Korean Neo-Confucian Masters Series Vol.7 : Nosa Gi Jeong-Jin: The Defense of Right Learning and the Absoluteness of Li - Couverture rigide

Bae, Dr. Byeongdae

Couverture rigide

ISBN 13 : 9798994033661

Editeur : Welit Books Publishing, 2026

Synopsis

Nosa Gi Jeong-jin: The Defense of Right Learning and the Absoluteness of Li
Volume 7 of the Korean Neo-Confucian Masters Series

Nosa Gi Jeong-jin (蘆沙 奇正鎭, 1798-1879):

Nosa, writing in the turbulent nineteenth century, provided much of the philosophical grounding for the Wijeong cheoksa (衛正斥邪) movement. Faced with the challenge of Western sciences, Catholic doctrine, and shifting geopolitical pressures, he sought to articulate a coherent defense of what he understood as the essential moral and cultural framework of Confucian civilization. His work exerted significant influence on loyalist thinkers confronting the crises of the late Joseon period.

This volume examines the thought of Nosa Gi Jeong-jin, often described as a final defender of Neo-Confucian orthodoxy. While not without basis, such characterizations are ultimately limiting. This study argues that Nosa should instead be understood as a philosopher of reconstruction, engaged in rethinking the conceptual foundations of the tradition at a moment when their coherence could no longer be assumed.

At the center of his work is a reinterpretation of the classical formulation “unity of principle and differentiation” (理一分殊). Against views that separate unity from multiplicity or reduce differentiation to material force, Nosa insists on their internal relation: differentiation is the articulation of unity, and unity exists only through differentiation. From this follows a broader reconfiguration of nature, mind, and moral cultivation.

Rather than dividing his thought into discrete domains, this book traces its internal coherence, showing how metaphysics, epistemology, and ethics remain inseparable. Through a close textual approach, it reconstructs a line of inquiry shaped by the need to preserve clarity amid the gradual destabilization of shared concepts. In doing so, it presents Nosa not as a figure at the end of a tradition, but as one who reopens its most fundamental philosophical questions.

The Korean Neo-Confucian Masters Series has emerged from a long-standing sense that the intellectual achievements of Korean Confucianism deserve fuller recognition within global scholarship than they have thus far received. While studies of Song–Ming (宋明) Confucianism in China, and of its diverse reinterpretations in Japan, have accumulated over many decades, the

Korean tradition—despite its remarkable subtlety and sustained philosophical creativity—has often remained at the margins of broader academic discussions. The present series aims, in a modest but deliberate way, to redress that imbalance. It introduces seven thinkers whose works not only defined the contours of Joseon intellectual life (朝鮮, 1392–1910) but also contributed to the wider development of East Asian philosophy.

The thinkers featured here are:

Hwadam Seo Gyeong-deok (花潭 徐敬德, 1489–1546), Toegye Yi Hwang (退溪 李滉, 1501–1570), Nammyŏng Jo Sik (南冥 曺植, 1501–1572), Yulgok Yi I (栗⾕ 李珥, 1536–1584), Uam Song Si-yeol (尤庵 宋時烈, 1607–1689), Nokmun Im Seong-ju (⿅⾨ 任聖周, 1711–1788), Nosa Gi Jeong-jin (蘆沙 奇正鎭, 1798–1879).

The Broader Significance

Considered together, the writings of these seven thinkers underscore the depth and diversity of Korean Neo-Confucianism. Far from merely extending Chinese Zhu Xi studies, the Korean tradition consistently reinterpreted inherited ideas in light of new circumstances. Its concerns ranged from speculative metaphysics and moral psychology to pedagogy, public administration,

and questions of cultural identity. Above all, it demonstrates how Confucian philosophy was lived—shaped not only by scholarly inquiry but also by ethical commitment and civic responsibility.

Détails de l'édition

• Éditeur: Welit Books Publishing
• Date d'édition: 2026
• Langue: anglais
• ISBN 13: 9798994033661
• Reliure: Relié
• Nombre de pages: 232
• Coordonnées du fabricant: Printed by Amazon on behalf of the author; https://www.amazon.fr/hz/contact-us; ; c/o Amazon Media EU S.à.r.l., 38 Avenue John F. Kennedy; Luxembourg; L-1855; Luxembourg