Abstract

The century-long generally accepted notion of Ganghwa School not only identifies it as Sirhak(Practical Learning), but that it simply adopted the teachings of Yang-ming School. This has led to the divergent undercurrents of Ganghwa School going unnoticed, and this paper revisits issues outlined below to clarify matters about these “assumptions.”First, this paper focuses prima facie on cultivation of the mind of Ganghwa School. Second, in this paper, explanation is provided as to why Ganghwa School should not be labelled merely as Yang-ming School because the leading members of Gangwha School, including its founder Hagok, never denied the teachings of Zhu Xi or advocated the teachings of Wang Yang-ming to the exclusion of all other teachings. Third, this paper will reveal the fact that some masters of Ganghwa School such as Won-gyo’s brother Hangjae and Won-gyo’s son Sinjae were surprisingly inclined toward the teachings of Zhu Xi by going through the “bloodshed struggle” of study of the mind. Fourth, the crossroads of two thinkers, Won-gyo and Sinjae who are father and son, are examined through investigation of the keyword gi(氣). Won-gyo, a prominent artist as well as a scholar, trusted deeply in everyone’s gijil (氣質, innate characters). His son Sinjae, however, stressed the importance of rectifying and disciplining our gaekgi(客氣, immature characters) to attain perfection. Last, investigation of Won-gyo’s “naturalism” reveals the typical charac- teristics of Wang Yang-ming School in its similarity to the attitude of Hwadam Seo Gyeong-deok. I suggest that Hwadam’s way could be classified as yugi(唯氣 chi-naturalism) according to a philosophical map of Korean Confucianism which I drew previously.