Abstract

This study examines how Yeongnam Namin scholars in late eighteenth-century Joseon reinterpreted Confucian theories of spirits in response to the introduction of the Thomistic theory of the soul in the late sixteenth century. In the 1780s and 1790s, during the rapid spread of Catholicism and the Jinshan Incident of 1791, these scholars viewed Catholic doctrines on the soul and the prohibition of ancestral rites as threats to Confucian civilization. Concerned about being linked to the pro-Western Namin faction, they strengthened the Cheoksa (anti-Western) discourse. In this context, Nam Han-jo and Jeong Jong-ro critically responded to An Jeong-bok’s “Cheonhak hokmun” and developed new theories of gwisin (spirits) that extended beyond his framework. An Jeong-bok accepted the orthodox Confucian concept of gwisin but maintained a balanced position by highlighting its internal contradictions and withholding a definitive judgment. Nam Han-jo, in contrast, criticized An for not rejecting heterodox doctrines strongly enough and reinterpreted the relationship between ancestral spirits and their descendants using li–gi (principle–vital force) theory. Jeong Jong-ro, building on Nam’s ideas, argued that the dispersed gi of the dead could no longer respond directly to the living; instead, the function of li created a sense of remembrance in the minds of the living. He argued that ancestral merit and the operation of li defined the temporal and spatial limits of ritual efficacy, refining the metaphysical basis of Confucian ritual theory. These discussions were not simple rejections of foreign ideas but theoretical efforts to address logical gaps in traditional thought and strengthen the independence of indigenous philosophy. Ultimately, the Yeongnam Namin’s critique of the Catholic theory of the soul led to a detailed reconstruction of Confucian Gwisin theory during the ideological confrontation with Western thought.