蘆沙 奇正鎭의 “五常”과 “明德”관 淺析 - 도덕 실천의 근거 확보를 중심으로 -

초록

This study examines Nosa Gi Jeong-jin’s understanding of Five Constants and Luminous Virtue, focusing on how his theory of mind and nature sought to secure the necessary foundation for moral practice. While previous scholarship has mainly dealt with his li-qi theory, the theory of the sameness and difference between human and thing’s nature, and the Four-Seven debate in a fragmented manner, this paper provides a comprehensive analysis of Nosa’s thought through the lens of Five Constants and Luminous Virtue. Grounded in the metaphysics of “the unity of li and qi”(理氣一體) and “the harmonious differentiation of li”(理分圓融), Nosa argued that the natures of both humans and things, though manifesting as complete or partial, are all fundamentally grounded in goodness(善). On this basis, he criticized both sides of the human–thing’s nature debate and presented the idea of “true sameness,” which embraces ontological unity and phenomenal diversity. Furthermore, he identified mind and nature with the cosmological structure of yin–yang and the Great Ultimate(太極), and defined Luminous Virtue as the original, “luminous and unclouded” mind. As a pure essence without qualitative distinctions between sage and commoner, Luminous Virtue ensures that all humans are capable of preserving and actualizing principle of nature(性理). These notions of Five Constants and Luminous Virtue thus provide the philosophical foundation for the universality and necessity of moral self-realization. In addition, although Nosa maintained that both the Four Beginnings and the Seven Emotions arise from the same structure of qi-initiated with li-riding(氣發理乘), he interpreted the Four Beginnings as manifestations of goodness, thereby affirming the possibility of li-initiation(理發) at the axiological level. This perspective aimed to portray li not as a static abstraction but as a living principle presiding over moral practice. Consequently, Nosa’s interpretation of Five Constants and Luminous Virtue can be positively evaluated as a consistent philosophical project that sought to establish the necessary foundation for moral practice and to realize the ultimate goal of Neo-Confucianism: “learning to become a sage(學做聖人)”.

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