Focusing on the relationship between religious forces of Confucianism, Buddhism, and Christianity and politics of the Chosun dynasty, this study aimed to analyze the scholarly views of specialists in Korean studies who are flourishing in the West, inc ...
Focusing on the relationship between religious forces of Confucianism, Buddhism, and Christianity and politics of the Chosun dynasty, this study aimed to analyze the scholarly views of specialists in Korean studies who are flourishing in the West, including Martina Deuchler, John B. Duncan, Robert E. Buswell, Jr., and Don Baker.
This article argued that although it was criticized as a heterodoxy in the Confucian society, Buddhism could continue to exist in daily life under the tacit agreement of the Chosun government. Actually, Confucian scholars' criticism of Buddhism and the anti-Buddhist policy of the government in its initial period did not focus on theoretical issues, but resulted from political and financial reasons. This is because the then Confucianism was more interested in literary composition than the philosophical system of thought and Buddhism could coexist with Confucianism through its collaboration with the then reality, as was evidenced by the activities of Hyujeong (1520-1605), who is also known as Great Master Seosan. In contrast, Confucian scholars criticized Catholic theory from the outset of its introduction to Korea on the grounds that it was a heterodox teaching and Catholicism underwent a series of severe persecution by the government primarily due to ritual controversy, a result of a conflict between Confucian politics, which put emphasis on morality, and Catholicism, which was in pursuit of religious truth, as argued by Don Baker.
In order to identify the nature of Confucian politics during the Chosun period, this article analyzed their influence on Buddhism and Catholicism; and it concluded that Confucian politics during the Chosun era had a comprehensive nature as learning, morality, and religion