• Title/Summary/Keyword: History and philosophy of science

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Mathematics and Society in Koryo and Chosun (고려.조선시대의 수학과 사회)

  • Joung Ji-Ho
    • The Mathematical Education
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    • v.24 no.2
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    • pp.48-73
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    • 1986
  • Though the tradition of Korean mathematics since the ancient time up to the 'Enlightenment Period' in the late 19th century had been under the influence of the Chinese mathematics, it strove to develop its own independent of Chinese. However, the fact that it couldn't succeed to form the independent Korean mathematics in spite of many chances under the reign of Kings Sejong, Youngjo, and Joungjo was mainly due to the use of Chinese characters by Koreans. Han-gul (Korean characters) invented by King Sejong had not been used widely as it was called and despised Un-mun and Koreans still used Chinese characters as the only 'true letters' (Jin-suh). The correlation between characters and culture was such that, if Koreans used Han-gul as their official letters, we may have different picture of Korean mathematics. It is quite interesting to note that the mathematics in the 'Enlightenment Period' changed rather smoothly into the Western mathematics at the time when Han-gul was used officially with Chinese characters. In Koryo, the mathematics existed only as a part of the Confucian refinement, not as the object of sincere study. The mathematics in Koryo inherited that of the Unified Shilla without any remarkable development of its own, and the mathematicians were the Inner Officials isolated from the outside world who maintained their positions as specialists amid the turbulence of political changes. They formed a kind of Guild, their posts becoming patrimony. The mathematics in Koryo significant in that they paved the way for that of Chosun through a few books of mathematics such as 'Sanhak-Kyemong', 'Yanghwi-Sanpup' and 'Sangmyung-Sanpup'. King Sejong was quite phenomenal in his policy of promotion of mathematics. King himself was deeply interested in the study, createing an atmosphere in which all the high ranking officials and scholars highly valued mathematics. The sudden development of mathematic culture was mainly due to the personality and capacity of king who took anyone with the mathematic talent into government service regardless of his birth and against the strong opposition of the conservative officials. However, King's view of mathematics never resulted in the true development of mathematics perse and he used it only as an official technique in the tradition way. Korean mathematics in King Sejong's reign was based upon both the natural philosophy in China and the unique geo-political reality of Korean peninsula. The reason why the mathematic culture failed to develop continually against those social background was that the mathematicians were not allowed to play the vital role in that culture, they being only the instrument for the personality or politics of the king. While the learned scholar class sometimes played the important role for the development of the mathematic culture, they often as not became an adamant barrier to it. As the society in Chosun needed the function of mathematics acutely, the mathematicians formed the settled class called Jung-in (Middle-Man). Jung-in was a unique class in Chosun and we can't find its equivalent in China or Japan. These Jung-in mathematician officials lacked tendency to publish their study, since their society was strictly exclusive and their knowledge was very limited. Though they were relatively low class, these mathematicians played very important role in Chosun society. In 'Sil-Hak (the Practical Learning) period' which began in the late 16th century, especially in the reigns of Kings Youngjo and Jungjo, which was called the Renaissance of Chosun, the ambitious policy for the development of science and technology called for. the rapid increase of he number of such technocrats as mathematics, astronomy and medicine. Amid these social changes, the Jung-in mathematicians inevitably became quite ambitious and proud. They tried to explore deeply into mathematics perse beyond the narrow limit of knowledge required for their office. Thus, in this period the mathematics developed rapidly, undergoing very important changes. The characteristic features of the mathematics in this period were: Jung-in mathematicians' active study an publication, the mathematic studies by the renowned scholars of Sil-Hak, joint works by these two classes, their approach to the Western mathematics and their effort to develop Korean mathematics. Toward the 'Enlightenment Period' in the late 19th century, the Western mathematics experienced great difficulty to take its roots in the Peninsula which had been under the strong influence of Confucian ideology and traditional Korean mathematic system. However, with King Kojong's ordinance in 1895, the traditional Korean mathematics influenced by Chinese disappeared from the history of Korean mathematics, as the school system was hanged into the Western style and the Western mathematics was adopted as the only mathematics to be taught at the Schools of various levels. Thus the 'Enlightenment Period' is the period in which Korean mathematics shifted from Chinese into European.

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A Servicism Model of the New Legal System (서비스주의 법제도 구조와 운용 연구)

  • Hyunsoo Kim
    • Journal of Service Research and Studies
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    • v.11 no.4
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    • pp.1-20
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    • 2021
  • This study was conducted to derive a model of the legal system that is the basis for realizing the service economy, political administration, and social education system. Based on the experience of mankind's legal system operation in the historical era for the past 5,000 years, a legal system model that will make the future human society sustainable has been established. The problems of the current legal system were analyzed at the fundamental level. The root cause of injustice and unfairness was analyzed and a new legal system was designed. Through the legal systems of various national societies that have been attempted in the history of mankind, the structure of the legal system that is desirable for the modern society was designed. Human society, which has experienced how much good legal system has been and is being abused by human irrationality and nonsense, needs to make an effort to change the legal system paradigm itself by learning lessons from failure. This study derives the basis for a legal system that can realize justice and a fair society in the long term. It proposed a model for improving the legal system that allows human society to be happy for a long time. To this end, the fundamental role of the legal system was analyzed at the ideological level and the problems of the current legal system were presented. In addition, the problem of fundamental assumptions about human nature was analyzed and improved assumptions were presented. The structural system of the current legal system was analyzed and a new structure was proposed. In addition, a plan for the operation of a new legal system based on a new structure was suggested. The new legal system was named servicism system. This is because it is a model centered on thorough checks and balances between all opponents, not a simple linear one-dimensional legal system, but a multidimensional legal system, and because it is a viewpoint that clearly recognizes both human reason and desire. The new system is a model that reflects the confrontation between the rule of law and the non-law rule and the confrontation between the power people and the general public. A follow-up study is needed on a concrete plan for transitioning from the current legal system to a new legal system.

A Study on the Distribution, Contents and Types of Stone Inscription of Wuyi-Gugok in China (중국 무이구곡 바위글씨(石刻)의 분포와 내용 및 유형에 관한 연구)

  • Rho, Jae-Hyun;Cheng, Zhao-Xia;Kim, Hong-Gyun
    • Journal of the Korean Institute of Traditional Landscape Architecture
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    • v.38 no.1
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    • pp.115-131
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    • 2020
  • Through literature research and field investigation, this paper attempts to study the distribution, morphology and the typification of the visual and perceptual stone inscription in Wuyi-Gugok of China. The results are as follows: First, there are 350 stone inscriptions in total from the 1st Gok to 9th Gok in Wuyi-Gugok. Second, according to the analysis of the stone inscription distribution, 74(21.2%) stone inscriptions in the 5th Gok, 67(19.2%) in the 6th Gok, 65(18.6%) in the 1st Gok, 60(17.2%) in the 2nd Gok and 53(15.2%) in the 4th Gok are confirmed. The above five Goks contain 319(91.1%) stone inscriptions, so they have rich cultural landscape. Third, according to the survey, the number of the stone inscriptions existed in the Sugwangseok of the 1st Gok are 41(22.6%), in the Homagan of Cheonyubong of the 6th Gok are 29(8.3%), in the Jesiam of the 4th Gok are 23(6.6%), in the Nyeongam of the 2nd Gok are 22(6.3%), in the Hyangseongam of the 6th Gok are 21(6%), in the Unwa of the 5th Gok are 19(5.4%), in the Bokhoam of the 5th Gok are 18(5.1%), in the Eunbyeongbong of the 5th Gok are 17(4.9%), in the Daejangbong of the 4th Gok are 14(4%), in the Daewangbong of the 1st Gok and the Geumgokam of the 4th Gok are 12(3.4%). Thus, a total of 228 (65.1%) stone inscriptions are concentrated in these 11 sites, which represent the popularity and cultural value of these rocks. Fourth, the stone inscription of Wuyi-Gugok, praising the landform and topographical geological landscape of Mount Wuyi, mainly describe the scenic name of each Gok related to Zhu Xi's Gugok culture, appreciate Zhu Xi's tracks and the stone inscription in the sacred land of Neo-Confucianism culture, and also record the Confucian edification of mencius thoughts, Muigun(武夷君) and the myths and legends related to the site names of Wuyi mountain, which can remind people of the worldview of the celestial paradise where the gods live and the fairyland of the land of peach blossoms. In addition, it indicates that the historical and cultural landscape, which is full of colorful history and myths and legends, including allusions related to Confucian, buddhist and Taoist celebrities and the ancestor ancient things related to traditional culture of China is very diverse. Fifth, the results of the classification, based on the content of the stone inscription in Wuyi-Gugok, are classified as the scenery name inscription, the praise scene inscription, the recording travel inscription, the recording event inscription, the philosophy inscription, the expressing emotion inscription, the religion inscription, the inscription for auspiciousness, the slogan and expressing ambition inscription and the official document notice inscription, among which there are 102(29.1%) praise scene inscriptions, 93(26.6%) scenery name inscriptions and 61(17.4%) recording travel inscriptions. The stone inscriptions of Wuyi-Gugok have the characteristics of the special emphasis on scenery names, landscape praise and commemorative tours. Sixth, the analysis of the intertext between the 「Figure of Wuyi-Gugok」 and Wuyi-Gugok rock letters, in the study found that the method of propagation between media was mostly the method of propagation of quotations and maintained intermedia through extension, repetition, extension, and compression.