This panel explores emotions in Korean philosophy and culture, offering diverse perspectives on moral and immoral emotions. The first presentation examines the emotional life of Confucian sages using Yi Ik's comprehensive typology of emotions. The second paper reframes negative emotions within the Confucian tradition through Jeong Yagyong's work, emphasizing individualized moral self-cultivation.
The third presentation analyzes emotional expressions in Joseon literati women's writings, highlighting how their articulations of resentment and vulnerability facilitated interpersonal connections. The final paper investigates the philosophical implications of Jeong, a contemporary Korean emotional concept, comparing it with ancient Greek and Chinese notions of joy.
Collectively, these papers provide a multifaceted examination of emotions in Korean philosophical thought, spanning historical Confucian perspectives to present-day cultural concepts. This research contributes to understanding the complex interplay between Confucian ethics, gender dynamics, and emotional expression in Korean society.
This paper examines the emotional life of Confucian sages, drawing upon the Korean Confucian scholar Seongho Yi Ik’s 李瀷 (1681-1763) account of human emotions and the emotions of sages. While much scholarship has explored the cultivation process that leads to the exemplary life of sages, less attention has been given to their inner emotional experiences. To address this gap, I first outline the effortful life of ordinary people, who must remain vigilant in monitoring and regulating their emotions, distinguishing moral emotions from personal emotions and ensuring that the latter are properly guided by the former. I then turn to the effortless life of sages, whose actions are always appropriate and spontaneous. I make two key claims: 1) sages do not experience the Four Beginnings, and 2) sages experience only the Seven Emotions. This analysis reveals an overlooked dimension of Confucian ethics that extends beyond interpersonal relationships.
Since Mengzi, who argued that the four basic emotions demonstrate the inherent goodness of human nature, Confucianism has emphasized the moral significance of emotions in ethical behavior. However, negative emotions such as jealousy, arrogance, and dissatisfaction disrupt internal harmony and strain relationships, raising questions about their role in moral cultivation.
In Confucian thought, emotions have traditionally been linked to qi (氣) or physical temperament, complicating the concept of emotional autonomy. However, Jeong Yagyong (Dasan), an influential 18th-century Korean philosopher, challenged this view. He rejected the idea that temperament significantly influences morality, diverging from Neo-Confucian interpretations.
This presentation will explore Dasan's perspective on negative emotions, examining how he reframed their ethical significance and offered a more individualized approach to moral self-development. The analysis contributes to broader discussions on the moral role of emotions in Confucian ethics, offering new insights into the intersection of emotion, temperament, and morality in East Asian philosophy.
This paper explores the role of resentment in Joseon women's literary expressions, challenging traditional Confucian views. While resentment is often seen as a sign of weakness, it becomes transformative when combined with moral emotions like filial longing and self-respect.
The study analyzes how these women's writings—poems, letters, and notes—served as a medium for self-empowerment and solidarity. Despite their wishes to have these works destroyed after death, they were preserved and shared across generations.
By revealing vulnerability through writing, Joseon women empowered themselves and created a shared emotional landscape with others facing similar circumstances. This research highlights the interplay between Confucian ethics, gender dynamics, and emotional expression in Joseon society.
This article explores the philosophical implications of “Jeong,” a concept cluster that represents the emotions of Koreans today. “Jeong” originated from the Chinese character 情, but after going through a long and persistent debate on emotions in Joseon Confucianism and riding through the conceptual history of the modern period when Eastern and Western cultures clashed and merged, thereby establishing itself as a core notion representing the basis of Korean minds.
Since its meaning has evolved between the waves of Eastern and Western cultures, to gauge the context and semantic nuances of “Jeong”, I first examine the philosophical discussed in ancient Greek and Chinese traditions from a comparative philosophical perspective. Then, I will argue that “Jeong” is a philosophical joy that reflects and encompasses other emotional keywords that express emotions in Korean culture and arts, such as the two aesthetic emotions in a dynamic relationship, joy (heung) and sorrow (han).