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The Review of Korean Studies

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Vol.13 No.1
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Flourishing Yin and the Decline of the Universe: Qishu Theory and Cosmological Interpretation on the Rise of ‘Barbarian Power’ in the Late Joseon Period

The Review of Korean Studies / The Review of Korean Studies, (P)1229-0076; (E)2773-9351
2010, v.13 no.1, pp.37-57
https://doi.org/10.25024/review.2010.13.1.002

(2010). Flourishing Yin and the Decline of the Universe: Qishu Theory and Cosmological Interpretation on the Rise of ‘Barbarian Power’ in the Late Joseon Period. The Review of Korean Studies, 13(1), 37-57, https://doi.org/10.25024/review.2010.13.1.002
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Abstract

The term qishu that had a theoretical foundation in Neo-Confucian philosophy,especially the cosmological chronology, had been used in much Confucian literature starting from the early Joseon period. Until the middle of the seventeenth century, the term qishu and qishu theory sometimes faced strong rejection and criticism by court Confucians because of the fatalistic implications of qishu theory. However, beginning in the middle of the seventeenth century, the situation became more generous toward using the term qishu in court discussions or in the writings of Confucians, and the Joseon Confucians easily proposed qishu theory in order to interpret many incidents or occurrences such as portents or war. This change toward accepting qishu theory originated first from the publication and circulation of the cosmological chronology text complemented with Korean history by Joseon Confucians, and, secondly, from the invasion of Manchurian Qing army in 1667 and the humiliating defeat of the Joseon government. Using qishu theory, Joseon Confucians began to interpret the victories of “the barbarian Qing” and the fall of the Ming as the decline of zhonghua symbolizing human civilization with qishu. With qishu theory, those misfortunes that occurred in spite of human efforts were interpreted as reflecting a change in qishu, from a phase of yang qi domination to a phase of yin qi domination. Joseon Confucians thought that the rise of barbarian power and the gradual decline of civilization reflected a new phase of the great universal cycle entering into a decadent phase of yin qi. As an extension of this logic, the Joseon Confucians of the nineteenth century interpreted their contemporary situation of a world facing rising Western power and a declining East in terms of qishu theory and the cosmological chronology like their predecessors.

keywords
qishu, fatalism, cosmology, chronology, Huangji jingshi shu, late Joseon period.

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