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The article focuses on the Confucian concept of shu and its interpretation by scholars, Chŏng Yagyong and Zhu Xi. It examines how these two scholars approached the concept and highlights the differences and similarities in their interpretations, contributing to a broader understanding of the dynamics of Confucian thought in East Asia.

An introduction is presented in which the editor discusses articles in the issue on topics including Crown Prince Sado in popular culture, Confucian reciprocity and Takahashi Tom's scholarship.

The so-called "well-field system" (chŏngjŏnje 井田制), a field allotment and taxation method based on the operation of nine identical plots, long functioned as the dominant land system of East Asia and was admired by Mencius and Zhu Xi 朱熹. However, in the mid-Chosŏn 朝鮮 period, Han Paekkyŏm 韓百謙, a Neo-Confucian scholar, surveyed farmland on the outskirts of the walled city of P'yŏngyang 平壤 and contended that the land system there, allegedly established by the ruler Kija 箕子 of the Shang 商 dynasty, differed from the original wellfield system of the Zhou 周 dynasty. He explained that the site in P'yŏngyang was in the shape chŏn 田, not the chŏng 井 pattern of Zhou. Han maintained that the government should institute land reform based on a rearrangement of how land was partitioned. Critics of Han, however, argued that not all the arable land around P'yŏngyang was composed of chŏn-shaped plots and claimed that land reform would not be a realistic solution but rather a burden to the people. Han's idea was significant in that it triggered a debate on land reform. As a result, many scholars called for the adoption of a 10% tax rate aimed at stabilizing the people's welfare. The well-field debate is a true reminder that Chosŏn scholars believed that a successful land system was a precondition for realizing benevolent governance based on Confucian and Mencian thought. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An introduction is presented in which the editor discusses topics like the Confucian concepts used for human nature, research presented by professors and status of the humans in the cosmos.

To the Korean public, An Chunggŭn is a figure who is recognized as a hero without much controversy. However, this phenomenon also makes it difficult at times for Koreans to approach An's activities and thought in an objective manner. Meanwhile, partially or wholly differing perspectives on An can be found in several Korean literary works, making them potential sources of insight. Taking into consideration the release dates of historical materials and the genres of the works, one can find five distinct takes on An's activities, especially the aspect of the "individual act of violence," in which An undertakes the Itō shooting alone with only limited, non-organized aid. The first suggests a Confucianist revenge from the traditional perspective that a liege will risk his own life to avenge the king if he is humiliated; the second suggests absolute fair revenge enacted as a hero of the people; the third suggests justification from a religious perspective, taking An to be an instrument of justice accompanied by religious symbolism. On the other hand, one can also find perspectives that put An in relative contexts in two ways: some works portray him as a self-reflective and developing figure and offer critiques on his choices of method, and others set up imaginary histories in order to objectify An's actions in alternate contexts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It is not easy to explain the distinct relationships and roles of concepts like li (..., principle), ki (..., matter or energy), heart-mind (sim ...), and nature (song ...) because the terms simultaneously explain both the physical quality and the ethical nature of being. In order to solve this difficulty, Confucians of the Choson dynasty tried to search for effective ways of explanation by analyzing them, and today's scholars also make persistent efforts to resolve this difficulty. One direction of such arguments in the Songho school, which includied Chong Yag-yong, was to divide the usages of the concepts into "the special" (chon ...) and "the universal" (chong H). In addition, there was "the theory of mutual opposition" (taesol ...) versus "the theory of mutual causation" (insol ...), which was suggested by Ki Tae-sung in his disputes over the Four Beginnings and the Seven Emotions with Yi Hwang, and the "horizontal viewing" (hoeng'gan ...) versus "vertical viewing" (sugan ...), which was used by Yi I, Yi Chinsang, Chong Chae-gyu, and others. Contemporary scholars have also used these frameworks in order to explain the theories of li, ki, "heart-mind," and "nature" in Choson Confucianism. And these methods focus mainly on the li and ki structure of moral emotions. However, most Choson Neo-Confucianists discussed these topics in order to actualize moral life in the real world by searching for ways of controlling emotions, rather than discovering the ontological structure of li, ki, "heart-mind," and "nature". If we consider what we can learn from Neo-Confucianism's li, ki, "heartmind," and "nature" theory or the theory of the Four Beginnings and the Seven Emotions today, we should take note of the experiences and the results of discussions that attempt to make a normative justifiability of moral life equal to the inevitability of the natural law, by considering that human beings and society share their material and principles with nature. And we should evaluate dispassionately the theories and the results of these theories that were made in order to accomplish a Confucian moral society, and make the evaluation helpful for generating a discussion to lead today's society in a desirable direction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the view of learning that is presented in Tasan' s interpretation of the Greater Learning. Tasan presents the Confucian classic, the Greater Learning, as explaining the main themes that can achieve the goals of learning in Confucianism: cultivating the self and bringing good order to others, and the practical methods that can realize them. He asserts that the goals of learning in Confucianism are myŏngmyŏngdŏ k (C. mingmingde), ch'inmin (C. qinmin), and chiŏjisŏn (C. zhiyuzhishan), and the realization of these goals is filial piety, fraternal respect, and parental compassion. That is, the learning goals are myŏngmyŏngdŏ (C. mingmingde), ch'inmin (C. qinmiri), and chiojison (C. shiyusjjishari), where myŏngmyŏngdŏ is a person' s practice of filial piety, fraternal respect, and parental compassion; ch'inmin means inducing others to carry out filial piety, fraternal respect, and parental compassion by practicing filial piety, fraternal respect, and parental compassion oneself; and chiŏjison is the perfect realization of relationships between people of filial piety, fraternal respect, and parental compassion for oneself and for others. Accordingly, for Tasan, the learning goals consist of first acting in accordance with filial piety, fraternal respect, and parental compassion where appropriate, and then influencing others to practice filial piety, fraternal respect, and parental compassion through these personal actions, thus leading to a perfect realization of the relationships between people of filial piety, fraternal respect, and parental compassion for oneself and all people. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Chŏng Yagyong (1762-1836), better known as Tasan, was one of the most original, and most prolific, writers in Korean history. His philosophical works have attracted much scholarly attention for their challenges to some of the fundamental assumptions of the hegemonic Neo-Confucianism of his day Yet we cannot forget that he lived, and wrote, within a Confucian world. He shared the Confucian assumption that the most important ability people should cultivate was the ability to interact appropriately with their fellow human beings. And he believed that we should pay attention to the moral messages of the Confucian Classics. However, he rejected many of the assumptions underlying the way the scholars of his time in both China and Korea interpreted those classics. For example, he argued that we were not born with the ability to consistently act appropriately. Instead, we were born only with both a desire to act appropriately along with a desire to enjoy physical pleasures. We cannot be described as ethical virtuosos until we display the ability to push our desires for pleasure aside and consistently pursue moral good instead. Moreover, he argued that the only stimulus that could motivate us to make that effort was the belief that there was a Lord Above who watched our every thought and action. Because of this belief in a Lord Above, Tasan operated on the edge of the boundaries of what can be considered Confucian philosophy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article examines the notion of patriarchy and patrimonialism in Korean society during mid-Chosŏn through an empirical analysis of wedding and funeral rituals as portrayed in the sixteenth-century diaries of members of the Korean elite. Although Korean society during the Chosŏn era has been regarded as strongly patriarchal because of its Confucianization, the findings of this study provide further evidence of the fact that flexibility still existed. For instance, the diaries analyzed in this study show that newlywed couples resided temporarily at the bride's house, thus indicating that the Confucian transformation of the wedding rite remained incomplete as late as the sixteenth century. This is also evidenced by transitional aspects associated with yangban funeral rites at this time, namely the recognition of maternal kinship and the unsettled nature of primogeniture rule. Even though funeral ceremonies at the household level were performed in stricter accordance with orthodox Confucian rituals than those related to nuptials, the extent of Confucian piety exhibited across all social classes in the preparation of funeral rites hints at the less rigid nature during the sixteenth century of the patriarchal domination that characterized traditional Korean society. Meanwhile, the historical existence of a self-manufacturing domestic economy and the yangban's appropriation of government provisions--i.e. public goods being used for private purposes such as the carrying out of household Confucian rites--confirm the presence of patrimonial characteristics in mid-Chosŏn. The fact that mutual assistance between neighbors and close acquaintances at the community level was rooted in Korean tradition implies that communal networks of mutual-aid may have been an indigenous and essential resource in the performance of rituals in Korean society at the time. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]