A Korean Confucian’s Advice on How to Be Moral : : Tasan Chŏng Yagyong’s Reading of the Zhongyong / / Don Baker; ed. by Robert E. Buswell.

• Superior document: Title is part of eBook package: De Gruyter EBOOK PACKAGE COMPLETE 2023 English
• VerfasserIn: Baker, Don,
• HerausgeberIn: Buswell, Robert E.,
• Place / Publishing House: Honolulu : : University of Hawaii Press, , [2023]; ©2023
• Year of Publication: 2023
• Language: English
• Series: Korean Classics Library: Philosophy and Religion
• Physical Description: 1 online resource (484 p.) :; 2 b&w illustrations

Tasan Chŏng Yagyong (1762–1836) is one of the most creative thinkers Korea has ever produced, one of the country’s first Christians, and a leading scholar in Confucian philosophy. Born in a staunchly Neo-Confucian society, in his early twenties he encountered writings by Catholic missionaries in China and was fascinated. However, when he later learned that the Catholic Church condemned the Confucian practice of placing a spirit tablet on a family altar to honor past generations, he left the small Catholic community he had helped found and ostensibly returned to the Neo-Confucian fold. Nevertheless, the Christian ideas he studied in his youth influenced his thinking for the rest of his life, stimulating him to look at Neo-Confucianism with a critical eye and suggest new solutions to problems Confucian scholars had been addressing for centuries. A Korean Confucian’s Advice on How to Be Moral is an annotated translation of Tasan’s commentaries on the Confucian classic Zhongyong (usually translated as The Doctrine of the Mean) in which he applies both Confucianism and Christianity to the question of how to best develop a moral character.Written as a dialogue with King Chŏngjo (r. 1776–1800), these texts reveal how Tasan interpreted his Confucian tradition, particularly its understanding of how human beings could cultivate morality, while the king’s questions illustrate the mainstream Neo-Confucianism Tasan was reacting against. Tasan challenged the non-theistic standard, insisting that living a moral life is not easy and that we need to be motivated to exert the effort necessary to overcome our selfish tendencies. He had abandoned his faith by the time he wrote these commentaries but, influenced by Catholic works and determined to find a more effective way to live a moral life than non-theistic Neo-Confucianism provided, Tasan constructed a Confucian philosophy of moral improvement centered on belief in God. This translation, helpfully annotated for context and analysis, is an exploration of early Korean engagement with the West and a powerful guide to all those interested in Confucianism, Christianity, and morality.

Table of Contents

Frontmatter -- Contents -- Acknowledgments -- I. Translator’s Introduction -- 1 Tasan Chŏng Yagyong and the Zhongyong -- 2 Why Translate These Particular Zhongyong Commentaries? -- 3 Tasan’s Approach to Confucian Scholarship -- 4 Tasan’s Approach to the Cultivation of a Selfless Orientation -- 5 Tasan and the Problem of Moral Frailty -- 6 Reading These Discussions of the Zhongyong -- 7 Notes on the Translation of Key Terms -- II. Translation: Chungyong ch’aek -- Translation: Chungyong ch’aek [Responding to Royal Inquiries regarding the Zhongyong] -- III. Translation: Chungyong kangŭibo -- Introduction -- Zhongyong I: 1 -- Zhongyong I: 2 -- Zhongyong I: 4 -- Zhongyong II -- Zhongyong III -- Zhongyong IV -- Zhongyong VI -- Zhongyong VII -- Zhongyong VIII -- Zhongyong IX -- Zhongyong X -- Zhongyong XI -- Zhongyong XII -- Zhongyong XII -- Zhongyong XIV -- Zhongyong XV -- Zhongyong XVI -- Zhongyong XVII -- Zhongyong XVIII -- Zhongyong XIX: 3 -- Zhongyong XIX: 4 -- Zhongyong XIX: 5 -- Zhongyong XIX: 6 -- Zhongyong XX: 1 -- Zhongyong XX: 4 -- Zhongyong XX: 7 -- Zhongyong XX: 8 -- Zhongyong XX: 9 -- Zhongyong XX: 10 -- Zhongyong XX: 12 -- Zhongyong XX: 16 -- Zhongyong XX: 18 -- Zhongyong XXII -- Zhongyong XXIII -- Zhongyong XXIV -- Zhongyong XXV -- Zhongyong XXVI: 1 -- Zhongyong XXVI: 7 -- Zhongyong XXVI: 10 -- Zhongyong XXVII: 1 -- Zhongyong XXVII: 6 -- Zhongyong XXVII: 7 -- Zhongyong XXVIII: 1 -- Zhongyong XXVIII: 5 -- Zhongyong XXIX: 5 -- Zhongyong XXX -- Zhongyong XXXI -- Zhongyong XXXII -- Zhongyong XXXIII: 1 -- Zhongyong XXXIII: 2 -- Zhongyong XXXIII: 3 -- Zhongyong XXXIII: 4 -- Zhongyong XXXIII: 5 -- Zhongyong XXXIII: 6 -- Zhongyong XXXIII: 6 -- Discussing Zhu Xi’s Preface to Zhongyong zhangju -- Discussing the Divisions of the Text -- A Record of the Discussion of the Zhongyong at the Brilliant Governance Hall -- Glossary of Names, Places, and Terms -- Notes -- Works Consulted -- Index