조선 후기 유교적 벽이단론의 스펙트럼

Abstract

Confucian anti-heresy discourses in the late Joseon have various conceptual spectrums. From the view of Confucian apologetics, such spectrums are clearly classified into various categories: way of authoritative expenditure(權道), recognized according to situations; the small Way(小道), inclined to a specific area with practicality; heterodoxy(異端), which is theoretically wrong or causes social problems but capable of being reformed within a certain range; and evil heathenism(邪魔外道), which shall be thoroughly eliminated in terms of theory, practice, and community. Catholicism in the late Joseon era was recognized as an object to be eradicated theoretically, practically, and socially, as it totally denied the Confucian social order of the country via a series of shocking events such as the incineration of ancestral tablets, martyrdom, and request of invasion into Joseon with the Western vessels. As Catholicism not only raised the theoretical problems against the Confucian doctrine but posed real threats to the existence of the Joseon society, it was seen as an evil heathenism to be totally erased from the theory as well as from the society, different from other heterodoxies including Yangmingism and Taoism, which were underestimated theoretically, or Buddhism and Shamanism, which were domesticated constantly and tolerated in the Confucian order. Accordingly, the Catholic persecution that caused a massive martyrdom was an extreme physical violence based on exclusivism against the evil heathenism, not a form of inclusivism that discusses and educates a heterodoxy from the perspective of anti-heresy discourses. Against this backdrop, the small Way that included the Government Service Examination(科擧), agricultural techniques, military science, law, translation, medical science, divination, etc. was recognized as an expertise and techniques to be operated under the guidance of the Confucian doctrine, and was not denied like heterodoxy or heathenism. However, some Confucian fundamentalists in Yeongnam region criticized the small way, which can be interpreted as a criticism by local aristocrats excluded from the real power against the Noron faction in the capital area, who monopolized the power using the small way as a means to secure their real benefits. It shows that the diverse spectrums of Confucian anti-heresy discourses existed depending on the difference between the exclusive fundamentalism and the inclusive rationalism in criticizing the same small way, heterodoxy, and heathenism.