초록
This article traces Chosŏn’s Neo-Confucian encounter with Matteo Ricci’s catechism, known as Ch’ŏnju sirŭi (天主實義) in Korea. It explores how this inter-cultural ex-perience culminated in a transformation from philosophical investigation, towards praxis, and its embodiment in a self-evangelizing Catholic Church. It outlines the spiritual metamorphosis which took place as Korean scholars, motivated mainly by Yi Pyŏk, converted to Catholicism without any foreign missionaries, based mainly on Ricci’s ideas about God. This inspired them to convert, and then to proselytize their new beliefs. This article draws upon “deconstruction,” stemming from the work of Jacques Derrida (1930–2004). It deconstructs Korean Neo-Confucian rejections of Ricci’s concept of God (天主, Ch’ŏnju), which undermined their dependency on principle (理, i), and illus-trates how the incarnation of Jesus, as God-in-man, also threatened to overturn constructed Neo-Confucian hierarchies, which controlled their modus vivendi. Finally, it deconstructs the earliest Catholic texts written by Koreans, showing how Confucian ideas were supplemented with Christian ones, sowing seeds of social transformation, visible in their writings. These early Catholics would face the wrath of Neo-Confucian authority, which set about oppressing their beliefs, their writings and their burgeoning sense of equality.
키워드
Ch’ŏnju sirŭi, Neo-Confucian hierarchy, deconstruction, Ch’ŏnju, Catholic texts, equality
INTRODUCTION
This article explores the impact of Matteo Ricci’s
Firstly, this article addresses the importance of Neo-Confucianism during Chosŏn, representing the ideological arena into which Catholic ideas were at first received, and where the ideas of Yi Hwang 退溪 (1501–1570) and Yi I 栗谷 (1536–1584) dominated intellectually. Next, there is an examination of the reactions to the “Western” religion, Catholicism, and its initial rejection by Namin 南人 (Southern faction) Neo-Confucians such as Yi Ik 李瀷 (1682–1763), and also his disciples Sin Hudam 愼後聃 (1702–1761) and An Chŏngbok 安鼎福 (1712–1783) whose texts are collected in the
Finally, this article investigates the writings from the early period of religious conversions by later Namin scholars who accepted Ricci’s ideas about God. These texts, in the form of hymns and catechisms by Yi Pyŏk 李檗 (1754–1786), and the Chŏng brothers, Chŏng Yakchŏn 丁若銓 (1758–1816) and Chŏng Yakchong 丁若鍾 (1760–1801), embody their religious transformation, and also reflect their missionary zeal as they sought to proselytize their new beliefs. This encounter also brings us into contact with their more famous brother Chŏng Yagyong 丁若鏞 (1762–1836), known as Tasan (茶山), an important figure at court at this time despite his clandestine participation in the early Catholic Church. These early Catholic texts attempt to supplement a hitherto Confucian concept of Being-inthe-world,
NEO-CONFUCIAN CHOSŎN: PRODUCING SAGES AND CONSTRUCTING SOCIAL IDENTITY
Neo-Confucianism was a revision of earlier Confucianism that adapted Daoist and Buddhist elements to compete cosmologically and metaphysically, and yet vehemently criticized these “Other” schools of thought, hoping to obfuscate the origins of any borrowings. This development became formulated only after Zhu Xi 朱熹 (1130–1200) synthesized the writings of earlier scholars, adapting the (originally Daoist) “Diagram of the Supreme Ultimate” (太極之圖,
Neo-Confucian ideas were transmitted from China to Korea, and were used to bolster the legitimacy of the Chosŏn dynasty, which, from its inception, did not tolerate competing ideologies that could destabilize (or de-structure) its authority. Instead, it sought to suppress any challenge to its supremacy, with violence if necessary, and by inculcating constructed social norms, reinforced by the idea of propriety, codified in rites (禮,
Zhu Xi’s legacy thrived in Korea and his ideas contributed greatly to the Korean interpretation of sagehood (聖學,
Lee Dongkun (2011) illustrates the particular importance of Yi Hwang’s
The Confucian scholars themselves were caught up in tradition and perpetuated its codes and orders. Neither Yi Hwang nor Yi I provided a
3 The Emperor on High (上帝) appears once in the
4 During the seventeenth century Yun Hyu (1617–1680) was forced to take his own life for his “perverse” interpretation of rites, which revolved around the mourning attire of the QueenDowager Cho (See,
5
6 This is from the
EARLY CHRISTIAN CRITIQUES: UPHOLDING CONFUCIAN ORTHODOXY
Matteo Ricci’s
Yi Ik 李瀷 (1681–1763), who became the leader of the Namin school, was a follower of Yi Hwang’s (and therefore Zhu Xi’s) metaphysics. What is interesting is Yi’s willingness to engage with Catholic ideas up to a certain point, displaying intellectual curiosity, but also the freedom to do so—a freedom that later scholars would be deprived of due to bloody persecutions (Kŭm 2000, 135–137). Inevitably Yi was not about to overturn his onto-cosmology by accepting the “weak” idea of God-as-man he encountered in the final passages of
Yi Ik, by upholding Yi Hwang’s metaphysical tradition where principle alone governed, is led to reject the incarnation of Ch’ŏnju in the person of Jesus, called
Some of Yi’s associate Namin scholars were much more critical of Western ideas in general, especially Sin Hudam and An Chŏngbok. Sin Hudam was particularly scathing of Catholic teachings in his critique entitled
Sin Hudam
To understand An’s context, one should be aware that the threat of the unimaginable metamorphosis from philosophy to religion was felt very close to home. His own son-in-law, Kwŏn Ilsin 權日身 (1736–1791), was among the earliest Catholic converts, and what weighs most on his writing, is his fear of it spreading even further. This he sought to prevent by thwarting the young scholars from their study of Catholic texts. These were the incentives behind his two critiques of Catholicism:
An Chŏngbok’s second anti-Catholic tract,
7 Ricci’s text consists of 8 chapters made up of 596 paragraphs.
8 Derrida’s essay introducing the idea of
9 Ricci sees traces of the same God in different traditions, one who is described using different names in different languages, in the same way that this singular God has plural representations in Judaism and Islam, and who can be called using many names.
CONFUCIAN BEGINNINGS TO A CATHOLIC CHURCH
Perhaps most striking was its impact on a group of Korean intellectuals which led to the beginning of the Catholic Christianity in Korea before the arrival of any missionaries in the country.
These intellectuals were also Namin Confucian scholars, who, from around the early 1780s, began to accept Ricci’s religion, initially converting their close group, many of whom were also related through marriage and kinship. The key figures among the early Catholic Church were Kwŏn Ch’ŏlsin 權哲身 (1736– 1801) and his brother Kwŏn Ilsin, Yi Sŭnghun 李承薰 (1756–1801), who was married to Tasan’s elder sister, Tasan’s elder brothers Chŏng Yakchŏn, and Chŏng Yakchong. However, Yi Pyŏk, whose elder sister had married Tasan’s half-brother Chŏng Yakhyŏn 丁若鉉 (1751–1821), was the driving force behind the early church. Ricci’s text was read and studied by all these Confucians, and its ideas on God-the-Creator and on the immortality of the soul were the main catalyst for their conversion from a philosophy without God to a theocentric religion. At their meetings, it appears that the Confucian celebrants even tried to conduct, in a loosely appropriated form, Catholic rituals. Even before being baptized, these men saw Christianity as complementing their own Confucian beliefs and made their own leap from theory to praxis, and most importantly, from principle to God. Importantly, this God was incarnate in the man Jesus Christ, someone they could follow and relate to, who had messages they too could preach
Yi Sŭnghun, who, encouraged by Yi Pyŏk, had gone to Beijing in 1784, returned with further documents and religious artifacts, and baptized Yi Pyŏk according to his own experience at the Catholic Church in China. Soon, both of them baptized the other members of the group, who, in turn baptized others. These men all actively participated in Catholic ceremonies as pseudo-priests, and before long the religion had spread as far away from the capital as Chŏlla-do, to all levels of society. Here one can witness the birth of the Catholic Church in Korea, where Koreans themselves spread the faith to other Koreans
As described in the
This moment was a severe blow to the fledgling church and two of its most important pioneers Yi Pyŏk and Yi Sŭnghun officially apostatized, after torture, with the latter writing a document rejecting the Catholic religion outright, while Yi died the following year
It was not until the final days of 1794 that Korea finally had its own priest, Zhou Wenmo 周文謨 (1752–1801), who had arrived from China. This significant event encouraged Catholics and contributed to new growth within the Church. He had brought with him catechisms and other religious texts, and soon set about compiling new texts with the help of his Korean congregation who, for the first time, had the religious doctrine explained to them by a Catholic priest
10 Most people belonged to the commoner, or
11 Chŏnghŏn was the pen name of the scholar Yi Kahwan 李家煥 (1742–1801) who was also persecuted for being involved with Catholicism.
12 See, DBKC (Database of Korean Classics), available online at:
CONFUCIAN SCHOLARS AND CATHOLIC HYMNS
The earliest Catholic hymns in
In Yi Pyŏk’s
The laws of the
Oh Scholars who discuss yin, yang and T’aegŭk, Let us discuss Sangje and Sangsin [상신], Though they seem different from each other, they all refer to the one Ch’ŏnju.
Chŏng suggests that even Neo-Confucian metaphysical ideas reflect traces of God: from a deconstructive standpoint, the same God is the “one” spoken of/written about in different traditions, by different names.
The commentary on the Fourth Commandment concerning the Sabbath suggests it should be dedicated “in adoration of God,”
The salient feature of these hymns is the worship of God-the-Creator, not only a creator of the things in the world, but the orchestrator of its moral laws—laws all must obey, even the king. This reflects the earliest understanding of Catholicism which Ricci anticipated would entice people to seek out more information about the religion. Chŏng Yakchŏn’s text is also important as a critical social commentary. With a more cogent understanding of Catholic doctrine, there is a shift in the focal point of these Catholic “Korean” teachings. This shift is from a distant principle/Supreme Ultimate to a close relationship with God as the “original ancestor,” denoting a relationship that would be consolidated by God-inman—Jesus Christ—and his message to live and act differently. The two most significant texts from this period were written by Yi Pyŏk, and this time, a different Chŏng brother, Yakchong.
13 This can be accessed online at the DBKC:
14 These early Catholics were influenced by Ricci’s catechism which overtly criticised Buddhism and reflects his own attempt to localize the Christian teachings so that they would appeal to his Confucian audience.
15 The term Chomulchu is also used in a hymn by Yi Kahwan (경세가,
YI PYŎK: BETWEEN JESUS AND CONFUCIANISM
Kim Okhŭi (1977, 73) describes Yi Pyŏk as “the most important figure during the preparatory stage of the acceptation of Catholicism in Korea,” and goes so far as to state that the
The first verse of
Yi Pyŏk
Yi
Verses 12–14
CHŎNG YAKCHONG: CATHOLIC DOCTRINE MEETS HAN’GŬL
Chŏng Yakchong is an important figure in this early period of missionary work. His importance is reflected in the infamous “Silk Letter” (帛書,
The
The first part, as mentioned above, has been influenced by Matteo Ricci’s text, but also shows a development in ideas obtained from other texts from China and undoubtedly from the teachings of Father Zhou.
In Chŏng Yakchong’s text, the reader first encounters a powerful metaphysical God who is everywhere, infinitely powerful, and omniscient (ibid., 18–19), while later, he introduces the humble and suffering Christ. Chŏng (ibid., 20–21) provides us with one of the clearest pictures of the Trinity, with Jesus as the face of God, and God’s love embodied in the Holy Spirit, thereby resolving the ontotheological rupture that Yi Ik, Sin Hudam and An Chŏngbok had lambasted. The text has surpassed Ricci’s explanation, and God has been supplemented with God(-in-Jesus).
While the first part of
Chŏng Yakchong (ibid, 62) is careful to present the incarnation (강생,
Chŏng (1986, 90–5) presents Jesus as the redeemer (구세주,
16 Hwang Sayŏng
17 For a discussion of God’s existence as evident, see,
18 This Scholastic view of the soul synthesizes ideas that were first discussed by Aristotle with Christian ideas. See Aristotle (1986),
CONCLUSION
This article has traced the important transformation from mere philosophical curiosity by early Namin scholars who rejected Matteo Ricci’s ideas, to the religious faith embodied by later Namin scholars who formed a practicing Catholic Church. This was a conversion from principle (
The hymns by Yi Pyŏk and Chŏng Yakchŏn in
These early Catholics sowed the seeds of transformation which changed the socio-religious landscape of Korea forever. Their ideas were put into actual practice, making Korea’s first Christians truly
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1 As this text is concerned with the Korean context, it uses the Korean transliteration of Chinese terms.
2 This term is used repeatedly in Martin Heidegger’sBeing and Time (2008) and depicts how “Being” is inextricably intertwined with tradition—thrust into it without preparation. In this case “Being” is thrust into a Confucian tradition where even one’s personal interactions are organised and prescribed. Being, in the Heidegerrian sense, encompasses thinking and acting, and how these are shaped by the world around us.