Research On Jeong Yak-yong’s Thought Of Benevolence

As a famous thinker in the middle and late period of the Joseon Dynasty,Jeong Yak-yong(alias:Tashan)is regarded as the master of the Korean Silhak.The study of his view of benevolence is of great significance for a comprehensive understanding of his ideological system,especially the overtones of the Korean Sihak.The sovereign heaven proposed by Jeong Yak-yong cannot be compared with the "God"in Christian religion.Jeong Yak-yong believes that the ruler of heaven only has the "intellectual knowledge" to communicate with people,and does not have the ability to create the world and actively interfere with the human world.the basic content of any provision.Since the "heaven"in Jeong Yak-yong’s philosophical system does not have congenital and transcendental nature,"heaven" is not enough to be the value source of "benevolence".Also,Jeong Yak-yong does not believe that "nature" or "heart" is the value source of"benevolence",but believes that the name of "benevolence" depends on the completion of behavior or daily activities.Jeong Yak-yong believes that "nature" is only a "hobby" of kindness.Only by expanding the heart of the four ends in the practice of human relations can we achieve benevolence,righteousness,propriety and wisdom.In his philosophical system,"nature" or"heart" cannot be regarded as a noumenon.Jeong Yak-yong believes that the value source of "benevolence" is not "heaven" or "heart",but "forms between two people".It can be said that it is completely a view of benevolence based on human relations activities.Starting from Jeong Yak-yong’s pursuit of "returning to Confucius",combined with his criticism of sexual science,and Jeong Yak-yong’s inheritance and development of his tutor Xinghu’s theory,Jeong Yak-yong has always emphasized that"value source and practice are inextricably linked",but because the ontology and virtue are placed in the status of "source" and "use" respectively,as time goes by,there will inevitably be the drawback of "source is useless" in later learning.Jeong Yak-yong believes that since the place where the morality of "benevolence" is practiced is in human relations,the source of"benevolence" also exists in human relations.The existence and manifestation of the benevolent neither depend on the moral imperative of the Personality of God,nor the self-discipline of the Yangming School,but are based on human relations,and only exists in real life,which has a obvious overtone of the Korean Sihak.