易傳의 道에 관한 고찰

Dao in the Appendices

"Yi-Dao(易道)" has three meanings: easy, change, and constant. However, the primary meaning of "Yi-Dao" is "Change" that refers to "Opposites Transformation(對立轉化)". Dao as the ontological ground for every being and phenomenological transformation is the One, which is "Change" itself. The content and direction of "Change" is unfathomable. Every being undergoes transformation in the process of "Change", and the transformation occurs due to "gantong(感通).“ The process of the transformation is circular. To interpret the Dao of The Appendices in terms of "Opposites Transformation" of yin and yang is an attempt to explore the ontological ground and meaning at the phenomenological level. Dao is not something beyond yin and yang, but the transformation of yin and yang itself. Each concrete phenomenon as the result of transformation occurs owing to the flow of great "Change". For this reason the Appendices refer to Dao as "Something Beyond perceptible(形而上者).“ That the shape(形) is the medium between the ontological source of the world and phenomenon has a significant implication from the perspective of "self-cultivation". The Appendices suggest a way to enlarge Dao on the basis of Dao that is revealed at the phenomenological level, and it is where the Appendices and early Confucianism converge.