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A Study on the Additional Meaning of ‘正’ and ‘奇’ in『LAOZI(老子)』

  • The Journal of Chinese Cultural Studies
  • 2019, (46), pp.205-223
  • DOI : 10.18212/cccs.2019..46.009
  • Publisher : The Society For Chinese Cultural Studies
  • Research Area : Humanities > Chinese Language and Literature > Chinese Literature > Chinese Culture
  • Received : October 16, 2019
  • Accepted : November 11, 2019
  • Published : November 30, 2019

LEE SO DONG 1

1숙명여자대학교

Accredited

ABSTRACT

‘正’ is used in several meanings in 『LAOZI(老子)』. ‘正’ originally means ‘punish’, and is often seen in the Oracle-Bone Inscriptions , but since then it is mainly used as a derivation meaning of ‘get right’, ‘comfort’, ‘stabilize’, and ‘politics’. In『LAOZI(老子)』, besides this derivation meaning, there is also an additional meaning of the textual character of『LAOZI(老子)』. The meanings of the seven ‘正’ characters in『LAOZI(老子)』 can be summarized as follows: 1) politics 正善治(Chapter8) 2) Absolute righteousness, truth 淸靜爲天下正(Chapter5)/ 我好靜而民自正(Chapter57) /正言若反(Chapter75) 3) Relative righteousness, truth 以正治國(Chapter57)/ 其無正(Chapter58)/ 正復爲奇(Chapter58) ‘正’ is used interchangeably with ‘政’, except that there are two main categories: absolute ‘正’ and relative ‘正’. The former is ‘正’ at the angle of TAO(道), meaning ‘淸靜’, ‘無爲’. The latter refers to various laws, regulations, etc., which were made to be truth in the temporal angle. The latter is the act of ‘有爲’, which causes side effects, ‘奇’. It appears in the oppositional structure of ‘正’ and ‘奇’. ‘奇’ appears four times in 『LAOZI(老子)』. Appears alone or in a confrontation with ‘正’, both do not deviate much from its original meaning. The additional meaning in the opposition structure is a side effect of ‘正’, which can be seen as a social evil caused by the act of ‘有爲’ such as various laws and norms, and the remedies for it.

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