The purpose of this thesis is to study Taegeuk thoughts inherent in Taegukgi(the national flag of Korea). Each country in the world has a national flag that symbolizes its own country. The Republic of Korea is more familiar with the word ‘Taegeukgi...
The purpose of this thesis is to study Taegeuk thoughts inherent in Taegukgi(the national flag of Korea). Each country in the world has a national flag that symbolizes its own country. The Republic of Korea is more familiar with the word ‘Taegeukgi’ than the Korean flag. In 1882, when the first flag was shown, the national flag of ‘Chosun’ was called ‘Chosun flag’.
The reason why the Chosun flag was brought to the Taegeukgi was from the 3.1 Independence Declaration in 1919. At that time, on March 1, at the Pagoda Park, people of Chosun decided to carry out independence movement nationwide, with the ‘Announcement of the Declaration of Independence Statement’. So people of Chosun secretly called the Taegeuk flag instead of the Chosun flag not to be noticed by the Japanese. The Taegeuk flag is a symbol of patriotism that regains the lost country. It is engraved on the hearts of Koreans and the name of the Korean flag and Taegeuk flag(Taegeukgi) are used together.
Korea has a long history and a brilliant culture, and has been a nation of people who have held the entire dynasty for nearly 500 years in the history of the world, and the dynasties have been established in Gochosun, Goguryeo, Silla, Baekje, Corea and Chosun. The reason why one country has been able to maintain the state for more than 500 years is, above all, possible because it has universal human thought, philosophy, and a rational, systematic governance structure. "In all countries and races, the foundation of their existence is identity. Identity is the basis for the homogeneity of the nation and is a factor that distinguishes it from other nations. The elements of Korean national identity vary, but social institutions such as language, culture, and customs and unique customs, religion, ideology, philosophy, and history are important factors of identity. Among them, it is the ‘Taegeuk’ that all of these are implied in the constituent factors of Korean race.
Taegeuk mark has already been used as an ethnic spirit from ancient times. And Taegeukgi was enacted as the national flag of the Republic of Korea and became a center of national spirit. Since 2016, the government has designated the government emblem as a symbol of Taegeuk. Taegeuk is a symbol of the Republic of Korea's true identity.
Taegeuk has accumulated a vast amount of material through the discourse of many thinkers, because it has had an absolute impact on the history of Korea and Chinese philosophy for many years. Taegeuk was the key word of philosophy of a Northeast Asia, starting from the words Yeog-Yu-Taegeuk[易有太極] of Gye-Sa Jeon[繫辭傳], the ultimate meaning of all things.
Teageuk contains the meaning of time from the beginning to the extreme end and the meaning of the space of the whole universe, as well as the principle of creation and change of all things of the universe.
The concept of Taegeuk, which is the source of universe life, was established by major thinkers through Yi ‧ Taegeuk ‧ Yin-Yang ‧ 4 Images ‧ 8 Trigrams for divination[易 ‧ 太極 ‧ 陰陽 ‧ 四象 ‧ 八卦] and Yin-Yang 5 Elements[陰陽五行] that is categories of Yeok[易]. In particular, in book of [太極圖說] written by Ju Yeom Gye[周濂溪] of Song Dynasty, the metaphorical[形而上的] Taegeuk is represented as a figure. And it is explained as a supreme fundamental of human value and the origin of all things of the universe by connecting it with universe body theory and humanism theory.
So the traditional Confucianism is transformed as Neo-Confucianism. Neo-Confucianism, which became the basis of Chosun Dynasty's thought, developed into a unique Neo-Confucianism of Chosun based on the theory of mentalism[心性論]. Taegeouk, key word of Neo-Confucianism is the root of all things. And it is deeply rooted in the thoughts of Korean race and is now in hearts of Korean people as Taegeukgi(Korean flag).
Taegeukgi is the only flag on earth that reflects the Taegeuk thought, which is the essence of the fundamental truths of the universe, and holds the universal spirit of the world. The national flag of the Republic of Korea, the Taegeuk figure, has not been suddenly designed by necessity. This has been used as a sacred code of the spirit of Korea race since thousands of years, proved by many artifacts and historical records. Taegeukgi symbolizes the national spirit of the Republic of Korea.
In addition, Taegeukgi is a sublime expression that establishes a view of the national. It has become a center point for linking the hearts of this people to each other in every moment of glory, joy, national security and sorrow of the Republic of Korea.
In this paper, I study the Taegeuk thought contained in Taegeukgi. Did the Taegeuk thought came from China and formed our national thought? Or, whether it originated from our own national thought, we considered it as artifacts and historical records.
The culture of race of Dongi that led to ancient civilizations influenced many peoples. Taegeuk was also shared in East Asia, but Korea used the Taegeuk in every times. The Taegeuk, which was the spirit of our nation, finally became a national flag, a symbol of our nation, at last, with a fateful corollary[事必歸正] rather than by anyone.
The purpose of this paper is to help us to play a leading role in the world spirit culture through the Taegeuk ideology of the Taegeukgi, to protect our precious spirit culture and to teach the Taegeuk thought of universal truth.