From Learning of the Sage to Learning of the Exemplary Person in a Constant State of Self- Examination: Tasan Chŏng Yakyong’s Restructuring of Confucian Learning

You, Soyoung

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Year:: 2024
Contributor:: You, Soyoung (creator); Roth, Harold (Advisor); Baker, Don (Reader); Chen, Kaijun (Reader); Brown University. Department of Religious Studies (sponsor)
Genre:: theses
Subject:: Korean studies
Extent:: xvii, 435 p.

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Abstract:: Abstract of “From Learning of the Sage to Learning of the Exemplary Person in a Constant State of Self-Examination: Tasan Chŏng Yakyong’s Restructuring of Confucian Learning,” by Soyoung You, Ph.D., Brown University, February 2024. This dissertation investigates a paradigm shift in Tasan Chŏng Yakyong’s thought from the Neo-Confucian “Sage Learning” to the “Learning of the Exemplary Person in a Constant State of Self-Examination.” Tasan made this shift based upon his new understanding of humans and human nature. He came to this understanding by integrating various intellectual currents of his time, including Evidential Research and Western Learning, into his profound understanding of Confucian classics. To demonstrate my arguments, I first explore the historical background regarding the circulation of knowledge among intellectuals in the late Chosŏn period, with a particular emphasis on bibliographical issues regarding Tasan’s reading history. I attempt to situate Tasan in a historical context in which he was in dialogue with various intellectual trends to elucidate how and what kind of knowledge Tasan encountered in establishing his scholarship. Then, by surveying his commentaries on the Daxue and the Zhongyong, I examine how Tasan deconstructed the Neo-Confucian learning project and constructed his own. By deploying his textual criticism based on Evidential Research techniques, Tasan reinterpreted the Daxue as a text for learning for rulership in antiquity, in contrast to the Neo-Confucian view, and criticized Zhu Xi’s interpretation of the text as an attempt to formulate the Neo-Confucian learning system and learning scheme. In addition, I demonstrate Tasan shaped his learning program by reinterpreting the Zhongyong utilizing inspirations from Western Learning. I focus on analyzing the concepts related to “Sangje,” or “Heaven,” and illustrate how Tasan dismantled the Neo-Confucian universe constituted by li and qi, coherent principles and psycho-physical energy. Lastly, I discuss Tasan’s understanding of human nature in line with his emphasis on “consistency,” a deliberate constant effort in pursuing the Dao. I argue that consistency serves as the key factor in understanding Tasan’s thought in that the concept is deeply linked to his new understanding of human nature as inclinations. Consistency thus explains why Tasan proposed sindok kunja, an exemplary person in a constant state of self-examination, instead of the Neo-Confucian conventional model of a sage as an ideal practitioner in his learning program.
Notes:: Thesis (Ph. D.)--Brown University, 2024

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You, Soyoung, "From Learning of the Sage to Learning of the Exemplary Person in a Constant State of Self- Examination: Tasan Chŏng Yakyong’s Restructuring of Confucian Learning" (2024). Religious Studies Theses and Dissertations. Brown Digital Repository. Brown University Library. https://repository.library.brown.edu/studio/item/bdr:4tmdgwwg/

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Religious Studies Theses and Dissertations

Theses and Dissertations for the Religious Studies department.
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