• The Journal of Korean Philosophical History
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• no.32
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• pp.309-336
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• 2011

There were various linking points that connect Li xue(Neo-Confucianism) to aesthetics in Song Dynasty as following. 1. The traditional moral as "pursuing pleasure of Kong-zi and Yan Hui" 2. Esteem of "life and vitality". Scholars of Li xue in Song regarded the pleasure of acting up to "benevolence" as a beauty, and this benevolence originated in the "heaven and earth; the universe". "Benevolence", that is to say, is name of the nature that continuous reproduction breed in an endless succession by "Yin-Yang the universe", thus the natural "life and vitality" of the "heaven and earth" as the matter of course is the perfect beauty. 3. An idea of "serene contemplation". Originally the "serene contemplation" belongs to discipline of "Li xue", however simultaneously this conception was entirely applicable to aesthetic point of view. 4. Cosmological consciousness. In the same manner, the "pleasure" which is moralistic and moreover aesthetic is indivisible from cosmic contemplation itself. Because of this point, the art and aesthetics of Song Dynasty self-consciously had the cosmological consciousness in its fullness. 5. Respect of beauty of nature. Scholars of "Li xue" considered as : no matter what "Li" or "Qi" that producing all things is "coming of itself", that is by no means artificially operated or prearranged in advance. Such standpoint was applied to creative art and made art of Song Dynasty esteem beauty of nature (coming of itself) exceedingly. 6. Laying stress on "disposition". Scholars of "Li xue" ordinarily valued much of "disposition of a sage", consequently this tendency influenced on aesthetics. "disposition" indicates the whole impression that one who has appearance and the inside(personality, temper, thought, etc.) gives to others. By putting that impression into practice of art and literature, it is to materialize the works of art as a unity of form and subject, also as an expression of human existence that breathed into one's sensibility on the whole. 7. Principles of "completing inquiry", "study the laws of nature by close access" of "Li xue". These principles made art and literature of Song Dynasty take a serious view of "Li" of all over the universe, so made them close investigate things, and after all have achieved very remarkable characteristic in art and literature, especially in paintings of Song Dynasty. Theory of painting in Song Dynasty had occupied considerably high position in Chinese aesthetic history. It was positively superior to former generations no matter what in quantity or in theoretical minuteness and its systematic level. Undoubtedly the Chinese theory of painting had been achieving development time after time since Song Dynasty. However if we could make a comparison it with every single period (ex. Yuan, Ming, and Qing Dynasties), there is no prominent period than Song Dynasty in theory of paintings. Song period had number of essays of Landscape painting.

• The Journal of Korean Philosophical History
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• no.31
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• pp.241-262
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• 2011

In this paper we show how the perception of heavenly principle(天理) and definition of individual desires(私慾) in the five commentaries on Daodejing(道德經) was changed over time. The five commentaries on Daodejing(道德經) composed during $Chos{\breve{o}}n$ are 'Sooneon(醇言) by Lee, Yul-gock (李珥,1536~1584), 'SinJoo-DoDuckKyung (新註道德經) - or New Commentary on Daodejing(道德經) - by Park, Se-dang(朴世堂,1629~1703), 'Dodukjigi(道德指歸)' by Suh, Myoung-euing(徐命膺,1716~1787), 'Chowondamro (椒園談老)' by Lee, Chung-ik(李忠翊,1744~1816), and 'Jungro(訂老)' by Hong, Suk-joo (洪奭周,1774~1842). The course of history in understanding the book, "Daodejing(道德經)," demonstrated that by the late of $Chos{\breve{o}}n$ Dynasty in the 18th century, the notion of 'the moral law for the community' has changed. Neither Suh, Myoung-euing nor Lee, Chung-ik emphasized 'the necessity for the truth of the heavens.'Instead, they focused more on the 'individuals' who followed the moral law than the moral law itself. They did not see the individual desire as the object that had to be discarded. Within the context of this framework, the individual's role had changed from the person who had to be obedient to the law to the subject who judged the moral law all by him/herself. This process of breaking up 'the goodness of the community' led the $Chos{\breve{o}}n$ Dynasty of the 18th century in the transition period to the modern era. In other words, it was the time when the introspection of the 'moral law' prevailed in the $Chos{\breve{o}}n$ Dynasty occurred naturally and spontaneously among the Confucian scholars, which implied the reconceptualization of the 'self-awareness' or 'the point of view on the individual's self-desire' was occurred in the context of academic development during the late $Chos{\breve{o}}n$ Dynasty.

• (The)Study of the Eastern Classic
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• no.70
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• pp.495-524
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• 2018

This study investigated the literary theory of Jang Jiyeon and his compilation consciousness of the historical biography, and based on this, the study examined the aspect and characteristic of the personage adoption of "Ilsayusa". To figure out the characteristic of "Ilsayusa", this study attempted to investigate the Jang Jiyeon's cognition on epic literature first. Jang Jiyeon had interest in the historical biography in his early days. But he clearly expressed the negative position about the novels which had been handed down from old times, mentioning about their harmful effect, even though they were in a big popularity. The good readings he thought was supposed to be helpful for person's work, study, personality and even the custom, so it is thought that the compilation of "Ilsayusa" was planned as a part of a usefulness to help readers' actual lives by summarizing Jang Jiyeon's philosophy as the form of a historical biography of personages who had actually existed. The direct motivation and the awareness of the problem to compile "Ilsayusa" could be confirmed by the postscript he left. Pointing that Joseon's policy of appointing persons of ability resulted in the loss of the nation, Jang Jiyeon paid attention to the classical scholars from low class, people from under middle class and the local figures in Hamgyeongdo and Pyeongando in the process of compiling "Ilsayusa". Along with this, a kind of a sense of duty that the old heritage must be examined by descendents was manifested as the compilation of "Ilsayusa". Through this, Jang Jiyeon tried to show the good model to the readers of "Ilsayusa" what the way of living would be for raising their volition and keeping the fundamentals. The tendency and characteristic of compiling personages in "Ilsayusa" could be sorted in a few ways as written below. First, it includes all kinds of all actually existed episodes while he was collecting various historical biographies published before. Second, it includes the new kinds of personages paying particular attention to figures of middle class and commoners. Third, it compiled the female figures in a great volume and described new model of woman. Fourth, for areas, it has episodes of all areas in the nation including Pyeongando and Hamgyeongdo. Thinking about all the discussion above, we could estimate that "Ilsayusa" is the definitive edition of these kinds of books which inherited all performances of the biographical literature in better way, which had been accomplished in 19th century.

• The Journal of Korean Philosophical History
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• no.59
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• pp.261-286
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• 2018

It is possible to communicate with objects in various styles, but especially the poem[詩], the ode[賦], the inscription[銘] are remarkable. The word is not the mouth, but the mind and the soul. Therefore, if a person is in a relationship with an object that defines the person, what conversation with the object is the person's inner. So if you know what a person has been with things, you can imagine his outer surface, and you can get inner if you know what you talked about. Seo Kyung-duk who lived a poverty life, but can not live without things, so his things are not a thing, Seo Kyung-duk also recorded especially about the dojookjang[bamboo cane], the buchae[fan], and the $k{\breve{o}}mungo$[Korean lute] Seo Kyung-duk with the buchae, Seo Kyung-duk with the dojookjang, and Seo Kyung-duk with the $k{\breve{o}}mungo$. These are the pictures we can imagine. And I can draw Seo Kyung-duk to talk with those things. Seo Kyung-duk, who is reflected in the dojookjang, shows the reality of participating in the rescue of the people's hardships and the stubborn world. Seo Kyung-duk, who is reflected in the buchae, is a philosopher who explores the origin of existence with the appearance of realistic preachers who have to wash away the difficulties of the people. Seo Kyung-duk, who is reflected in the $k{\breve{o}}mungo$, is a philosopher who grasps Ki(氣) the phenomenon and the source, the immaterial and the material, the type and the intangible. Both the strings and non-strings are $k{\breve{o}}mungos$. The $k{\breve{o}}mungo$ is strong in ideology symbolizing the Confucianism ideological ideals, and Seok Kyung-duk is also in the extension line. Seo Gyeong-deok, who has seen through the dojookjang, the buchae, and the $k{\breve{o}}mungo$ has a realistic sense of realizing that he should worry about the pain of the world and fulfill a good world. He is a philosopher who pierces the root of existence and can be governed by the logic of Ki(氣).

• (The)Study of the Eastern Classic
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• no.48
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• pp.91-116
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• 2012

Writing is a process and work of expressing one's own feelings and thoughts that are not contained in rigid forms; however, the literary trend and environment during the Late Joseon was not so tolerant. A revivalist approach to writing was dominant during this period, which was summarized in the expression that "Prose must be written in the style of Qin and Han; and Poetry in that of High Tang. "Hence, it was practically a taboo to express one's raw emotions and disregard the custom and regulations of writing. Nevertheless, literati, who got tired of the dogmatic rule of Neo-Confucianism at the time that refused to see the changing world and the pseudo-archaic writing that merely imitated the outside and was empty inside, attempted new styles of writing to escape from the model or example and what was familiar. Lee Yong-hyu, who was in the middle of such transformations, learned the trends of Late Ming and Early Qing through the newly imported Chinese books and created his own style that reflected his personality. His writings refused the Neo-Confucian system of thoughts, which was a dominant ideology of the time, paid attention to the human nature and emphasized the restoration of the self. His writing could be described as being anti-pseudo-archaic and criticized the pretentious trend of the time. He argued that in order to restore the true self, one must recover the innocent mind that was bestowed on human by heaven/nature (cheon-li, 天理), and for this purpose, one must straighten out one's mind (sim, 心). His argument is similar to that of "Yangming School of Mind," which could be represented by the phrase, "Mind is the Principle (心卽理)." Yangming School claimed that moral principle existed within one's mind; and this was in stark contrast with the Neo-Confucian idea that "principle (li)"was external and transcendent, and was spoken by the great Confucian masters and written down in Confucian Classics. By denying the externality of the principle and underscoring its immanence, the idea that centralized Confucian Classics and canons was dismantled. Lee Yong-hyu's writing styles that denied the model and emphasized the restoration of the self was influenced by such thoughts. However, one must neither hastily judge that he is an advocate of Yangming School of Mind, nor determine the anti-pseudo-archaic writers' ideological basis as the philosophy of Yangming School. Once it is rigidly defined, be it Zhu Xi's philosophy or Wang Yangming's philosophy, it becomes another model that one must abide by, and again the self disappears. Thus, Lee Yong-hyu defied any kind of model that claimed authenticity or precedence and wished that people would live independently as oneself, and left such claims and wishes in writing. That is the reason, after more than two hundred years later, we still read his writings.

• (The)Study of the Eastern Classic
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• no.48
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• pp.195-223
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• 2012

Until now, I guess, many scholars misunderstood the characteristic of economic awareness of Yi Hang-no as if it was a modern nationalism or radicalism against Japanese anti-Korean insistences. But I think these opinions are out of historical attitude. So to understand Yi's economic awareness correctly, I think, We should focus on the traditional Confucian thought system at that time. As one method to reach the goal, I focused on the word, Jeong-jeon-je: Oriental equal land system. Yi Hang-no put the importance on Jeong-jeon-je to make utopia he dreamed of. Yi thought Jeong-jeon-je is the basis of equal society and strong state. Also Yi thought a moral society would be achieved by Jeong-jeon-je because the equal land system, so called Jeong-jeon-je provide peasants with equal lands, so it makes peasants stable in economic situation. Especially, Yi Hang-no put importance on that Jeong-jeon-je would raise moral consciousness of people because equal economic condition makes people wealthy, so people would be good men naturally. Yi Hang-no explain it in basis of Insim-Dosim-seol: a theory of two minds bad & good to be. Yi Hang-no thought equal economic condition is the basis of making people moral being. He thought Jeong-jeon-je was a basis of the condition. Reversely, Yi thought Western insists of trade was the beginning of making people fight for individual benefit, so it produces devil selfishness out of human mind. That was the reason that Yi Hang-no opposed the trade with Western Powers. Eventually Yi's assertion of embargo came out of his Insim-Dosim-seol. In this context, Yi's Jeong-jeon-je was insisted as a method to raise human moral consciousness.

• (The)Study of the Eastern Classic
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• no.49
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• pp.7-38
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• 2012

This study is an argument that Yeoheon Jang Hyun Gwang's Yeok-Hak-Do-Seol has been on the context of the typical Confucian methodology of self-organization for a sage's or superman's character (爲己之學) and completed the methodology. Therefore the context from Confucius to Southern Song China Era is argued as a context of development and systematization of the methodology. In addition the fact that Zhuxi(朱熹) and his students had systimatization of the methodology with the publications of some important textbooks is also explained. The most stressed thing of this study is Yeoheon's Yeok-Hak-Do-Seol is just the text that succeeded them as the methodology of self-organization and had a special purpose of completion of the methodology not only with comprehensive items of practice but also intuition into the human's life and the world by his mastery of Yeokhak(易學). The viewpoint this study keeps is the Confucian methodology of self-organization is considered for the purpose of development and upholding the Confucian truth, and thus the methodology itself has been regarded as the necessary one that is the closest approximation to a pursuit of Confucian truth. According to this viewpoint we can observe the features of methodology of the pursuit of Confucian truth from the Yeok-Hak-Do-Seol. However the Yeok-Hak-Do-Seol has its purpose merely on a human being's self-organization but also on an enormous enterprise to make the universe peace or sustainability of the world. His stress on the enterprise shows that his methodology is not a merely repetition of the tradition of the Zhuzixue but a creative deveopment of the tradition. The other feature is that his methodology is systematization on the basis of Yeokhak, or the study of Yi-jing(易經). The main method he intensified is easiness and simplification that is the main point which he extracted from Yi-jing as the most important and necessary way of life.

• (The)Study of the Eastern Classic
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• no.50
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• pp.295-318
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• 2013

The purpose of this study was to define the 'caligraphy as a modern concept of art. For this purpose, it was necessary to exclude the elements betraying 'the caligraphy as a pure art' in reference to 'autonomy' as an indicator of modernity in order to reflect on the current topology of the caligraphy in our age. Checking the current conditions facing the caligraphy from the pre-modern, modern and post-modern perspectives will clarify the current topology of the caligraphy and further exploring 'the caligraphy as a post-modern art concept. To this end, this study defines the caligraphy 'as a pure formative art' and thereby discusses it in terms of nature and form. In terms of nature, the caligraphy should be subsumed into a spacial art, but it has a nature of a temporal art created and appreciated over time. Hence, among the spacial arts, the painting is most similar to the caligraphy, while among the temporal arts, the caligraphy is most similar to such rhythmic (of high mobility) or performing arts as music and dance. Merely, the painting does not reveal the flow of time on the canvas, while music and dance leave no residual in terms of audibility and visuality. All in all, the caligraphy is sort of 'temporal-spacial art' like dance in that the visible letters express the artist's sense of life on the plane over time like music. In terms of form, this study compares the caligraphy with engraving, wood print and character design to define the caligraphy as a pure art concept. The caligraphy as a modern art concept, namely, the autonomy of the caligraphy is associated with legibility and meaning in addition to the question whether it is an applied or a pure art. The legibility and meaning of the characters are not only the essential elements of the caligraphy but also are the factors limiting its autonomy, which must be a paradox. All in all, the legibility and meaning of the characters must be the key criteria for determining the caligraphy as a practical art or literary art or as a pure figurative art. In this context, this study discusses the caligraphy as a pure art by comparing it with the spatial art 'painting' and the temporal art 'music.' It might be impossible to define the caligraphy or a genre of art as an autonomous art of self-perfection and categorical identity. Moreover, any attempt to define the caligraphy would fail to interpret the caligraphy appropriately. Merely, we are obliged to position the caligraphy in the process of localizing 'their modernity' and thereby, discuss how to respond to their scheme.

• (The)Study of the Eastern Classic
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• no.34
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• pp.167-206
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• 2009

This paper discovers and introduces the collection of letters, "A Collector of Correspondence from Chinese Intellectuals (中朝學士書翰錄)" which was made by Kim Youngjak(1802~1868) who had collected the letters from Chinese intellectuals. "A Collector of Correspondence from Chinese Intellectuals (中朝學士書翰錄)" is a collector which contains handwritten letters to Kim Youngjak from Chinese people such as cheng gong shou(程恭壽), weng xue han(翁學涵), zhang bing yan(張丙炎), shao yan han(少言翰), and li wen yuan(李文源). Kim Youngjak had frequent meetings with Chinese intellectuals not only directly but also indirectly. He had exchanged letters with li bo heng(李伯衡), shuai fang wei(帥方蔚) for 30 years. In 1858, he went to Beijing and met Chinese intellectuals ye ming li(葉名澧), zhang bing yan(張丙炎), wu kun tian(吳昆田), cheng gong shou(程恭壽), and zhao guang(趙光). After coming back to Chos?n, he continued to exchange letters with them. "A Collector of Correspondence from Chinese Intellectuals (中朝學士書翰錄)" contains autograph letters by Kim Youngjak and Chinese intellectuals. It has ten letters for Kim Youngjak written by cheng gong shou(程恭壽), weng xue han(翁學涵), zhang bing yan(張丙炎), shao yan han(少言翰) and so on. One letter and five poems which zhao ting huang(趙廷璜) wrote to the son of Kim are also contained. The letters by zhao ting huang(趙廷璜) shows a sincere friendship with Kim Youngjak. The relationship between li bo heng(李伯衡) (who had exchanged letters with Kim for 30 years) and his son li wen yuan(李文源) proves that the cultural interchange between Korea and China had lasted successively. Kim Youngjak has not been widely known in academic circles yet but should not be ignored for the study in the cultural interchange between Korea and China. He proposed to have a relationship with li bo heng(李伯衡) and shuai fang wei(帥方蔚) first and they sent back positively. Therefore, they had a literal and private relationship by only exchanging letters each other. Also considering the fact that Kim Youngjak, as a man of high birth, had a close relationship with Chinese intelletuals, we can notice that Chinese and Korean intellectuals had open minds based on sincerity and trust. This was possible because many intellectuals before him like Hong Daeyong made a basis of the tradition of companionship. At this point, the relationship between Kim Youngjak and Chinese intellectuals and "A Collector of Correspondence from Chinese Intellectuals (中朝學士書翰錄)" have an important value. The collections of Kim Youngjak's works contain only several letters and poems which he sent to Chinese intellectuals. Accordingly, the letters in "A Collector of Correspondence from Chinese Intellectuals (中朝學士書翰錄)" are important to understand the aspects of their interchange.

• (The)Study of the Eastern Classic
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• no.43
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• pp.7-31
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• 2011

Danjong had suffered the worst misfortune in the history of Lee Dynasty. His throne was usurped by Sejo, his uncle and he was banished to Youngwol where he ended his life for good. Youngwol remembers the last moment of this tragic person clearly through the various traditional stories passed down from the past. In this study, the works assumed to be formed in the contemporary times among Danjong-related stories were targeted. Time of story creation is not known but it could be assumed that the time when heroine of the story was lived may be coincided with the time of traditional story creation, in this story created in a form of experience story. If any objects or elements that may lead to time of traditional story are contained in the story, we may be able to identify the time of traditional story. All of , and were created in the contemporary times. However, these traditional stories are not new at all. If any personal experience story is added on the existing transmitted traditional story, deviation of traditional story near to recreation is taken place. Traditional Danjong story created like this in the contemporary times have some characteristics. First, transmission power of maintaining Danjong story up to the present times was expanded from a nature of misfortune and holiness to general eccentricity. Ability of deity derived from Danjong's grief and grudge is weakened as time goes by and this story is substituted by an amazing things that can be experienced by anybody. Second, at present, Danjong story is transformed to a form of folktale. Danjong story has developed into a myth through deification from a personal legend. This myth is transformed into a folktale everybody can experience in the contemporary times. Third, this story has been recreated in a form of experience story, not a modification. It is said that as the personal experience story is combined with existing traditional stories, a new work of traditional story is created. It could be observed that through contemporary Danjong story, traditional story of historical person could be created in the contemporary times as well and additionally, a process that personal experience story is positioned as a traditional story could be observed. Now is the time to pay attention to various traditional stories being created in the contemporary times like experience stories.