五行論의 인문학적 위상과 동아시아 역대 왕조

Academic historical status of the theory of the Five Elements(五行論) and the East Asian successive dynasties

五行論과 禮樂論 三正論 및 文質論은 동아시아 人文學의 기반이다. 특히 오행론은 예악론과 더불어 고대와 중세의 정치 사회 문화 등 국가 통치의 이데올로기였다. ‘金&#8228;木&#8228;水&#8228;火&#8228;土&#8228;穀’의 六府는 천지만물 생육의 모태로 인식했으며 고대 유물론적 사유의 일환이었다. 육부는 民人의 물질적 삶의 근간이었고 여기에 ‘正德&#8228;利用&#8228;厚生’의 三事를 첨가하여, 이를 九功으로 요약한 뒤 음악에 입혀 <九歌>로 가창케 하여 백성들을 보육코자 했다. 秦 始皇 대에 와서 鄒衍의 음양오행설과 五德終始說이 결부되어, 왕조 교체에 따른 권력 장악의 정당성의 홍보와 역성혁명의 합리화로 원용되었다. 오행론은 ‘五常&#8228;五德&#8228;五聲&#8228;五星&#8228;五色&#8228;律呂&#8228;五味&#8228;五臭&#8228;權量&#8228;五事&#8228;五臟&#8228;風水&#8228;醫術&#8228;占卜’등과 연계되어 백성 실생활에 침투했다. 중원 24史에도 『漢書』를 비롯하여 『明史』에 이르기까지 12여 正史에 「五行志」가 편성되어 있고 『淸史稿』에도 오행지에 수록될 내용이 산적되어 있다. 『고려사』에도 「오행지」가 비중 있게 편차되었다. 고려조의 이승휴와 태봉국의 弓王도 관심을 가졌고, 조선조의 70여의 선학들도 오행에 관한 다수의 글을 남겼다. 특히 정약용은 전래 오행론의 논리를 牽强附會에 불과하다고 폄하했다. 고대와 중세의 실상을 파악하기 위해 당시에 막중한 영향력을 행사했던 오행론의 검토는 절실하므로, 후학들이 이에 대한 관심을 가져야 할 필요가 있다.

The theory of the Five Elements(五行論), the theory of the Ritual and Music(禮樂論), the theory of the Three Rights(三正論) and the theory of the Wen-zhi(文質論) are the basis of the East Asian humanities. In particular, the theory of the Five Elements(五行論) was the ideology of the national administration such as the politics, society and culture of the ancient and medieval times. Six elements(六府) - ‘Metal&#8228;Wood&#8228;Water&#8228;Fire&#8228;Earth&#8228; Grain’ - were recognized as the birthplace of all things and were part of ancient materialistic thought. It was the basis of the material life of the people, and added three things of Righteousness(正德), Utilization(利用) and Welfare(厚生) to it, summarizing it in the form of the nine contributions(九功), putting it in music so that it would sing as <Nine Songs(九歌)> to take care of the people. In the era of Qin Shi Huang(秦始皇), it was tied up with Chu-yeon(鄒衍)’s the theory of Yin-yang and five elements(陰陽五行說) and the theory of the five virtues circulation(五德終始說), so it was invoked as the promotion of justification for seizure of power following the replacement of the dynasty and the rationalization of the dynastic revolution. The theory of the Five Elements was associated with the five constant virtues(五常), the five virtues(五德), the five tunes(五聲), the five stars(五星), the five colors(五色), the five tastes(五味), Yul-ryeo(律呂), the five smells(五臭), scale(權量), the five works(五事), the five viscera(五臟), geomancy(風水), medical techniques(醫術) and divination(占卜), so it infiltrated into the real life of the people. In the Central Districts 24 histories, from 『Han-seo(漢書)』 to 『Myeong-sa(明史)』, 「Ohaeng-ji(五行志)」 was organized in 10 authentic histories. 「Ohaeng-ji(五行志)」 was significantly divided in 『Goryeo-sa(高麗史)』, Lee Seung-hyu(李承休) of the Goryeo dynasty and Gung-Ye(弓裔) of Tae Bong(泰封) paid attention, and more than 70 senior scholars of the Joseon Dynasty also wrote a number of articles on the Five Elements(五行). In particular, Jeong Yak-yong(丁若鏞) disparaged the theory of the Five Elements as a farfetched argument. In order to understand the realities of ancient and medieval times, it is imperative to review the theory of the Five Elements that had a great impact at that time. So younger scholars are necessary to be interested in this.