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鄭道傳
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Jeong Do-jeon
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Chŏng To-jŏn
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종지
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宗之
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Jong-ji
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Chong-ji
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삼봉
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三峰
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Sam-bong
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Sam-bong
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(
1342 -
1398 ), also known by the pen name '''Sambong''', was a medieval
Korea n scholar and politician. He was an influential
Neo-Confucian ideologue and served as a close advisor to
Yi Seonggye , the founder of the
Joseon dynasty.
Jeong's family had emerged from commoner status some four generations before, and slowly climbed up the ladder of government service. His father was the first in the family to obtain a high post. However, despite his office he left a poor household, with almost no property for his heir. The experience of childhood poverty appears to have had a profound effect on Jeong's thought.
Together with other leading thinkers of the time such as
Jeong Mong-ju , Jeong Dojeon was a student of
Yi Saek .
Jeong's ties with Yi Seonggye and the foundation of Joseon, were extremely close. He is said to have compared his relationship to Yi to that between
Zhang Liang and
Gaozu Of Han . Jeong's political ideas had a lasting impact on
Joseon Dynasty Politics .
The two first became acquainted in
1383 , when Jeong visited Yi at his quarters in
Hamgyong province.
Jeong Dojeon was a major opponent of
Buddhism at the end of the
Goryeo period. He was a student of
Zhuxi 's thought. Using Cheng-Zhu
Neo-Confucian Philosophy as the basis of his anti-Buddhist polemic, he criticized Buddhism in a number of treatises as being corrupt in its practices, and nihilistic and antinomian in its doctrines. The most famous of these treatises was the ''
Bulssi Japbyeon '' ("Array of Critiques Against Buddhism" ). He was a founding member of the
Seonggyungwan , the royal Confucian academy, and one of its early faculty members.
Jeong was among the first Korean scholars to refer to his thought as ''silhak'', or "practical learning." However, he is not usually numbered among the members of the
Silhak tradition, which arose much later in the Joseon period.
Jeong argued that government, including the
King himself, exists for the sake of the people. Its
Legitimacy could only come from benevolent public service. It was largely on this basis that he legitimized the overthrow of the
Goryeo dynasty, arguing that the Goryeo rulers had given up their right to rule.
Jeong divided society into three classes: a large lower class of agricultural laborers and craftsmen, a middle class of
Literati , and a small upper class of
Bureaucrat s. Anyone outside this system, including Buddhist monks,
Shaman s, and
Entertainer s, he considered a "vicious" threat to the social fabric.
- Han Yeong-u. (1974). Jeong Do-jeon's philosophy of political reform. ''Korea Journal 14''(7-8). Reprinted in Lee et al. (2004), ''Korean philosophy: Its tradition and modern transformation'', pp. 55-74. Seoul: Hollym. ISBN 1-56591-178-4
- Korean Institute of Philosophical Thought. (1995). ''강좌 한국철학'' (Gangjwa Hanguk Cheolhak, ''Guide to Korean philosophy''), pp. 333-345. Seoul: Yemoon Seowon. ISBN 89-7646-032-4.
