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Current Research on Korean Confucianism
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Current Research on Korean Confucianism

A special issue of Religions (ISSN 2077-1444).

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 December 2022) | Viewed by 13717

Special Issue Editor

Prof. Dr. So-Yi Chung

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Religious Studies, Sogang University, Seoul, Korea
Interests: Confucianism; Korean Confucianism; Korean religions; East–West comparative philosophy

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Rising interest in Korean popular culture has also attracted scholarly attention at a deeper level. Fortunately, some finely edited volumes, textbooks, and sourcebooks introducing Korean Confucianism have appeared in time to meet such needs. In this Special Issue, we want to go beyond an introduction and share current research on various aspects on Korean Confucianism. Possible topics might include the following: new perspectives on traditional Korean debates, the contemporary significance of Korean Confucian values, the latest reviews on Korean–Chinese–Western dialogue, recently discovered Korean Confucian scholars, etc. This Special Issue will not only be an essential supplementary addition to existing introductory volumes, but will also open another ground of innovative dialogues on Korean Confucianism.

We request that, prior to submitting a manuscript, interested authors initially submit a proposed title and an abstract of 400–600 words summarizing their intended contribution. Please send it to the Guest Editor ([email protected]) or to the /Religions/ Editorial Office ([email protected]). Abstracts will be reviewed by the Guest Editor for the purpose of ensuring a proper fit within the scope of the Special Issue. Full manuscripts will undergo double-blind peer review.

Prof. Dr. So-Yi Chung
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a double-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Religions is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 1800 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • Confucianism
  • Korean Confucianism
  • Korean religions
  • Korean philosophy
  • Ruism
  • Joseon Korea
  • contemporary Confucianism
  • East–West comparative thoughts

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Published Papers (6 papers)

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13 pages, 12887 KiB  
Article
The Dynamic Characteristics of “Jeong 情”: A New Perspective on the Korean Neo-Confucian Four–Seven Debate
by So-jeong Park
Religions 2023, 14(5), 663; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel14050663 - 16 May 2023
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 2459
Abstract
This article aims to elucidate the semantic gap between Jeong 情, discussed in the traditional Confucian intellectual society, and Jeong 정, understood as a conceptual cluster in contemporary Korean language and life. During the period when Joseon Korea was converted into Confucianism, part [...] Read more.
This article aims to elucidate the semantic gap between Jeong 情, discussed in the traditional Confucian intellectual society, and Jeong 정, understood as a conceptual cluster in contemporary Korean language and life. During the period when Joseon Korea was converted into Confucianism, part of the centrality of a native word, tteut, shifted to jeong, a naturalized word. In other words, “jeong” has grown into a new concept cluster with centrality in relation to the emotional aspect of the mind, while “tteut” still remains as a concept cluster associated with the mind. This phenomenon could be related to the spread and sharing of discourse on various emotions represented by “sadan 四端” and “chiljeong 七情” in the Confucian literature. As the discussion on the Four–Seven continued, emotional vocabulary extracted from Chinese Confucian literature was reconstructed by reflecting the Korean people’s pursuit and understanding of emotions. From this, we can evaluate that the Four–Seven debate not only contributed to the elaboration of Neo-Confucian emotion theory, but it also developed in the direction of moral emotion with social values implied by Korean “jeong”. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Current Research on Korean Confucianism)
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13 pages, 837 KiB  
Article
Self-Cultivation and Inwardness: How to Establish the Confucian Identity in Korean Neo-Confucianism
by Chan Lee
Religions 2023, 14(3), 331; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel14030331 - 1 Mar 2023
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1832
Abstract
The main goals of this essay are to describe and make clear the philosophical implications of self-cultivation concerning the concept of inwardness and examine how it contributes to the formation of the Confucian identity. In two representative Korean Neo-Confucian debates, the Debate on [...] Read more.
The main goals of this essay are to describe and make clear the philosophical implications of self-cultivation concerning the concept of inwardness and examine how it contributes to the formation of the Confucian identity. In two representative Korean Neo-Confucian debates, the Debate on Supreme Polarity between Yi Ǒnjŏk and Cho Hanbo and one of the issues in the Horak Debate about the original substance of the tranquil state (mibal) of the mind, we can see that self-cultivation plays a crucial role in establishing the Confucian identity. For example, the debate between Yi and Cho shows how to teach people to achieve an ideal Confucian character by interpreting “learning human affairs below (hahag-insa)” and “reaching the heavenly principle above (sangdal-chŏlli)” differently. The concept of inwardness is significant as well as problematic in understanding the sense of rivalry against Buddhism earlier and the Yangming School later in the intellectual history of Korean neo-Confucianism. Those who think of themselves as true followers of Confucius and Zhu Xi criticize that a subjective way of experiencing inwardness is close to Buddhism and misleads one in the pursuit of some lofty metaphysical entity without any practical concerns. Despite such a criticism, some Neo-Confucian scholars have emphasized that the original substance of the mind is the tranquility of inwardness. In this vein, we will investigate what kind of philosophical identity most Korean Neo-Confucians have embraced as their own. Their consistent argument for keeping the balance between honoring the virtues and inquiring about learning leads to the claim that the achievement of self-cultivation should contribute to making the world peaceful. Thus, the matter of inwardness often described as deliberate solitude is not so much a subjective realm like religious confession, but vivid experiences of daily life that have never been separated from the manifestation of the Way (dao). In conclusion, the core issue of the Neo-Confucian identity having a sense of rivalry against heresy aims at the matter of practice, i.e., how actively and properly one participates in transforming the world. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Current Research on Korean Confucianism)
18 pages, 869 KiB  
Article
Seongho Yi Ik’s New Approach to Zhijue 知覺 and Weifa 未發: Stimulation by Western Learning and the Expansion of Confucianism
by Seonhee Kim
Religions 2023, 14(2), 266; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel14020266 - 16 Feb 2023
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1797
Abstract
This paper explores the 18th-century Joseon Confucian scholar Seongho 星湖 Yi Ik’s 李瀷 (1681~1763) theory on philosophical anthropology in the context of Confucianism through his theory of the heart-mind 心論. This study begins by examining which intellectual heritage he innovated, what intellectual resources [...] Read more.
This paper explores the 18th-century Joseon Confucian scholar Seongho 星湖 Yi Ik’s 李瀷 (1681~1763) theory on philosophical anthropology in the context of Confucianism through his theory of the heart-mind 心論. This study begins by examining which intellectual heritage he innovated, what intellectual resources he used in the process, and how his theories diverged from those of other Joseon Confucian scholars. Through Western learning books, Seongho obtained the rational soul theory and anatomical and physiological knowledge about the brain, based on which he reinterpreted the controversial Neo-Confucian concepts of zhijue 知覺, and the Weifa-Yifa theories 未發已發論. He acknowledged the primacy of the brain, which differs from the general principles of Neo-Confucianism. Seongho did not imbue zhijue itself with moral meaning, but considered the whole process of perception–recognition–judgment as the weifa state. At this point, yifa is determined by whether moral judgments are made. If yifa is the moment of moral judgment, the relationship between weifa and yifa must be regarded as the relationship between the operation of physical perception–cognition and rational judgment–moral practice. In Seongho’s perspective, moral practice is not a process of static cultivation, but the result of active moral determination. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Current Research on Korean Confucianism)
15 pages, 1109 KiB  
Article
Yi Ik on Compassion and Grief
by Youngsun Back
Religions 2023, 14(2), 255; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel14020255 - 14 Feb 2023
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1950
Abstract
This article examines the thought of Yi Ik 李瀷 (1681–1763), a prominent Confucian scholar in the late period of the Joseon 朝鮮 dynasty (1392–1910). In a broader context of the Confucian classics, as well as in the later development of neo-Confucian tradition in [...] Read more.
This article examines the thought of Yi Ik 李瀷 (1681–1763), a prominent Confucian scholar in the late period of the Joseon 朝鮮 dynasty (1392–1910). In a broader context of the Confucian classics, as well as in the later development of neo-Confucian tradition in China and Korea, Yi Ik built an elaborate and comprehensive account of human psychology in his New Compilation of the Four–Seven Debate (Sachil sinpyeon 四七新編). He offers us a new perspective on the unresolved tension between the universal concern for others in general and the natural affection for the family by introducing the binary concepts of gong 公 and sa 私. In his system, successful moral agents do more than develop and strengthen their compassion with respect to the suffering of others, and they regard the suffering of others in the same way that they regard their own suffering. I believe that Yi Ik’s thought sheds new light on the Mencian program of cultivation and how to better lead our complex moral lives. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Current Research on Korean Confucianism)
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21 pages, 4143 KiB  
Article
Jeong Hagok on Emotions and the Korean Four-Seven Debate: A Confucian, Comparative, and Contemporary Interpretation
by Edward Y. J. Chung
Religions 2023, 14(2), 204; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel14020204 - 2 Feb 2023
Viewed by 1949
Abstract
This article presents Jeong Jedu (Hagok; 1649–1736) on the topic of emotions and its comparative and contemporary relevance. It discusses this leading neo-Confucian thinker’s thought-provoking Four-Seven thesis and its vital implication for self-cultivation and ethics. This important topic has not been discussed in [...] Read more.
This article presents Jeong Jedu (Hagok; 1649–1736) on the topic of emotions and its comparative and contemporary relevance. It discusses this leading neo-Confucian thinker’s thought-provoking Four-Seven thesis and its vital implication for self-cultivation and ethics. This important topic has not been discussed in current scholarship on Korean Confucianism. The article begins with the Confucian notion of emotions (jeong/qing, 情), according to its textual and philosophical background in the Chinese tradition, and then covers key issues regarding the “Four Beginnings” of virtue, the “Seven Emotions”, and leading neo-Confucian perspectives by Zhu Xi (1130–1200) and Wang Yangming (1472–1529). The article also provides a brief comparative analysis of Toegye’s and Yulgok’s leading Korean opinions on the nature, role, and problem of emotions. The third section focuses on Hagok’s interpretation in the same context. The fourth section discusses Hagok’s ethics and spirituality of emotions in terms of the mind’s original essence (bonche/benti) and innate knowledge (of good) (yangji/liangzhi) in connection to Wang Yangming’s doctrines. The final section concludes by considering the originality and distinctiveness of Hagok’s holistic interpretation. It also presents my contemporary reflections to articulate how Hagok’s groundbreaking insights compare with certain Western theories of emotions and why they offer a worthwhile resource for comparative philosophy, religion, and ethics. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Current Research on Korean Confucianism)
16 pages, 869 KiB  
Article
Characterizing ‘New Korean Confucianism’: Focusing on Pak Chonghong and Yi Sang-ŭn’s Life and Thought
by Xing-Ai Gao and So-Yi Chung
Religions 2023, 14(2), 138; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel14020138 - 20 Jan 2023
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 2230
Abstract
This article attempts to characterize some important aspects of ‘New Korean Confucianism,’ by focusing on the life and thoughts of two major thinkers of 20th century Korea, namely Pak Chonghong (1903–1976) and Yi Sang-ŭn (1905–1976). While there are volumes of studies on ‘New [...] Read more.
This article attempts to characterize some important aspects of ‘New Korean Confucianism,’ by focusing on the life and thoughts of two major thinkers of 20th century Korea, namely Pak Chonghong (1903–1976) and Yi Sang-ŭn (1905–1976). While there are volumes of studies on ‘New Confucianism’, the focus remains mostly on Chinese academics; however, just like Song–Ming, Neo-Confucianism spread throughout East Asian countries, where a unique and distinct Neo-Confucian model emerged with its own arguments and debates. The New Confucianism that appeared at the turn of the 20th century in an attempt to embrace Western cultural power within a Confucian value system has also been extended and widely adopted in Korea and has transformed itself according to its socio-political environment. Pak and Yi, who lived during and after the Japanese colonial period, struggled to grasp a sense of autonomy as the unique Korean tradition and spirit was about to be swept away by a flood of foreign ideas and social turmoil. Although the two thinkers differed in their approaches—Pak studied Western philosophy and Yi Chinese New Confucianism—they devoted their life to uncovering and systematizing the distinctive structure of Korean traditional philosophy and thereby laid the cornerstone of New Korean Confucianism. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Current Research on Korean Confucianism)
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