퇴계의 양명학 비판과 조선유학의 성립 = Toegye Yi Hwang’s Critique of Yangmingism and the Establishment of Joseon Confucianism

다국어 초록 (Multilingual Abstract)

The controversy over the four beginnings and seven feelings (四端七情論爭), which occurred in the sixteenth century with both Toegye Yi Hwang (退溪 李滉) and Yulgok Yi I (栗谷 李珥) being directly involved, became a crucial catalyst that made scholars of the Joseon Dynastypay special attention to discussions around the theory of li, gi, heart-mind and nature (理氣心性論); eventually, this became a key characteristic of Joseon Confucianism. Nevertheless, if one seeks to find theroot cause of Toegye, Yulgok, and future Joseon Confucianists’ concentration on the theory of li, gi, heart-mind and nature, one should focus onthe Joseon-era intellectual community’s task at hand: to reflect critically on the theories of Zhuxi (朱熹), which had been the mainstream school of neo-Confucianism since the foundation of the Joseon Dynasty in the late fourteenth century, with the intent of improving on it or finding an alternative. Around this time, Yangmingism had gained popularity in China, establishing itself through the criticism of the teachings of Zhuxi; there was no way for the Joseon-era intellectuals to be free from the influence of Yangmingism in the self-criticism of their own philosophy. However, Yangmingism faced strong criticism in Joseon, and the school of Joseon Confucianism started establishing a unique academic tradition that focused on discussions of the theory of li, gi, heart-mind and nature while avoiding the ideas of Yangmingism.
Toegye stood at the heart of such discussions, because he had made crucial contributions to the criticism of Yangmingism. Instead of accepting the academic achievements of Yangmingism, Toegye chose to complement the theories of Zhuxi as he actively addressed Wang Yangming’s criticisms toward it. Theories such as the theory of the manifestation of li (理發說) and the theory of li arriving of its own accord (理自到說) were the outcome of Toegye’s critical assessment of Yangmingism’s criticisms of the theory of Zhuxi. Toegye criticized Yangming’s theory of Chin-hsing ho-yi (知行合一說), claiming that it could only be applied to the concept of material disposition (or physical matter, 形氣), not to the concept of moral norm (or righteous principle, 義理). Yet, the actual aim of Confucianism was to promote instinctive and spontaneous moral actions, decision-making, and emotions for moral norm (義理), just like what people would do for material disposition (形氣); one such example is Mencius’ thought-experiment on the natural manifestation ofmoral emotionality, which says anyone would feel benevolence (惻隱之心) if they were to see a child crawling toward a well (孺子入井). Toegye desired to actively accommodate and overcome Yangming’s criticisms upon the foundations of Zhuxi's theories by explaining the spontaneous nature of moral actions, decision-making, and emotions as the role (facilitated by 發 or 自到) of li (理). As Joseon-era intellectuals joined such discussions, some agreeing and some disagreeing with Toegye, Joseon Neo-Confucianism took its unique path that complemented the theory of Zhuxi and as a result overcame the school of Yangming. Thanks to Toegye’s critical attitude toward Yangmingism and the successful counterargument to it within the framework of Zhuxi's theory, Yangmingism fundamentally lost the opportunity to take root in Joseon. Amidst these circumstances, Joseon Confucianism took the opportunity to establish itself as aunique version of Confucianism, characterized by deeper and more complex discussions of the theory of li, gi, heart-mind and nature (理氣心性論).

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