• (The)Study of the Eastern Classic
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• no.34
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• pp.257-286
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• 2009

Yi, Hang-no said that taiji(=li) was Myeong-deok(illustrious virtue), the core of mind and heart, emphasizing the sides of superintendent and mysterious ability of li. It seems that he aimed to stress the upper status of li than qi, out of earlier general theory on mind and heart recognizing both li and qi consisted in the mind and heart. Through it, he wanted to say that only human being had moral mind like taiji and upper moral status than animals which human being should keep. The reason that Yi, Hang-no emphasized the difference between li and qi was because of a critical mind that the upper value of li than qi should not be changed and it would be the most dangerous situation if the value collapsed. Like this, Yi, Hang-no's attitude emphasizing li in his theory of mind and heart eventually aimed to explain the theory of Insim(Desire to be) and Dosim(Moral Mind). Yi, Hang-no's disciples testified that their teacher, Yi, Hang-no had cost his whole life to study the theory of Insim and Dosim. This means that Yi, Hang-no had tried to discriminate between Insim and Dosim, and to block private desires in Insim. The fact that Yi, Hang-no stressed the importance of the theory of Insim and Dosim had to do with the special situation that Western Power approached Joseon dynasty. Because Yi, Hang-no opposed the Westerner's moral consciousness for individual desires, against heavenly orders. To overcome the Western challenge, Yi, Hang-no strived to notice that taiji was the core of human mind. The point that Yi, Hang-no wanted to say was that Dosim(Moral Mind) was just the heavenly orders which human being couldn't disobey. Yi, Hang-no thought that Joseon couldn't defence Western flow without this theory of Insim and Dosim. Just after French invasion(1866), Yi, Hang-no was selected as a high-leveled bureaucrat, so he insisted his opinions for rejecting heterodoxy by the letters to the throne several times. The letters also contained his theory of Insim and Dosim mainly. Insisting fight against Western Power and prohibition of trade with Western Power, Yi, Hang-no eventually emphasized the king's right mind(Dosim) as a main and sole means to achieve all the goals he said. In conclusion, Yi, Hang-no's theory on mind and heart was as it is reflected in his letters to the throne. Therefore we can see that Yi, Hang-no's theory on mind and heart had harmonized with his movement to "Rejecting Heterodoxy".