Korean Confucianism: The Philosophy and Politics of Toegye and Yulgok
288
Korean Confucianism: The Philosophy and Politics of Toegye and Yulgok
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Product Details
| ISBN-13: | 9781786608628 |
|---|---|
| Publisher: | Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc. |
| Publication date: | 10/16/2018 |
| Series: | CEACOP East Asian Comparative Ethics, Politics and Philosophy of Law |
| Sold by: | Barnes & Noble |
| Format: | eBook |
| Pages: | 288 |
| File size: | 21 MB |
| Note: | This product may take a few minutes to download. |
| Age Range: | 18 Years |
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CHAPTER 1
The First Encounter
Twenty-three-year-old Yulgok called on fifty-eight-year-old Toegye in the early spring of 1558. At that time Toegye was one of the most eminent scholars in the Joseon Dynasty. Yulgok, having visited his father-in-law in Seongsan ([TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII], present-day Seongju in Gyeongbuk Province), and while on his way to his mother's hometown in Gangneung in Gangwon Province, visited Toegye's house in Ye-an ([TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII], present-day Andong in Gyeongbuk Province). Yulgok stayed at the house for three days, a longer sojourn than had been planned owing to the unexpected early spring rain. When the rain turned to snow, Yulgok said goodbye to the old scholar and went on his way.
After Yulgok left his house, Toegye wrote a letter to one of his disciples named Jo Mok ([TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII], 1524–1606), whose pen name was Wolcheon ([TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII]):
A few days ago Yulgok, who lives in Hanseong ([TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII]: present-day Seoul), called on me after his visit to Seongsan. He stayed at my house for three days owing to rain. He was cheerful, intelligent, and seemed to have read and remembered much, and to have devoted himself to learning. Indeed, he reminded me of the saying, "Youth is to be regarded with respect (husaeng ga-oe / hou-sheng-ke-wei [TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII])."
From that time on, Toegye and Yulgok exchanged letters and discussed learning, the moral life, and the righteous path of the scholar. Yulgok sincerely respected Toegye and periodically asked advice of him. In addition, after he entered government service, Yulgok earnestly asked Toegye to participate in government administration. And after Toegye died, Yulgok attempted to enshrine his tablet in Confucian academies and in the National Shrine of Confucius.
Toegye reciprocated in his respect for Yulgok and wished that his intellectual talents might not be wasted on trifling secular affairs. Hoping that he would grow to be a great scholar, Toegye attempted to persuade Yulgok, whose personality he felt was too scrupulous and rigid, to devote himself to his studies and scolded him for not doing so sufficiently.
After Toegye passed away, Yulgok consolidated his position as a statesman while deepening his learning through scholarly debates. He tried in vain to prevent the division of political factions into Easterners and Westerners but was obliged to become the leader of the Western Faction. By contrast, Toegye was posthumously nominated as the leader of the Eastern Faction. After Toegye's passing, Yulgok criticized only a few of his theories. However, in the context of the political divisions of the time, Toegye's learning was regarded as the philosophical underpinning of the Eastern Faction, while Yulgok's was seen as that of the Western Faction. Eventually, the intelligentsia and political elite of Joseon came to be divided into the two camps of Toegye's and Yulgok's schools of learning, and they led Joseon society through alternating periods of mutual conflict and accommodation.
The two scholars devoted their entire lives to the embodiment of the Confucian ideal of "sage on the inside, virtuous king on the outside (naeseong oewang / nei-sheng-waiwang [TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII])." However, they pursued their own paths in accordance with the different social circumstances of the times in which they were immersed. Though Toegye had once been in government service, he looked on helplessly at the purge of scholars and the arbitrary actions of the king's maternal relatives of that period. Like Confucius ([TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII]) and Mencius ([TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII]), in his later years Toegye returned to his native town, pursued his studies, mentored his disciples, and suggested the righteous direction for the country to take regardless of the characteristics of those who came to power. On the other hand, Yulgok entered government service when the overweening influence of the king's maternal relatives had been supplanted and the purged scholars had been rehabilitated. During his lifetime of forty-eight years, he paved the way for the embodiment of Confucian ideals in Joseon society, achieved mainly in the persons of erudite scholars who had a sense of duty in terms of the pursuit of truth.
The exchange of ideas between Toegye and Yulgok through letters continued for thirteen years, from 1558 when Yulgok called on Toegye in early spring until the winter of 1570 when Toegye died. However, it may be said that their relationship persisted when Yulgok wrote a funeral oration for Toegye and presented a memorial to the king in order to persuade him to enshrine Toegye's tablet in the National Shrine of Confucius. Their relationship may be said to have continued by proxy even after Yulgok died, when the Easterners entered a confrontation with the Westerners, and further, when the political factions divided into the Southern Faction and the Western Faction and confronted each other.
I will now carefully examine the main strands of the two scholars' thinking through their most important writings and the letters they exchanged for thirteen years. Radically misreading their intentions, later scholars believed that they were exclusively opposed to and critical of each other, and recently such a perspective has become more prevalent. However, careful reading of their writings enables us to understand that their relationship was that of a master and disciple who earnestly exchanged views on the moral life and the path of learning. They were also comrades who took pains to transform the Joseon into an ideal nation based on the values of Confucianism and Neo-Confucianism. At first the young Yulgok asked for guidance and the more elderly Toegye responded, but later Yulgok answered Toegye's questions about the contemporary social situation.
A DIFFICULT DECISION: TO ADVANCE INTO THE WORLD OR RETREAT FROM IT
Yulgok introduced his first encounter with Toegye in an essay entitled "Swae-eon ([TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII])," which means "miscellaneous stories." It seems that Yulgok wanted to record the first meeting with Toegye in the form of an apparently anecdotal text that did not involve profound learning or engage in systematic commentary on the contemporary situation.
Miscellaneous Stories (I)
When I read the history of the Han ([TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII]) Dynasty, I suspected that strangely enough, the advance into and retreat from the world of "the four hoary old men" were unjustifiable, but I dared not reveal my view to anyone. However, I expressed my opinion without reserve to Master Toegye and he agreed with me. I did not know that ancient sages had commented on this matter until I read Zhu Xi's thoughts in Xing-li da-quan ([TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII]). Zhu Xi said, "The four hoary old men might not be Confucian scholars but merely quick-witted intellectuals." Only then could I feel sure that I was right.
Some people maintained that "the four hoary old men" disguised themselves as sages only to help the prince in accordance with the tactics of Zhang Liang ([TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII]), of which almost all the retainers of the Imperial Court of the Han Dynasty were ignorant. I could not agree with them because their view presupposed that Zhang Liang, who had been loyal to the king, betrayed him impetuously. In general, at the end of "the Warring States period ([TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII])," scholars were not well versed in moral principles but extolled those who displayed fortitude. The four old scholars disappeared solely to avoid being insulted by Emperor Gaozu ([TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII]). How could their retreat from the world be considered equal to that of Yi Yin ([TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII]) or of Tai-gong ([TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII])? If they could be highly esteemed merely by rejecting the meeting with Emperor Gaozu, can it also be said that tacticians such as An Qi-sheng ([TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII]) and Kuai Che ([TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII]) were lofty and solemn scholars? Once, I wrote the following poems about the four old men:
Oh, gone are the age-old paragons Yao and Shun, As futilely, the four hoary old men left Mt. Shang behind. For, alas, having lost his once generous nature, The king consigned them into the hands of Duke Jian-cheng. [TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII]
Like Qin Shi Huang, the king pissed into scholars' hats. So why did they feign to become vassals of the Han Dynasty? No one knew, however, the hoary men's real intention. Willingly, they wanted to serve the cause of the prince. [TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII]
The four old men who were inducted in the Court of Han Should feel ashamed, recalling the verdancy of Mt. Shou-yang. Alas, hoary old men from Mt. Shang, what did you earn thus? Was it only your lifelong disgrace, as "the attendants of the prince"? [TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII]
In his first encounter with Toegye, Yulgok commenced by asking him about the hoary old men's steps into and retreat from the world because understanding the circumstances surrounding their advance or withdrawal could be helpful to his decision about the wisdom of entering government service.
It was quite natural for a Confucian scholar who had cultivated his philosophical capacities through learning to be concerned with public affairs and to enter government service because one of the purposes of Confucian learning was to become "a sage on the inside and a virtuous king on the outside." So for a Confucian scholar to step into the world of practical affairs was to embody the ideals and values he had pursued through learning and self-cultivation. If a Confucian scholar was confident that he was well versed in learning and had cultivated virtue, he would naturally attempt to advance into the world. However, if he was surrounded by unfavorable social circumstances in which he could only with great difficulty embody his ideal, it would be ill-advised for him to engage in practical affairs, and he would be better advised to continue his studies and to teach his disciples, in this way deferring his entry into the world of realpolitik until some future date. This was a Confucian tradition from the times of Confucius and Mencius, so for a Confucian scholar to enter government service even in times of confusion seemed solely designed to satisfy his personal ambition. Nevertheless, it might also have incurred censure if a scholar lived in solitude, aloof from the confusion of the world. Therefore it was acknowledged that sometimes a scholar should engage practically and strive to propose the right path for the nation, though his attempt might end in failure. Regardless of the times, it was a very difficult balance for scholars to strike in deciding on their level of engagement or withdrawal in consideration of their capabilities and social circumstances.
Yulgok, who had been preparing for the state examination as a young scholar, recalled first of all this matter of practical engagement during his first encounter with Toegye. At that time Toegye, as a highly respected scholar, had been pursuing his studies and mentoring his disciples for ten years, since his retirement to his hometown at the age of forty-nine. Sometimes, owing to the earnest requests of the king, Toegye resumed his government service, but only for short periods. Yulgok questioned Toegye about the advance into and retreat from the world of the "four hoary old men." As Yulgok was preparing for the state examination, he may have wanted to meet Toegye to ask for guidance on whether and to what extent he should engage with the practical affairs of the world.
The "four hoary old men" refers to Dong-yuan-gong ([TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII]), Lu-li ([TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII]), Qi-li-ji ([TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII]), and Xia-huang-gong ([TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII]). All of them were more than eighty years old and they were called Si-hao ([TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII]: four hoary old men) because their hair, beards, and eyebrows were all gray. Emperor Gaozu of Han wanted to have them near, but they did not enter the court because the emperor regarded courageous men more highly than learned men. Emperor Gaozu wanted to depose Prince Liu Ying ([TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII]), the son of Queen Lu ([TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII]), and instead install Liu Ru-yi ([TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII]), the son of Royal Concubine Qi ([TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII]), as the new prince. Queen Lu's elder brother, Duke Jian-cheng ([TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII]), in accordance with the advice of Zhang Liang ([TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII]), cordially invited the four hoary old men to become retainers at the court in the expectation that they would be of some help to his nephew. As the duke hoped, the old men supported Prince Liu-Ying and channeled Emperor Gaozu into revoking his plan to replace the prince.
Yulgok doubted whether the four old men's acceptance of positions at the court was appropriate behavior. At that time the Qin ([TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII]) Dynasty had disintegrated and Emperor Gaozu had founded the Han Dynasty. Therefore, in view of the contemporary situation, it can hardly be said that it was a period when moral justice could not be attained. Rather, it was an era when talented persons felt an onus on them to enter government service in order to consolidate the foundations of the new dynasty. However, Emperor Gaozu, who had conquered the central districts of China, favored men of action and was indifferent toward those who pursued learning. Moreover, the emperor is said to have insulted scholars by "pissing into their hats."
Yulgok thought that the four old men entered the Court of Emperor Gaozu not to embody moral principles but only to support the prince. He was convinced of the justice of his thinking, as Toegye agreed with him on this matter. Furthermore, by quoting Zhu Xi's remark that the four were merely quick-witted and calculating old men, he maintained that they were mere tacticians and not authentic Confucian scholars pursuing moral principles.
The dilemma of whether to engage in worldly affairs or to withdraw from them was the subject of discussion between Toegye and Yulgok until the later years of the former's life, perhaps because it was the starting point of the process of deciding how to embody the lessons of their lifelong learning in the social circumstances with which they were faced. While Yulgok attempted to enter government service as a scholar-official, Toegye retired to his hometown, disappointed with the contemporary political situation. Yulgok told Toegye that people eagerly wanted him to help administer state affairs and entreated him to participate in the Royal Court. However, Toegye declined most of Yulgok's requests. This might have been due to the difference in their judgments on the contemporary state of affairs and in their own capabilities and personal situations.
The prime of Toegye's life coincided with the mid-sixteenth century, about 150 years (five generations) after the foundation of Joseon in 1392. The first generation of Joseon, who criticized the ills and abuses of Buddhism and the aristocracy and professed a desire to construct a Neo-Confucian ideal state, had already died. During the lifetime of Toegye, after several coups that were caused by conflicts centering on the accession to the throne, severe factional struggles continued between vassals who attempted to preserve their vested interests and those in favor of reform who argued for the realization of Neo-Confucian ideals. During Muo sahwa (the literati purge in the fourth year of King Yeonsan's reign in 1498), Gapja sahwa (the literati purge in the tenth year of King Yeonsan's reign in 1504), and Gimyo sahwa (the literati purge in the fourteenth year of King Jeongjong's reign in 1519), many scholar-officials including Kim Jong-jik, Kim Goeng-pil, Jo Gwang-jo, and Yi Eon-jeok were killed. In addition, King Myeongjong's maternal relatives, who had come to the fore as a strong political faction, brought about Eulsa sahwa (the literati purge in the year of King Myeongjong's accession to the throne in 1545) and Jeongmi sahwa (the literati purge in the second year of King Myeongjong's reign in 1547).
As mentioned earlier, during the period from 1534 to 1549 when Toegye took up various government posts, the Neo-Confucian political ideal of governance by sage-kings and scholar-officials was frustrated. Toegye's elder brother Yi Hae ([TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII], 1496–1550, pen name: Ongye [TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII]) was flogged for having criticized the despotism of the king's maternal relatives and died on his way into exile. It seems that Toegye decided to resign from hisgovernment post because he witnessed the intellectual class growing helpless owing to the increasing political dominance of the king's maternal relatives since Eulsa sahwa.
The year 1549, when Toegye resigned from his post and went to his hometown, corresponds to the initial period when scholar-officials were excluded from major government posts, that is, the period from 1545, when Eulsa sahwa was carried out, to 1565, when Queen Munjeong died and her relatives were expelled. During this period, Yulgok called on Toegye in 1558. Yulgok, who wanted to enter government service by taking the state examination, had to mull over whether he should take a government post or not, and he might have wanted to ask the advice of Toegye on this matter.
(Continues…)
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