The Qing Dynasty of the 19th century, where Kim, Jeong-hee, lived, was at the height of textual criticism. Kim, Jeong-hee, visited the Qing Dynasty and established a private relationship with Weng, Fang-gang(翁方綱) and Ruan, Yuan(阮元), who were famous scholars at the time, and actively accepted the academic achievements of the Qing Dynasty. Silsagusisheol(實事求是說) is an important work that shows Kim, Jeong-hee’s academic tendency, and many studies have been conducted so far, but it is regrettable that the influence relationship with Qing Dynasty scholarship has not been properly investigated.
In particular, it is thought that previous studies have not yet discussed in depth how Weng, fang-gang, who directly guided Kim Jeong-hee’s study, was a person in Qing Dynasty textual criticism, and in what ways Kim Jeong-hee’s studies lie in succession or influence with Joseon studies and Qing studies at the time.
With this awareness of the problem, this paper examined Kim, Jeong-hee’s perspective on historical studies in comparison with Weng, Fang-gang and its relevance to Qingdai Studies, focusing on the Silsagusisheol, which is evaluated as an article that shows Kim, Jeong-hee’s tendency to historical studies. Weng, Fang-gang was a person who lived in the heyday of Qing Dynasty textual criticism, and although he was deeply influenced by it, his position in Qing Dynasty academia was not a historical scholar, but a Neo-Confucianism scholar, and he criticized and rejected representative scholars of textual criticism.
Kim, Jeong-hee, showed an attitude to actively accept the research results of textual criticism, but his attitude toward explanations of words in ancient books and loyalty is basically no different from Weng, Fang-gang. His Silsagusisheol is an article that emphasizes explanations of words in ancient books, but reveals that it is only a way to express loyalty. In addition, it is difficult to say that the attitude of presiding over the orthodox status of Confucian classics and oriental scholar Zheng, Xuan(鄭玄) while emphasizing Neo-Confucianism is a true practical attitude, and it tends to be biased toward Neo-Confucianism rather than textual criticism.