Abstract

Lee Eun-Jeok, a Confucian scholar in early Chosŏn Dynasty, thought that Zhu Xi’s revision of Daehak(大學) and his “Complementary Explanations of ‘Investigation of Things’” distorted the original intentions of Daehak. He insisted that the phrase “hearing litigations[聽訟]”, which had been regarded as the forth explanatory notes by Zhu Xi, should be moved to the latter part of the first chapter of Daehak. Besides, He thought that the phrase “知止而后有定” and “物有本末” were originally the explanatory notes of “Investigation of things and acquiring knowledge and moved to the first chapter by edit error in older times. By putting the phrase “hearing litigations” in the latter part of the first chapter, Lee regarded the core messages of Daehak as the ruler’s restoring of the moral nature and practising moral politics. The idea of moral politics presented by Lee excluded the subduing people with power and Lee pursued the politics of moving people’s heart. This idea of moral politics was more thorough than that of Zhu Xi. According to Lee, “Investigation of things and acquisition of knowledge” means that men/women must not be buried in social institutions and customs, instead they should find the origins and the essences in the human mind. Therefore, “Investigation of things and acquisition of knowledge” understood by Lee resulted in the restoring of moral nature, and only then the moral politics would naturally be completed. The theory of Self-cultivation of Lee seems to be very practical, in fact it had the optimistic, quiet, and intellectual characteristics. Rather than correcting concrete situations according to moral principles, he tried to identify moral principles in his mind by turning his eyes inward, and setting his mind at rest by focusing on moral principles. Besides, he was drawn to contemplation of the principles of myriad things and events through the calm mind. Finally, he presented an optimistic outlook that the moral politics would naturally be practiced by fully restoring the moral nature in one’s mind in a way of learning the principles by oneself.