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A Study on Jeong Do-jeon’s “Shen-mie Lun”(神滅論) : Focusing on the metaphor of water and fire

  • International Journal of Glocal Language and Literary Studies(약칭: IGLL)
  • Abbr : IGLL
  • 2023, (15), pp.329~346
  • DOI : 10.23073/riks.2023..15.012
  • Publisher : Glocal Institute of Language and Literary Studies(GILLS)
  • Research Area : Humanities > Other Humanities
  • Received : November 25, 2023
  • Accepted : December 20, 2023
  • Published : December 31, 2023

Jung, Du Ho 1

1동국대학교

Accredited

ABSTRACT

This paper analyzes Jeong Do-jeon(鄭道傳)’s theory of “Shen-mie Lun”(神滅論: Treatise on the Destructibility of the Spirit) with a focus on the metaphors of water by Zhang Zai(張載) and fire by Cheng Yi(程頤). Jeong Do-jeon was a prominent figure in late Goryeo and early Joseon who systematically criticized heretical beliefs and established the official ideology of Joseon based on NeoConfucianism. His “Shen-mie Lun”(神滅論) is most prominently revealed in the first section of Bulsijapbyeon(佛氏雜辨), where he critiques the Buddhist concept of reincarnation. This critique is centered around the core issue of self-identity, particularly in the context of critiquing Buddhist ideas. The concept of “Shen-mie Lun”(神滅論) is fundamentally related to the nature of “Qi”(氣), and Zhang Zai uses the metaphor of water and iceto illustratethe gathering and dispersal of “Qi”(氣). This underscores theidea that thereality Jeong Do-jeon emphasized is based on existence(有) rather than nothingness(無), and it also suggests that there is no empty space in the universe. In contrast, Cheng Yi, along with Jeong Do-jeon, emphasizes the metaphor of fire to argue that when “Qi”(氣) disperses, nothing, not even self-identity, remains. In other words, after death and the dispersion of “Qi”(氣), it completely disappears. These analogies of water and fire serve as existential foundations for “Qi”(氣) and the property that it completely disappears upon dispersal, respectively, and each scholar utilizes these metaphors in accordance with their respective theoretical frameworks. Jeong Do-jeon’s advocacy of the “Shen-mie Lun”(神滅論) theory, utilizing the metaphor of fire and the idea that “Qi”(氣) disappears when dispersed, was essential in critiquing the Buddhist concept of reincarnation and establishing his Neo-Confucian philosophical framework.

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