『東醫壽世保元』의 天機의 ‘極’과 人事의 ‘克’의 의미에 대한 고찰

A Study on the Meaning of ‘極’ of Cheon-gi[天機] and ‘克’ of In-sa[人事] in the Donguisusebowon: Focusing on the usage of ‘明明德’ and ‘新民’ in the Daxue

Object : To examine the meaning of ‘geuk(極)’ and ‘geuk(克)’ of Cheon-gi and Insa respectively, for better translation of the contents and to understand the structure of the Donguisusebowon cosmology. Method : The meanings of the characters ‘極’ and ‘克’ based on examples in the Daxue were examined together with content-related books such as the Shujing and the Shijing. Related concepts such as Taiji and Huangji were investigated as well. Result & Conclusion : Through investigation of the character usages and contexts in the Daxue, the archetypes of the two characters ‘極’ and ‘克’ were discovered. Based on these findings, the characteristics of Cheon-gi and Insa were thoroughly studied, which enabled better understanding of the structure of the world view that has been created by their integration. ‘Geuk(極)’ refers to Cheon-gi as the open world wherein all beings of different horizons are connected through a common principle. ‘Geuk(克)’ refers to Insa as an individual world that could be fully established by manifestation of one’s moral abilities that lie within everybody. The two worlds integrate with each other, becoming two poles of the world humans belong to, while the human heart, in correspondence to these two worlds, create two poles within themselves, of which one pursues the public world while the other rejects the personal.