• Journal of the Daesoon Academy of Sciences
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• v.32
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• pp.175-199
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• 2019

This paper aims to define Kang Jeungsan's Reordering Works of Heaven and Earth through the Hegelian concept of 'labor (arbeit),' which is the fundamental medium in which humans substantialize their own absoluteness in an existentialist context. The Reordering Works of Heaven and Earth performed by Jeungsan enabled Heaven, Earth, and Humanity to communicate with each other through the harmony of Sangsaeng (Mutual Beneficence). As Hegel found the possibility of freedom and emancipation of human subjects through labor and Jeungsan exercised His will to free and emancipate human beings, comparative thinkers are led to recognize a relationship between His Reordering Works of Heaven and Earth and the Hegelian concept of labor. The key point of this paper centers around articulating the meaning of the precise situation wherein labor occurs for the Supreme Being. Labor is a concept that occurs for real-live humans. Human beings can be said to exist between the ideological world and the natural world, or between Heaven and Earth, and this dichotomy creates a specific product given the interplay of infinitude and finitude that it entails. In other words, labor is not a passive deployment but is instead a subjective development. From the point wherein this labor occurs for the Supreme Being, a paradigm shift towards unity begins throughout the universe. The occurrence of God's labor happens at a time of great transformation. These occurrences of God's labor form the communication among Heaven, Earth and Humanity and form a qualitative equality. In other words, the fact that God is far from the world of ideology and has come into the world of finitude means that God conveys His absoluteness to the world of finitude. Therefore, the work of God on Earth builds the world of Heaven on Earth. This can also be seen as the Sangsaeng of Heaven, Earth and Humanity.

• Analyses & Alternatives
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• v.4 no.1
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• pp.63-87
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• 2020

This article not only theoretically explores the necessity and effect of constructive minilateralism and subregionalism in Northeast Asia, but also delves into a series of practical solutions from viewpoint of seeking common ground while reserving differences in this region. The main contents are as follows: First, the various obstacles that hinder the formation of regionalism, subregionalism and minilateralism in the Northeast Asia are discussed. That is to say, geopolitical realism, My Country First ideology, exclusive nationalism in the socio-historical context, and North Korea's latest provocations, etc. Second, this article explores the philosophy and basic principles of realizing Northeast Asia regionalism and minilateralism. Third, in the 21st century, Northeast Asia becomes the center of the world. It examines the core points, controversial focus and platform for building sub regionalism in the region. Finally, based on the institutional platform such as minilateralism and sub regionalism, the various ideas and practical plans of cross-border cooperation among major countries in Northeast Asia were discussed. Because there are a lot of obstacles, so first of all it is more appropriate to promote economic or functional minilateralism or sub regionalism than multilateral cooperation. In order to promote the formation of regionalism and minilateralism in Northeast Asia, the issues to be considered are as follows: First, for the sake of leading regional solidarity and minilateral economic cooperation, it is advisable for China, as a regional economic power, to implement a stable and responsible diplomacy. Secondly, regional solidarity based on credible politics and security should be promoted for a long time beyond the level of economic cooperation. Third, the primary prerequisite for the realization of Northeast Asian regionalism is that in the process of denuclearization of North Korea, the stability and peace mechanism of the Korean Peninsula should be established. Fourth, with the continued hegemonic competition between the United States and China in Northeast Asia, under the circumstance that countries in the region are pushed into so-called "East Asian Paradox", it is profoundly important for them to consider transition from the hostile relationship as the "Thucydides trap" to the order of "coexistence" in which competition and cooperation run side by side, and the two countries should explore a conversion plan for the foreign policy line. This mutual cooperation and peaceful coexistence of the US-China relationship will create a friendly atmosphere for the formation of regionalism in Northeast Asia. In the future, the cooperation of minilateralism in Northeast Asia will break the existing conflict between the maritime forces and the continental forces in order to promote peace. And along with the philosophy that "peace is economy", recent policies of common prosperity as the framework, such as China's "Belt and Road Initiative", North Korea's "Special Zone and Development Zone Policy", Russia's "New Eastern Policy", Japan's participation in the Belt and Road Initiative and South Korea's The "Korean Peninsula New Economy Map" are organically linked and it should promote the so-called "networked regionalism".

• (The)Study of the Eastern Classic
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• no.36
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• pp.163-202
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• 2009

The poems of Shin Suk-ju can be divided into two periods around the political change by King Sejo; his poems from the former period show that the poet enjoyed abundant pride and leisurely spirit in the self-satisfying world driven by his determination to maintain a pure heart and save and awaken the people during the reign of King Sejong. His ideology of awakening the people, however, was the product of his heroic consciousness to achieve immortal fame. It was his heroic consciousness and determination to sacrifice his life for fame according to the mandate from Heaven that made him join the political change by King Sejo. His poems from the latter period clearly reveal that the way of his life to pursue fame didn't bring him spiritual satisfaction and happiness. He confessed that his conscience was destroyed as he joined King Sejo in his political change and the deeds he achieved and further his life itself were all in vain. He lost the values or orders he pursued, which caused instability in his life. Facing such instability head-on, he argued that right and wrong, true and false, and good and evil mentioned in the world were all subjective and groundless. Furthermore, he realized all the things and creatures of the world were nothing but phantoms. Those perceptions he had were based on Madhyamaka of Buddhism. Going through such a thinking process, the poet wrote about his mentality of a false reputation with ideal mentality. Heroic consciousness, Buddhist thinking, and pursuit of mentality of a false reputation found in his poems make also frequent appearances in the poems by major literary men in the latter half of the 15th century such as Seo Geo-jeong. His serious searches to overcome his conscientious agony and sense of futility about life had influences on the attitudes toward life and literature of the official literary men of the times. Seong Hyeon's statement that the major literary figures of the times inherited the literary tradition of Shin Suk-ju was not a rhetoric by courtesy.

• (The)Study of the Eastern Classic
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• no.49
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• pp.187-223
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• 2012

This study is planned to research the ways and structue of Okdong's thinking, which are the foundation of his academic world, based on the collection of his literary pieces. This study became interested in Okdong Lee Seo because he with some strong stimulation and shock is considered as the turning point of his family's academic tradition. His family's academic tradition before Okdong had been famous for literatures of its members, such a tradition shifted toward Confucian classical studies. Especially, Okdong was the third elder brother of Seongho Lee Yik who represented the academia of the late Joseon period, and took an important role in forming Seongho's study. Okdong is considered to have built the basic structure of Seongho's study. It seems that in the process he transmitted their family's academic tradition whose focus got shifted from literature to Confucian classical studies. Thus, this study has the basic meaning as elucidation about the fundamental of Okdong's academic world. However, the larger meaning of this study is the verification of the fundamental structure of Seongho's study: Seongho's study stood on Okdong's study but overcame Okdong as an individual, and then became a academic standard of the late Joseon period. When the collection of Okdong's literary pieces is examined, it can be found that Okdong way of thinking rooted in the Confucian theory that human nature is originally good. Especially, Okdong maintained the li-qi dualism in which li and qi conflict against each other. For understanding and elucidating not-completely-good human mind, he understood li and qi within conflicting relationship. Okdong claimed that in order for a man to keep his life humane, the man should recover his moral completeness by cultivating his mind through sincerity and reverence. Okdong's goal was to build society and to realize human nature in accordance with the classical Confucian ideology of filial piety and respect and of loyalty and trust. Here lies the fundamental meaning of Okdong's way of thinking.

• Korean Journal of Heritage: History & Science
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• v.51 no.1
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• pp.48-65
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• 2018

The authors of this paper aim to make a record of the construction process, its symbolic meaning, and the changes in the status of the landscape plants at the Pasanseodang according to the Report on the Pasanseodang written by Park Gyu-hyun in 1874. First, the construction of Samgahun Pavilion, which is located in Myo-ri, Habin-myun, Dalsung-gun, Daegu, took about 90 years and spanned the lifetimes of Park Sungsoo, an 11th-generation descendant of Park Paengnyun (1417~1456) through to Park Kyuhyun, a 14th-generation descendant. It was called the shape of dragon, with its head facing the tail (回龍顧尾形), in feng shui. Second, the village of Pahwoe was founded in 1769, the 45th year of the reign of King Yeongjo, by Park Sungsoo for the purpose of socializing with his friends at his thatched home, and was named after his own courtesy name (Samgahun). Park Kwangseok, the second son of Park Sungsoo, built the sarangchae in 1826 and the anchae in 1869 after his marriage (in 1783). Then, Park Kyuhyun, the grandson of Park Kwangseok, built the pond and planted it with lotus flowers, and built the Hayeopjeong in 1874. The Pasanseodang, as the precursor of the Hayeopjeong, may be related with the name of the hillside region behind Samgahun. Third, a quadrangular-shaped pond with a length of 21m and a width of 15m was also built and planted with lotus flowers. In the center of the pond is a small round island that reflects the world view of the Chosun dynasty, i.e. that the sky is round and the landmass is quadrangular. Meanwhile, the name of the Hayeopjeon reflects the value system of aristocrats who lived a life of leisure and artistic indulgence. They called the eastern room "Yeeyeonhun" (怡燕軒) and the western room "Mongyangjae" (蒙養齋), names which embody their wishes for a good life as a member of the nobility and a bright future for one's descendants. Fourth, in Confucian terms, the authors infer the points of view reflected in the kinds of trees that were planted according to Confucian norms (pine tree, lotus, bamboo), the living philosophy of sustainability (willow), the ideology of seclusion and the search for peace of mind (bamboo), and relief efforts for the poor and a life of practicality (chestnut, oak, wild walnut, lacquer). The authors assert that this way of planting trees was a highly effective design feature of landscape architecture that drew on the locational and symbolic significance of the Seodang. Fifth, the majority of the trees that were initially planted withered and were replaced with different species, except for the locust and lotus, at this point. Nevertheless, a review of the process of construction, symbolic meaning, and original architectural landscape of the Samgahun is of value in demonstrating the extended symbolic meaning of their descendants in terms of the practical loss of the function of the Seodang, the values of Feng Sui (red in the east, white in the west, based on the principles of Feng Sui), the function of repelling evils spirits (kalopanax, trifoliate orange), aesthetic and practical values (sweetbrier, apricot, pear, peach, and oriental oak trees), and the prosperity of the family and the timeless value of honest poverty (silk, crape myrtle, and yew trees).

• (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.34
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• pp.39-62
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• 2009

In this paper, the researcher investigated the standpoint of Lee EonJeok(李彦迪), also known as HoeJae(晦齋), with regard to interpretation of Daxue("大學"), through Daxuezhangjubuyi("大學章句補遺") and XuDaxuehuowen("續大學或問"). It is true that HoeJae accommodates a fairly large portion of interpretations made by Zhuzi, however, he strived to pass over Zhuzi's Daxuezhangju by attempting a new interpretation on the Gewuzhizhi(格物致知). The greatest reason that HoeJae couldn't admit Zhuzi's view was derived from the differences in interpretation of Gewuzhizhi. The differences between Zhuzi and HoeJae concerned with Gewuzhizhi is that, while Zhuzi perceived the objects thereof from the perspective of Li(理) of things(事物), HoeJae considered the root and branch, the beginning and end of the physical world(萬物) and also all events(萬事) as the subjects of Gewuzhizhi. Meanwhile, having the chapter, dubbed, 'Weyoubenmo'(物有本末), and the chapter, 'ZhiZhi'(知止) also as expositions of Gewuzhizhi, HoeJae was able to avoid such critiques as that he complemented or added new topics to the sutra. In addition, he could have clarified the stepwise elucidations of Sangangling(三綱領) and Batiaomu(八條目) edited and compiled by Zhuzi(朱子). And the issues in the chapter of Tingsong(聽訟) lies on the extended line of theory of Gewuzhizhi. In the end, it suggests that the differences between Zhuzi and HoeJae are arisen from the discrepancies of interpretation on Gewuzhizhi. HoeJae proposed his ideology concerned with Zhizhizhuyi(至治主義) through his book, XuDaxuehuowen, and he stressed that Ren(仁) must be foundation in order to Pingtianxia(平天下). Furthermore, HoeJae emphasized that Ren which is the founding virtue in order for Pingtianxia must be begun with such very basic behavioral practices, known as, Xiao(孝), Ti(弟), and Ci(慈), and that such desirable states would be accomplished through relationships with others, not merely through self-endeavors or by self-ego.