• The Mathematical Education
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• v.24 no.2
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• pp.48-73
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• 1986

Though the tradition of Korean mathematics since the ancient time up to the 'Enlightenment Period' in the late 19th century had been under the influence of the Chinese mathematics, it strove to develop its own independent of Chinese. However, the fact that it couldn't succeed to form the independent Korean mathematics in spite of many chances under the reign of Kings Sejong, Youngjo, and Joungjo was mainly due to the use of Chinese characters by Koreans. Han-gul (Korean characters) invented by King Sejong had not been used widely as it was called and despised Un-mun and Koreans still used Chinese characters as the only 'true letters' (Jin-suh). The correlation between characters and culture was such that, if Koreans used Han-gul as their official letters, we may have different picture of Korean mathematics. It is quite interesting to note that the mathematics in the 'Enlightenment Period' changed rather smoothly into the Western mathematics at the time when Han-gul was used officially with Chinese characters. In Koryo, the mathematics existed only as a part of the Confucian refinement, not as the object of sincere study. The mathematics in Koryo inherited that of the Unified Shilla without any remarkable development of its own, and the mathematicians were the Inner Officials isolated from the outside world who maintained their positions as specialists amid the turbulence of political changes. They formed a kind of Guild, their posts becoming patrimony. The mathematics in Koryo significant in that they paved the way for that of Chosun through a few books of mathematics such as 'Sanhak-Kyemong', 'Yanghwi-Sanpup' and 'Sangmyung-Sanpup'. King Sejong was quite phenomenal in his policy of promotion of mathematics. King himself was deeply interested in the study, createing an atmosphere in which all the high ranking officials and scholars highly valued mathematics. The sudden development of mathematic culture was mainly due to the personality and capacity of king who took anyone with the mathematic talent into government service regardless of his birth and against the strong opposition of the conservative officials. However, King's view of mathematics never resulted in the true development of mathematics perse and he used it only as an official technique in the tradition way. Korean mathematics in King Sejong's reign was based upon both the natural philosophy in China and the unique geo-political reality of Korean peninsula. The reason why the mathematic culture failed to develop continually against those social background was that the mathematicians were not allowed to play the vital role in that culture, they being only the instrument for the personality or politics of the king. While the learned scholar class sometimes played the important role for the development of the mathematic culture, they often as not became an adamant barrier to it. As the society in Chosun needed the function of mathematics acutely, the mathematicians formed the settled class called Jung-in (Middle-Man). Jung-in was a unique class in Chosun and we can't find its equivalent in China or Japan. These Jung-in mathematician officials lacked tendency to publish their study, since their society was strictly exclusive and their knowledge was very limited. Though they were relatively low class, these mathematicians played very important role in Chosun society. In 'Sil-Hak (the Practical Learning) period' which began in the late 16th century, especially in the reigns of Kings Youngjo and Jungjo, which was called the Renaissance of Chosun, the ambitious policy for the development of science and technology called for. the rapid increase of he number of such technocrats as mathematics, astronomy and medicine. Amid these social changes, the Jung-in mathematicians inevitably became quite ambitious and proud. They tried to explore deeply into mathematics perse beyond the narrow limit of knowledge required for their office. Thus, in this period the mathematics developed rapidly, undergoing very important changes. The characteristic features of the mathematics in this period were: Jung-in mathematicians' active study an publication, the mathematic studies by the renowned scholars of Sil-Hak, joint works by these two classes, their approach to the Western mathematics and their effort to develop Korean mathematics. Toward the 'Enlightenment Period' in the late 19th century, the Western mathematics experienced great difficulty to take its roots in the Peninsula which had been under the strong influence of Confucian ideology and traditional Korean mathematic system. However, with King Kojong's ordinance in 1895, the traditional Korean mathematics influenced by Chinese disappeared from the history of Korean mathematics, as the school system was hanged into the Western style and the Western mathematics was adopted as the only mathematics to be taught at the Schools of various levels. Thus the 'Enlightenment Period' is the period in which Korean mathematics shifted from Chinese into European.

• Journal of the Daesoon Academy of Sciences
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• v.28
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• pp.207-241
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• 2017

In the scripture of Daesoon Jinrihoe, the expression 'Dosu (度數)' is frequently used and Jeungsan, Jeongsan, and Wudang also left behind many teachings related to Dosu. In this paper, the concept of Dosu is analyzed in detail and the achievement of an in-depth understanding of the concept of Dosu is attempted. The term Dosu is often used in traditional literature. In the classics, Dosu was used to mean institutions, standards, rules, law, figures, and the laws of heavenly bodies. In other words, Dosu is used to mean the laws of astronomy and the norms of human society. This meaning is expanded and used as the principle of the universe and nature. This concept of Dosu is related to the mathematical cosmological understanding of numbers as the principle of the universe. This type of mathematical cosmology was systematized by Shao Yong (邵雍). In the Joseon Dynasty, Seo Gyungduk (徐敬德) accepted it positively, and it thereby became an influential trend in Korean thought. In the world view of Daesoon thought, there exists the view that numbers as a principle of the universe, and of course this world view is connected to mathematical cosmology. In Daesoon thought, the concept of Dosu is based on the concept of traditional Dosu and adds an additional meaning which connects it to the Reordering of the Universe (Cheonjigongsa). Also, Dosu is used to mean the process of changing the principles and laws of cosmos through Jeungsan's Reordering of the Universe. It is especially the case that discourse about Dosu is widely used when describing the Reordering of the Universe. Jeungsan corrected, reorganized, and adjusted Dosu, as well as establishing new Dosu. Jeongsan, who succeeded Jeungsan, followed the Reordering of the Universe by Jeungsan, and also realized Dosu. In other words, Jeongsan acted and practiced according to the Dosu that had been enacted by Jeungsan. Also, Dosu means the process of the transformation of principle according to the Reordering of the Universe, and Wudang used the concept of Dosu to describe the historical process of Daesoon Jinrihoe. This means that the foundation of Mugeukdo, the change to Taegukdo, the establishment of Daesoon Jinrihoe, and the contruction of Yeoju headquarters are episodes in a divine history carried out through Dosu. Through this discourse, Daesoon Jinrihoe asserts a legitimacy that distinguishes itself from other sects, and believers can be inspired by the sacred meaning that they are participating in the Dosu of heaven and earth. This empowers their devotion and sincerity.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Library and Information Science
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• v.12
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• pp.39-86
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• 1985

The main purpose of the present study is to survey the major iudexing bulletins of national nature in Korea, to define such problem areas as lacunae, duplicates and limitation in coverage in the indexing services currently available in Korea, and to make some suggestions for action for improving the existing indexing services in the light of general principles and the tradition and constraints unique to Korea. The major findings and conclusions reached at this study are summarised as follows: (A) A new indexing bulletin of general nature covering the entire field needs to be created in each of the following fields without an established indexing service available for the outcome of research and development activities in Korea. (1) Philosophy (2) Religion (3) Pure sciences (4) Art (5) Language (6) Literature (7) History (B) A new specialised indexing bulletin needs to be created in each of the following fields where indexing services are heavily utilised but no, or only partial, indexing service is available. (1) Social sciences (a) Statistics (b) Sociology (c) Folklore (d) Military science (2) Pure sciences (a) Mathematics (b) Physics (c) Chemistry (d) Astronomy (e) Geology (f) Mineralogy (g) Life sciences (h) Botany (i) Zoology (3) Applied sciences (a) Medicine (b) Agriculture (c) Civil engineering (d) Architectural engineering (e) Mechanical engineering (f) Electrical engineering (g) Chemical engineering (h) Domestic science (C) Publication of the indexing bulletins suggested in A and B above may be ideally carried on by a qualified and dependable learned society established in the respective fields and designated by the Minister of Education, and should be financially supported from the public fund under the provisions of Art. 27 of the Scientific Research Promotion Act of 1979. (D) The coverage and contents of the four indexing bulletins in the field of banking and financing published by the Library of the Bank of Korea are similar and considerably duplicated. It is, therefore, suggested that the four indexing bulletins are combined in one to form a more comprehensive and efficient bibliographical tool in the field and it is further developed into a general guide to the literature produced in the entire field of economics in Korea by gradually expanding its subject coverage. (E) For the similar reasons stated in D, the Index to the Articles on North Korea and the Catalogue of Theses on North Korea, both publisheds by the Ministry of Unification Library, are suggested to make into one. The Index to the Articles of the Selected North Korean Journals and the Index to the Articles of the North Korean Journals in Microfilm Housed in the Ministry of Unification Library, both published by the same Library, are also suggested to be combined in one. (F) The contents of the Catalogue of the Reports Submitted by Government Officials Who Have Travelled Abroad, published by the National Archives are included in the Index to the Information Materials Related to Government Administration, published by the National Archives. The publication of the former is hardly justified. (G) The contents of the Index to Legal Literature published by the Seoul National University Libraries and those of the Law Section of the Index to Scholastic Works published by the National Central Library are nearly identical. One of the two indexes should cease to be published. (H) Though five indexes are being published in the field of political science and four in the field of public administration, their subject coverage is limited. Naturally, these indexes are little usable to many other researchers in the two fields. A comprehensive index covering all the specialised areas in each field needs to be developed on one or all the existing indexes. (I) It is suggested that the Catalogue of the Scholastic Works on Curricula published by the National Central Library expands its subject coverage to become a more usable and effective index to all the researchers in the field of education. (J) The bimonthly Index to Periodical Articles and the specialised index by subject series published by the National Assembly Library, and the Index to Scholastic Works published by the National Central Library are expected to increase their coverage and frequency of publication to be used more effectively and more efficiently by all users in all fields till the indexing bulletins suggested in this study will fully be available in Korea.