身和心的设计者:朱熹

李昤昊
成均馆大学

在宋代,儒学在与佛、道两家思想对立的同时亦对其理念多有吸收,并发展为新儒学,而其顶点便是朱熹。通过对人之身和心的深刻探索,他揭示了身心之实然形态与应然形态。在此过程中,朱熹揭示了关于人之身和心的设计图,而此设计图此后在东亚地区尤其是韩国发挥了至深的影响。

朱熹认为人之原初存在是完美无缺的,因为纯善之理均等地存在于每个人身 上。但是人的现实存在却是不完整的,原因有两点,一是遗传上的不平等,二是后天环境的不平等。但朱熹认为,如果按照他设计的身心路图走下去,则可以克服由 遗传和环境造成的现实之不完整性,而接近原初存在的完整性。详细体现朱熹这些主张的书便是《小学》和《大学》。朱熹认为,《小学》是关于人身的设计图, 《大学》则是关于人心的设计图。此设计图在朝鲜时期在政府和大部分学者那里被付诸实践,即使现在仍有少数集体和个人在努力实践这些原则。

现今这个时代蕴育着人类精神上的焦虑不安以及由此而起的巨大危机。东亚 各国,经济发展程度越高,此种现象便也越明显,尤其是韩国社会的情况。虽然身处发达的经济体之中,但很多人的幸福指数反而大跌,以至于放弃生命的事情时常 发生。在此背景下,朱熹的身心设计图有着某种程度上的现代生命力并可能在现代社会发挥相关作用。

 

Zhu Xi: The Arranger of the Body and the Mind

Lee, Young-Ho
Sung Kyun Kwan University

During the Song Dynasty, Confucians were both opposed to Buddhism and Daoism and yet also absorbed many ideas from the latter two schools, giving rise to Neo-Confucianism. Zhu Xi was the climax of this development. Through his deep studies concerning the body and the mind, he explained their factual and desirable states.  In this process Zhu Xi created a kind of design map of the body and the mind, and this map later had a great influence in East Asia, especially in Korea.

Zhu Xi believed a person was born originally good and perfect, because the principle of pure goodness is equally found in each individual. However, the reality is that nobody is perfect. This is for two reasons: genetic inequality and environmental inequality. But Zhu Xi thinks that one can overcome the factual incompleteness resulting from genetic or environmental factors by using his roadmap for the body and the mind.  In this way, one could approach the original intent. Zhu Xi expounds these claims in his books “Xiao xue” and “Da xue.” Zhu Xi thinks that the “Xiao xue” is a design map for the human body, whereas the “Da xue” is a design map for the human heart. These design maps were followed in the earlier period of Korea. The government and most scholars followed these maps. Even today there are small groups and individuals who still try to realize these principles.

Our own time has produced much anxiety in human hearts and therefore we face a huge crisis. The higher the economic standards in the different countries of Eastern Asia are, the more visible these phenomena become, and they are especially manifest in the situation of Korean society. Although we are a developed economic community, the happiness factor of many people, on the contrary, has greatly fallen, resulting in many who even give up their lives. In this context Zhu Xi’s design map for body and mind has a certain modern appeal and vigor and can become a positive factor in contemporary society.