청대 학술사에 나타난 유교 지식론의 사상적 전환

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to examine the ideological transformation of Chinese Confucian knowledge theory that occurred during the 17th and 18th centuries. Neo-Confucianism presents the knowledge theory of ‘ge-wu-zhi-zhi[格物致知]’. This is integrated with the universal principle[理] through self- cultivation. In the 17th century, Chinese scholars faced the reality of the collapse of “zhonghe[中華]” which was considered universal. They thought that the cause of the crisis of the times was the crisis of the inner mind, and found an alternative in scriptural analysis. However, the contradictions revealed through scriptural analysis led to the pursuit of objective knowledge. Socio-economic development and change required knowledge centered on pragmatism. As a result, the theory of knowledge centered on mental training was forced to change. In the case of Fang yizhi(方以智), his theory turned out to be ‘Investigation of things(質測學)’, which deviated from ‘ge-wu-zhi-zhi(格物致知)’. Yan Yuan(顔元) advocated knowledge of ‘practice’. Another case of Dai Zhen(戴震), it was expressed as a knowledge theory based on antimetaphysical and Qi(氣)-philosophical thinking about the object. This was the result of internal self-movement in the history of Confucianism.