Zhe Zhong Pai' and is a school that is influenced by the confucianism of the Qing dynasty. In Japan Inoue Kinga(井上金娥), Yoshida Koton(吉田篁墩) became central members, and the rise of the methodology of historical research(考證學) influenced the members of the 'Zhe Zhong Pai', and the trend of historical research changed from confucianism to medicine, making a school of medicine based on the study of texts and proving that the classics were right. 2. Based on the function of 'Nei Qu Li '(內驅力) the 'Kao Zheng Pai', in the spirit of 'use confucianism as the base', researched letters, meanings and historical origins. Because they were influenced by the methodology of historical research(考證學) of the Qing era, they valued the evidential research of classic texts, and there was even one branch that did only historical research, the 'Rue Xue Kao Zheng Pai'(儒學考證派). Also, the 'Yi Xue Kao Zheng Pai'(醫學考證派) appeared by the influence of Yoshida Kouton and Kariya Ekisai(狩谷掖齋). 3. In the 'Kao Zheng Pai(考證派)'s theories and views the 'Yi Xue Kao Zheng Pai' did not look at medical scriptures like the "Huang Di Nei Jing"("黃帝內經") and did not do research on 'medical' related areas like acupuncture, the meridian and medicinal herbs. Since they were doctors that used medicine, they naturally were based on 'formulas'(方劑) and since their thoughts were based on the historical ideologies, they valued the "Shang Han Ja Bing Lun" which was revered as the 'ancestor of all formulas'(衆方之祖). 4. The lives of the important doctors of the 'Kao Zheng Pai' Meguro Dotaku(目黑道琢) Yamada Seichin(山田正珍), Yamada Kyoko(山田業廣), Mori Ritsi(森立之) Kitamura Naohara(喜多村直寬) are as follows. 1) Meguro Dotaku(目黑道琢 1739
1.The 'Kao Zheng Pai'(考證派) comes from the 'Zhe Zhong Pai(折衷派)' and is a school that is influenced by the confucianism of the Qing dynasty. In Japan Inoue Kinga(井上金峨), Yoshida Koton(古田篁墩