조선후기 安東 金門의 의리 실현과 정치 활동

Abstract

After the Byeongja/丙子-year war. due to their own recognitions of themselves being the only collective bearer and successor of the essence of the Confucianist heritage, the philosophical priority commonly shared by many souls of the Chosun dynasty was to endeavor to achieve the highest state of righteousness. One of the social fields which demonstrated this kind of endeavor was no doubt the political arena of the dynasty. So in order to understand the Chosun society, in its later periods, the perspectives and views toward the concept of righteousness collectively shared by the public at the time must be examined. As one of the most powerful Houses of their time, the Andong Kim House also showed a strong sense of righteousness, and a notable member of this house is Kim Sang Heon/金尙憲. During the time of war, he insisted unwavering offense against the enemy and strongly condemned any kind of diplomatic moves which would involve negotiations or compromises, because he thought that only by doing so the objective of achieving ultimate righteousness would be properly pursued. His descendants also adhered to their ancestor's principle, and although they usually sought reasonable agreements in their political conflicts with other faction members, they also maintained high criticism against factions of which the members were seemingly not thorough in their respect of the philosophy of righteousness. People like Kim Su Hang/金壽恒 and Kim Chang Jib/金昌集 were even embroiled in the conflicts among factions and were eventually killed. During the early half of King Yeongjo's reign those two chose not to serve as political officials and instead endeavored to serve the public righteousness by forming a public opinion outside the political arena. The Eulhae/乙亥-year disposal(乙亥處分) of the 31st year of King Yeongjo's reign was a political act of acknowledging their intentions. They have been trying hard to maintain their integrity as Cheongryu/淸流 figures(noble ones). Later, King Jeongjo decided to adopt a policy dealing with the conflicts between factions, with superior righteousness as a mediating principle/義理蕩平. Naturally, these figures' political positions were strongly supported by the King himself, and eventually led to their entrance to the political society. The political actions of the Andong Kim House members were what made the House so powerful, and we can see the nature of the Chosun society in its later periods through their prosperity, which considered the establishment of Confucianist righteousness as the highest ideological priority.