Korean Neo Confucianism

Efficacy of a leadership approach may be highly dependent upon cultural factors, making additional research in foreign contexts necessary. A methodology was developed to investigate the relationship between Confucian values and leadership preferences. Responses on the Chinese Values Survey (CVS) were compared to those of the Vannsimpco Leadership Survey (VLS) for both Korean (N = 48) and American (N = 47) university respondents. Correlations for both groups revealed a link between Confucian values and hybrid leadership styles. Among Korean faculty, this link was even more pronounced, yielding significant correlations to autocratic-transformational (rs [30] = .513, p < .05), autocratic-transactional (rs [30] = .420, p < .05), democratic-transformational (rs [31] = .567, p < .001), and democratic-transactional (rs [31] = .482, p < .01) leadership. Results suggest that simple theoretical approaches to leadership do not address the complex interplay between autocratic (Li) and democratic (Ren and Yi) Confucian virtues.

One significant feature of Jeong Yakyong’s丁若鏞 (1762-1836) thought is his deconstruction of Zhu Xi’s朱熹 (1130-1200) moral universe based on li 理 and qi 氣. For Zhu Xi, the world in its entirety was a moral place, but Jeong Yakyong distinguished non-moral domains from the moral domain. One question that follows in pursuing a comparison of their philosophies on this topic is what each thinker meant by “moral” and, in particular, whether they meant the same thing. In this paper, I delve deeper into this topic by comparing their respective perspectives on whether nonhuman animals are moral. Interestingly, they held exactly opposite views: Zhu Xi believed that certain actions on the part of nonhuman animals manifest moral values, whereas Jeong Yakyong claimed that none of the actions of nonhuman animals has moral value. In comparing their views, I introduce Mark Rowlands’s distinction between “moral subjects” and “moral agents.”

Keywords Zhu Xi, Jeong Yakyong, animal, moral agent, moral subject, moral patient

The line defining orthodox interpretations of fate, omens, and prophecies drawn by Korean Confucian scholars is relatively clear in their philosophical writings and official pronouncements against superstitions, but frequently becomes rather complicated when it comes to their direct personal experiences with the realms of the strange and the supernatural. Yu Mongin's 柳夢寅 (1559–1623) collection of miscellaneous stories, titled Ŏu yadam 於于野譚  (Wild Tales of Mr. Ŏu), provides an interesting survey of unofficial narratives concerning divination and related phenomena in the eyes of a high-ranking Confucian official. The Ŏu yadam records anecdotes about geomancy, prophecies, ghosts, or shamans with occasional moral insights and remarks; largely, however, it remains faithful to its main purpose: to provide stories about bizarre events for the amusement of literati colleagues. The focus of this article are the protagonists of these anecdotes about divination and fortune-telling and their relationship to the subject along with their social background, skills, losses and triumphs.

My paper casually explores the possibility of introducing Cheju Island p’ungsu
maps and culture into the global marketplace of ideas, institutions, goods and services.  I first introduce examples of these maps, discuss their origins, describe my first encounters with them, and also my reactions to them. I discuss how Cheju p’ungsu maps and culture comprise an integral part of an important tangible and intangible Korean p’ungsu cultural heritage, as defined by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). I elaborate on my intuitive appreciation of the Cheju maps, and suggest that their rustic yet elegant appeal is a gateway to Korean “Taeguk thinking.” I deliberate the “p’ungsu” term in contrast to “geomancy” and “feng shui,” and the feasibility of its empowerment in the global marketplace. I ask “Is the world ready for p’ungsu culture?” and reach some tentative conclusions based on three considerations. I discuss these in some detail. I conclude that the successful export of p’ungsu culture as a global educational project that introduces a profound idea – Taeguk thinking – is feasible.  P’ungsu maps offer insight into Nature’s self-organizing principles and thus are heuristic devices that might increase worldwide appreciation of Taeguk thinking. The ideal outcome would be to reduce humankind’s alienation from Nature experienced during the past four hundred years of rapid industrial economic development, and a resurgence of an old Taoist prescription I call “enlightened underdevelopment.” I conclude with the “Story of the Swape” in support of my argument.

Key words: p’ungsu maps and culture; feng shui; geomancy; global marketplace; intangible cultural heritage; Taeguk thinking; enlightened underdevelopment; Jeju Island

The attitudes of Joseon scholars toward Daoist discourse are often understood as hostile and, with a few exceptions, as almost exclusively negative. The example of Toegye Yi Hwang, however, shows that a negative attitude toward Daoist texts and techniques was often accompanied by a thorough knowledge on the part of the scholar attacking them. This phenomenon cannot be fully explained by the necessity of knowing the topic to be criticized in order to better refute it. Daoist discourse contained a broad range of motifs which were appropriated or close to Confucian teaching and if studied properly, Confucian scholars could use them relatively freely without the danger of accusation of heterodox tendencies. The purpose of this study is to analyze the Daoist sources available to Toegye and his treatment of them on the public and private level. This includes the texts of Laozi and Zhuangzi, inner alchemistic treatises such as the Cantong qi, the motif of the immortals, etc. The treatment of these sources in Toegye’s works indicate that while warning against Daoist studies on a public level, he possessed a very good command of them and under certain condition allowed their use in specific areas, especially numerology, medicine, and exegesis of Song dynasty Confucian works.

Confucian academies (sŏwŏn 書院) became in post-liberation North Korea subject of a complex political and intellectual debate motivated by the needs of the new regime to reevaluate the Korean past according to the ideological framework of Marxism-Leninism. Confucian academies were designated as institutions belonging to the past feudal order and as such their traditional functioning was severed and liquidated. On the other hand, they were to a certain degree recognized as cultural relics belonging to the people of the DPRK, and North Korean scholars have devoted considerable effort to describing the role of Confucian academies within traditional Korean society. The present study analyzes North Korean discursive strategies concerning Confucian academies during the 1950s and 1960s. It focuses on both popular and academic depictions of these educational, religious, and political institutions.

This paper examines the thoughts of two prominent Korean Confucians of the late Goryeo 高麗 period (918-1392), Yi Saek 李穡 (1328-1396) and Jeong Do-jeon 鄭道傳 (1342-1398). Although they were both renowned as followers of Zhu Xi's Neo-Confucianism, they held differing views on several important issues. One of these issues was the royal successions of King U 禑王 (32 nd) and King Chang 昌王 (33 rd). Yi Saek considered them to be legitimate rulers of Goryeo, while Jeong Do-jeon denied their legitimacy and accused those involved in their enthronements of treason. In order to conceptualize their differences, I first explain the distinction between the ownership conception and the service conception of political authority introduced by Joseph Chan. Based on this philosophical framework, I analyze and compare the thoughts of Yi Saek and Jeong Dojeon. My conclusion is that they based political legitimacy on different grounds: for Yi Saek, legitimacy is based on the founder's achievements in setting up the cultural and political foundation of Goryeo, whereas for Jeong Do-jeon, it is based on the founding king himself, who established the dynasty in 918. Accordingly, I call their views the "founding service" conception and the "founder's ownership" conception of political authority, respectively. I hope this analysis and comparison of their differing conceptions of political authority can contribute to a better understanding of their political thoughts and the development of the concept of political legitimacy in Korean history.

Yulgok Yi I's commentary on the Daodejing presents a unique attempt to integrate a Daoist text into a Korean Confucian discourse. The aim of this paper is to analyze strategies Yulgok used to compose the text of Sun’ŏn and how his approach toward the Daoist classic influenced the circulation of his treatise among Korean literati.

Review of: A. Charles Muller, Korea's Great Buddhist-Confucian Debate: The Treatises of Chong Tojon (Sambong) and Hamho Tuktong (Kihwa)
Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 2015, 181 pages

Dao: A Journal of Comparative Philosophy (2017) 16.1

Abstract. There is much yet to be discovered about the related topics of
environmental ethics and power of pace within the epigrammatic brevity of traditional East Asian eco-philosophy. This paper introduces and analyzes some passages and images from various Neo-Confucian classics and geomancy maps. Mencius, for example, may have anticipated the excesses and abuses of science m the service of
technology and growth ideology when he wrote :"There are few in the world that can resist the urge to hep their rice pants grow."

Deliberate resistance by traditional subsistence farmers to technology transfer is revealed in the classics as ideal ethical behavior. Some underpinnings for the theories and practices of "enlightened underdevelopment" in Neo-Confucian societies are introduced and discussed: Sustainable development, enlightened underdevelopment, ... ... .

It is difficult to avoid science in the service of technology when economic "development" is the objective. Perhaps a mystical enlightened underdevelopment notion can be a more persuasive story about a plausible eco-centrist future in the service of improving the human condition than the unsatisfying story told today by those self-deluding, self-serving spokespersons on the payroll of scientism/capitalism that persist to hawk economic growth ideology? "Klattu barada nikto!"

Diagrams 圖 (Chinese tu / Korean to) played an important role in both Chinese and Korean Confucian discourse and present a specific tool of argumentation encompassing visual image, structural concept and non-linear text. In 16th century Korea, diagrams served as a highly efficient instrument for the concise recording of philosophical concepts and their distribution within the community of literati. The aim of this study is to present a brief survey of the role of diagrams within Korean Confucian discourse, indicate the strategies of their composition, reading, and interpretation, and to explain why Korean Confucians often used this unusual medium as opposed to that of simple texts. A crucial component of this task is to demonstrate as well the prerequisites for the use of diagrams, which were considered to be a very complicated and ambiguous means of expression. One of the most venerated forms of Confucian written discourse, used by both students and masters alike, diagrams were often employed at the beginning of study but with even greater frequency at the end: they can be simple illustration of a text, or conversely, the text may be a simple commentary of a diagram. A central focus of our analysis will be Chŏng Chiun's 秋巒 鄭之雲 (1509-1561) Ch'ŏnmyŏng to 天命圖p and the discussions surrounding this diagram. The story of this diagram, as it circulated among the literati, shows how one single diagram was able to influence an entire intellectual debate and connect various thinkers and their philosophical concepts.

Dans cette synthèse éclectique du chamanisme, Bouddhisme, Taoïsme, et Confucianisme qui caractérise l’esprit du peuple coréen, la vénération ancestrale occupe une place prépondérante.  Plus qu’une série de gestes rituelles, elle reflète une vision du monde et un système de valeurs  qui forme la base fondamentale de des relations familiales coréennes,  une base qui est essentielle pour le fonctionnement de la société entière.
Cette dissertation propose en première partie, d’explorer la pratique de la vénération ancestrale et leurs liens avec les relations familiales à travers l’histoire de la Corée : La période préhistorique, la période des trois royaumes, la dynastie Koryo, et la dynastie Choson. Ensuite je vais dégager les principes essentiels des traditions de vénération familiale et ancestrale coréennes en examinant les valeurs familiales néo-confucéennes, les rôles familiaux dans le contexte de la vénération ancestrale et les éléments de bases des rites ancestraux
Dans la deuxième partie, je vais examiner la question des changements dans la société coréenne dans la l’époque moderne. Par la suite, je vais regarder comment les différentes formes religieuses ont répondu à ces changements. La religion chrétienne (catholique et protestante), les nouvelles religions, ainsi que le confucianisme et le bouddhisme seront examinés. Je vais terminer en m’attardant sur la question de l’avenir de la vénération familiale et ancestrale en corée.

中國哲學的特質，是以理想人格的達致為核心，並以理論體系與修養實踐合一。所謂工夫論，即是以達致理想人格的修養實踐為關切，涉及了人格境界、工夫場域、工夫步驟、工夫體驗與行為指導等論述。再考慮到中國哲學主要是透過經典詮釋的形式來傳承與發展，詮釋活動應當有工夫論導向可言，此導向有以下幾個特點：其一，以聖人著述經典的本意在於指導工夫修養。其二，以經典指導工夫、工夫體現經典，兩者相即不離。其三，若理論上的發展創新，或實踐上的因時制宜，更能有助於理想人格的實現，則其是更有價值的，甚至是更符合經典原意的。
而對於這類詮釋活動的研究，本文提出了幾點建議：一是進行以工夫論為核心的基礎研究，特別是它如何透過經典的術語系統而被表述。二是釐清工夫體驗與經典內容之間的可能關係，特別是工夫體驗的獲致、積累與內化。三是考慮理論創新如何有助於工夫修養、其檢證標準為何，以及如何據此理論與標準來實踐。

"Space prohibits so much, and permits so little." -- Peter S. Stevens


"Through geomantic practices, Neo-Confucian ideology has actively promoted its 'correlative' (as compared to a 'causative') cosmology, wherein everything an nature is assumed to orient itself within an encompassing but impersonal force field without having to be Instructed to do so and without the application of mechanical compulsion. This orientation also applies to humans, of course, who, from the perspective of Neo-Confucian organic naturalism, also have inherent tendencies to move toward certain places. Neo-Confucians believe that the resulting dynamic
equilibrium attained attributes of perfection and beauty when and where humans entered into productive relationships with Nature. Neo-Confucian correlative cosmology holds that initial conditions (the where and when of human entry) determine subsequent productive or destructive outcomes. Geomantic surveys and the maps that result from these efforts represent Neo-Confucian solutions to the problem of choosing the 'correct timing and placement of human beginnings in a
prepotent and productive natural system without disturbing its dynamic equilibrium."

My paper casually explores the possibility of introducing Cheju Island p’ungsu maps and culture into the global marketplace of ideas, institutions, goods and services. I first introduce examples of these maps, discuss their origins, describe my first encounters with them, and also my reactions to them. I discuss how Cheju p’ungsu maps and culture comprise an integral part of an important tangible and intangible Korean p’ungsu cultural heritage, as defined by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). I elaborate on my intuitive appreciation of the Cheju maps, and suggest that their rustic yet elegant appeal is a gateway to Korean “Taeguk thinking.” I deliberate the “p’ungsu” term in contrast to “geomancy” and “feng shui,” and the feasibility of its empowerment in the global marketplace. I ask “Is the world ready for p’ungsu culture?” and reach some tentative conclusions based on three considerations. I discuss these in some detail. I conclude that the successful export of p’ungsu culture as a global educational project that introduces a profound idea – Taeguk thinking – is feasible. P’ungsu maps offer insight into Nature’s self-organizing principles and thus are heuristic devices that might increase worldwide appreciation of Taeguk thinking. The ideal outcome would be to reduce humankind’s alienation from Nature experienced during the past four hundred years of rapid industrial economic development, and a resurgence of an old Taoist prescription I call “enlightened underdevelopment.” I conclude with the “Story of the Swape” in support of my argument. Key words: p’ungsu maps and culture; feng shui; geomancy; global marketplace; intangible cultural heritage; Taeguk thinking; enlightened underdevelopment

Scholarship is that process of becoming familiar with, ordering, and acknowledging the thinking of earlier workers in a particular line of inquiry. It can easily become a lifetime task. The process is obviously valuable. Subduing the arrogance of an ignorant mind (especially one's own) is very healthy. Scholarship not only helps to avoid past mistakes and save the waste of "reinventing the wheel", but can also be a stimulus for new and more sophisticated ideas about a topic. However, the largest body of scholarship always remains inert, not only failing to stimulate new ideas, but actually forming a bulwark against the intrusion of fresh thinking...

As the earth’s population has exploded over the last century or so, and people have rushed from villages into dense urban environments, the need for us to get along with each other has increased exponentially. Yet, unfortunately, individualism and the pursuit of personal self-interest have also become more prevalent. The impersonal nature of contemporary crowded urban life has, all too often, numbed us to our responsibilities as members of the broader human community.

One possible solution to the increasing selfish individualism we see in the world today can be found in Korea’s rich Confucian tradition. Confucian ethics is an ethics of interpersonal interactions. The traditional word for morality,人倫 illyun, literally means “appropriate interactions within the human community.”  By “appropriate interactions,” Confucianism means those interactions which place the common good ahead of personal benefit. Moreover, Confucianism offers some practical advice on how to cultivate our ability to do just that.

As we see in the famous Four-Seven debate, Korean Confucians paid special attention to the role emotions play in determining how we interact with our fellow human beings. They warned us against letting certain emotions, such as anger, fear, and hatred, blind us to our obligations to our fellow human beings. They also pointed out that one way to make it more likely we can keep such emotions from leading us astray is to cultivate a different emotional orientation, one of respect, 敬 gyeong, for everyone we interact with. Korea’s  Confucians also encouraged us to develop a strong sense of  empathy, 恕 seo, so that we can see things from the perspective of the persons we are interacting with. Korea’s Confucian tradition teaches us to pay close attention to how our emotions influence our interactions so that we can engage in more harmonious, and more mutually beneficial, interactions. That is a lesson the modern world should heed.

The transformation of narrative and aesthetic meaning in Korean film since the Korean Film Wave is a popular topic in cinema studies. However, there is still a lack of empirical investigation and a tendency toward Euro-American models of film analysis. ‘Segmented Film Discourse Relation Structure’ (SFDRS) is a semantic approach to multimodal film discourse analysis that provides a diagrammatic description of the logical ways films mean. SFDRS was recently piloted to investigate conventions in meaning in Korean film with positive results and demonstrated potential to be developed to account for Korean meaning types. Korean films were selected according to three sets of criteria: pilot 1 ‘two revenge events in the same film, pilot 2 ‘three parent/guardian’s goodbye to child finale events in revenge films’, and pilot 3 ‘five avenger’s final moments in bittersweet finales’ in revenge films. Samples were transferred to SFDRS, which is composed by three variables: (1) meaningful segments, (2) their composition, and (3) the discourse relations that hold one segment to the next in a way that makes sense. SFDRS is drawn according to a systematic process that provides both a set of variables from which to predict meaning potential, and subsequently segment the discourse, and provides rules for coherence which place logical controls on the interpretation of the researcher. Pilot results showed linear structural patterns shared only by similar types of meaning at three levels of discourse. This means that, according to the criteria and data it produced, similar types of meaning have structures and components in common. Restrictions on interpretation provided a means for consistency as the logical rules create a replicable analysis condition, which is beneficial in analysis of foreign films. However, inferences were, in all except one case, of action-based meaning. For instance, instead of the emotion sadness it would be the action of crying that was inferred. Only on a single occasion was this level of description elaborated further by specification, made possible by knowledge of both the film and Korean studies held by the researcher. In this case, ‘emotion’ was specified as ‘bittersweet emotion’, and this was found to not affect the coherence of the discourse. This showed that SFDRS can accommodate further specificity but wasn’t doing so due to the level of the researcher’s knowledge, indicating that Korean specifications on meaning could be inferred with the relevant knowledge. To improve utilisation of SFDRS in future analysis of Korean film, a further level of controls on interpretation are needed. Controls, that provide a standard process for Korean meaning types to be inferred, just as those already achieved by the logical conditions placed on inference by SFDRS. By developing SFDRS in this manner, there is potential to contribute to more accurate data on how Korean films mean.

This essay examines the Ru 儒 notion of ming 命, usually translated into English as “fate,” with an emphasis on the thought of two prominent Ru thinkers, Zhu Xi 朱熹 (1130–1200) of Song 宋 China and Jeong Yagyong 丁若鏞 (Dasan 茶山, 1762–1836) of Joseon 朝鮮 Korea. Although they were faithful followers of the tradition of Kongzi 孔子and Mengzi 孟子, they held very different views on ming. Zhu Xi saw the realm of fate as determined by contingent movements of psychophysical force, whereas Jeong Yagyong believed it to be utterly contingent upon the unfathomable deity, Shangdi 上帝. These differences have important consequences for their conceptions of the good human life as well as the development of their respective cultivation programs. In conclusion, I argue that their differences are directly related to their different stances on the goal of Ru study. Zhu Xi, in confrontation with Buddhism, tried to put all people on the road to becoming a sage, while Jeong Yagyong aimed at the actual attainment of sagehood even if only some people could do so.

"Enlightened underdevelopment" is a notion that recommends but celebrates the acceptance of a self-disciplined plain and simple lifestyle that satisfies a human animal's basic survival need for food, shelter and clothing, yet foregoes without complaint selfish, self-deluding human cravings for a plethora of consumerist wants disguised as "needs." This chapter presents the ED notion as an ideological manifesto with historic precedent exemplified, for example, as the Neo-Confucian subsistence (or Natural Village) landscape. The "architecture of Neo-Confucian ideology" is perceived by the author as emergent as a moral imperative (virtue) on Jeju Island during Korea's early Yi Dynasty Era. This "sincere" island landscape and its "virtuous" people were deliberately, systematically, and rapidly destroyed by the implementation of Western-style modernization theory driven (Saemaul Undong, or "New Village Movement," after 1960.

This article examines Chonjae 存齋 Wi Paekkyu 魏伯珪's rhetorical commentaries on the Mengzi 孟子 (the book of Master Meng). Wi Paekkyu (1727-1798) lived during the reign of King Yŏngjo and King Jŏngjo, when several institutional reforms were carried out during the Chosŏn dynasty. Unlike other scholars of the Zhu Xi School in Chosŏn who emphasized Zhu Xi 朱熹's commentaries and moral principles 義理, Wi Paekkyu interpreted the Confucian classics based on the original text (jingwen 經文) and its context (wenyi 文義).
A major feature in Maengja Ch’aŭi’s structure tells us that he considers the Mengzi as a literary work and interpreted it rhetorically. Wi Paekkyu put a lot of effort into analyzing the meaning of a word, the syntax, and the tone in the composition. This shows that he was not confined to conventional rules and that he thought without formality and constraint because of his self-discipline and academic foundation.
In the field of Classical studies, Maengja Ch’aŭi is considered to be more significant and valuable than others commentaries. Existing interpretations of Mengzi were only tied up with philosophy (yilixue 義理學: the pursuit of moral and philosophical principles) or philology (kaozhengxue 考證學). Current research shows that there are only few rhetorical commentaries, including the Maengja Ch’aŭi and the Mengzi Lunwen 孟子論文 written by Niu Yunzhen 牛運震 in the Qing period.
After a comparative study, Maengja Ch’aŭi is found to be more complicated and profound than Mengzi Lunwen. Not limited only to the literal comments, it also explains Mencius’s choice of words, sentences and structures to embody his idea. This goes to show that diversity exists in East Asian rhetorical commentaries and that the Confucian classical studies during the Chosŏn dynasty had unique characteristics.
Meanwhile, Wi Paekkyu's rhetorical commentaries seem arbitrary, because they rely on subjective assumptions, not on objective inference. However, it can't be devalued. Rather, Maengja Ch’aŭi should be more appreciated because it has a consistent and systematic framework and it opened up new prospects in the field of Chosŏn Classical studies.

The Chinese philosopher who was born and lived in China 551- 479 B.C. had great impacts on various countries in Asia. South Korea is one of those East Asian countries that give high importance on Confucian principles in social life. It is not known exactly when Confucianism came into Korea but historically after Chinese classics had been introduced into Korea, China had a significant political and cultural influence on Korea. Thus, it is evaluated that Confucian thought was introduced as a part of that influence from China in ancient Korea.
After hundreds of years, although China recognized full independence and autonomy of Korea with the Treaty of Shimonoseki in 1895, its philosophical and cultural influences are still clearly observed in the society and in interpersonal relations in Korea.
In this paper, the short information about Confucianism and its values will be given. Then the introduction of Confucianism into Korea and its spread across the Peninsula will be explained. Since highly Confucianist traditional customs and values such as filial piety, respect for elders are considerably important in understanding of Korea today, the role of Confucian values in language, family life and society will also be examined. Therefore, it is aimed to shed light on how Confucian teachings contributed to shaping today’s Korean society.