The Review of Korean Studies
- P-ISSN1229-0076
- E-ISSN2773-9351
- SCOPUS, ESCI
ISSN : 1229-0076
Confucian Charisma and the True Way of the Moral Politician: Interpreting the Tension between Toegye and Nammyeong in Late Sixteenth Century Joseon
Abstract
This study examines the conflict between Toegye Yi Hwang and Nammyeong Jo Shik, the leading Neo-Confucian scholars of 16th century Joseon Korea. Previous studies have attributed the conflict to either personal temperament or philosophical differences. However, this study finds the fundamental reason of their conflict in the political problem: whether an individual Sarim scholar's moral charisma is compatible with the formation of the Sarimpa and their politicization. Toegye advocated the politics of lineage in order to construct Confucian moral society. His private academy movement played a catalytic role in producing Confucian scholar- officials. By so doing, Toegye entrusted Confucian scholars with actual political power. However, on the other hand, he made the king a symbolic figure by exalting the sacred lineage of kingship, instead of the individual king's discretionary power. In contrast, Nammyeong found in Toegye's project a critical moral problem. For him, Toegye's politics of lineage was nothing but a justification for the routinization of the individual scholar's moral charisma. He thought a king was the sole legitimate political ruler, and thus, he did not believe Confucian scholars should replace the king as actual political performers. For him, the sole and original mission of Confucian scholars was to admonish a king, thereby making him a sage-king. This paper argues that this approach is conducive to a deepened understanding of the nature of Confucian politics in general.
- keywords
- Moral charisma, politicization, Confucian scholar-official, politics of lineage, power, authority
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