• The Journal of Korean Philosophical History
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• no.59
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• pp.395-423
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• 2018

Since the middle of the 19th century, East Asia, especially Korea, was oppressed externally by the imperialism of Japan and others while internally long-lasting political convention like in-law government was driving the country into troubles at home and abroad. Witnessing such a situation and building up scholarly capability through reading over nearly all spheres, a Confucian philosopher, Ch'oe Han-gi (崔漢綺, 1803-1877), philosophized about the clue to the solution of such a choking phenomenon. Ch'oe believed that there was movement, ki (matter, material force, energy) of revolving transformation inherent in all things, people, or objects. Grasping even the principle and order of existence inherent in things from the viewpoint of ki, he tried to change the traditional theory on the law of existence of things that there existed an ontological reason lacking in motility, which was more dominant than anything existing in the universe and which ruled over the world. From this, he elucidated that the Way, an identity that rules over all affairs and things, was not simply one but diverse. This means, on one hand, that he tentatively accepted the relativity of things. On the other hand, he also taught us "oneness in all things" in which all including human beings exist in close connection to each other transcending the relativity or "agreement" in which they exist in harmony as one and "unity" in which they are united into one.