孔子이전의 仁 槪念 硏究

A Study of the Concept of Jen 仁 Prior to Confucius

If someone wants to understand Chinese philosophy, it is necessary for him to comprehend the concept of jen. Without comprehending the meaning of the term, no understanding of Confucian philosophy is possible. The goal of this paper is to investigate whether the concept of jen possesses a meaning which is related to inner disposition in the Chinese classics. The body of the paper consists of two major sections. The first section is an investigation of what the term jen meant in the Chinese classics before Confucius. The second section is a discussion of whether or not the concept jen possesses a meaning which is related to the inner subjectivity of the individual. Based on the discussions of the content we can draw the conclusions as follows: first, the word jen does not occur in the oracle bon e inscriptions and Western Chou bronze inscriptions. Second, in the Book of Odes it has no meaning implying inner virtue like "kindness" or "love," although many scholars interpreted it that way. Third, it seems to me that there exists some ambiguity in the Book of Documents. Yet it can be safely argued that the passage was written b y someone who lived in a much later period, probably during the Spring and Autumn period. This almost corresponds to the time in which Confucius was active. Therefore we can guess that the passage was written by someone who was being influenced by Confucian teachings.