謙菴 柳雲龍의 實踐道學

The Practical Ethics of Kyumam Ryu Woon - Ryoung

The Josun dynasty, after the fall of the Korea dynasty which was based on the Buddhist ideology, purports to establish a Confucius state supported by Neo-confucianists and new army circles. Because of that, neo-confucianism was sustained as the only ideology from the beginning to the end of the Josun dynasty. Gyum-Am Yoo Un-Lyong was the best student of Tye-Gye Lee Hwang. To understand why he is famous although there remain not many writings or analects of his, we need to distinguish the practical ethics from the theoretical ethics. In the primitive Confucianism there are remarks only about political ethics, social ethics, and family ethics, and the contemporary confucianists were mainly interested in how to put those ethics in practice. This we may call the practical Confucianism. In the Song dynasty, however, the confucianists became interested in metaphysical subjects, following the trend of Buddhism or Taoism. Their interests show their work getting more and more philosophical and theoretical, so as to change and redefine the characteristics of the primitive confucianism. We may call this the theoretical confucianism. After the Song dynasty, Hur-Hyung of the Won dynasty was critical of the theoretical Confucianism and created Neo-Confucianism that the Josun dynasty imported and used as its governing ideology. Neo confucianists show interests in both theoretical and practical sides of confucianism. Gyum-Am Yoo Un-Lyong and Nam-Myung Jo Sik were well known and respected for their practical confucianism, while the theoretical confucianism reached its highest with the works of Tye-Gye Lee Whang and Yulgok Lee Ih. The practical confucianism emphasizes on the unity of words and deeds, which is epitomized best in `Chung and Hyo . Confucianism purports practice, practice down below on the everyday morality and high up on the religious absolutism. There have been not many practical confucianists though many theoretical confucianists. Because of this, the gravity of Gyum-Am Yoo Un Lyong is no less than any in the school of Tye-Gye Lee Whang.