• The Journal of Korean Philosophical History
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• no.56
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• pp.47-80
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• 2018

The traditional laws of Korea have undergone various stages of development over time. This includes the voluntary standards of the clean society. Korea's traditional legal systems, ranging from those of the Goryeo(高麗) to those of the Republic of Korea, have taken Confucian Phiosophy as their major ideological bases. At the center of these Confucian ideals, particularly in regards to pre-Qin Confucian Philosophy(先秦儒家思想) from where these ideals originated, lie the core ideals which emphasize the responsibility of each individual regardless of the social status(正名), the needs for a democracy in which people are empower and guide the state(民本), the importance of reigning with benevolence, moral excellence, and rite (仁義), and the differential love centered on kinship and humanity(親親愛人). These were the ideas as set forth by Confucius(孔子), Mencius(孟子) and Xun Zi(荀子). The current laws of Korea, especially in regards to the Constitution and the Civil and Criminal Laws, include a number of provisions that contain the Confucian Ideas of Law. The Constitution, in particular, which is also supported by the judgement of the Constitution Court, reflects several core Confucian ideals including filial duty (孝) and respect for ascendants and the traditional culture. The Court also suggested the two important standards of the constitutional legitimacy of the Traditional Culture. One is 'Age Compatibility (時代 適合性)', the other is 'Manifested Universally Validity(現在的 普遍妥當性)'. So we have burdened with the reestablishment of the Universal Ethics of the Confucian Ideology.