The objective of this article is to carry on the comparative study of the theory of mentality proposed by Choo-Ja and Sam-Bong Chung. It has long ceen claimed by many scholars that Toe-Kae Lee is a Choo-Ja in our country, but it is not believed to be ...
The objective of this article is to carry on the comparative study of the theory of mentality proposed by Choo-Ja and Sam-Bong Chung. It has long ceen claimed by many scholars that Toe-Kae Lee is a Choo-Ja in our country, but it is not believed to be an adequate argument. The reason why it is so is that Chung was excluded from the main Confucianism in our country at that time because his political lifehad been ended with a terrible disaster.
Since Yi Dynasty had been founded on the strong Confucianistic concept of serving only one king paying absolute royalty to him. However, it must be admitted that his political life is one thing and his indivual in academic achievement is quite another. In the comparative study of Choo-Ja's neo-Confucianism anp Chung's theory of mentality, it has been noticed that there are close relationships between them. Tow-Kae Lee is often said to be a Choo-Ja in Korea and is respected by averyone, but in fact, Chung's intellectual achievement showed more close systematic relationships with Choo-Ja's idea.
What Chung's rebellious activities against Koryo Dinasty, in order to found a new nation, Yi Dynasty, should not be regarded as heresy, but should be considered as a work of "save-the natirn mation movement" for the layout of a properous strong nation. Hence, his achievement should not be ignored or excluded from the circle of Confucianistic study just because he was unccessful for establishing his ideal Confusianistic Dynasty.
This is why I am going to argue that the ideas of Choo-Ja's neo-Cofucianism was handed down to Chung rather than to Lee. The theory of mentalism, which is the core issues of his neo-Confucianism, was handed down to Chung rather than to Lee. The theory of mentalism, which is the core isssues of his neo-Confucianism, is the central concept of his thought and this is the base of Confucianism. From this comparative study of both scholars, let me start to correct such a mistaken notion over tow scholars.