朝鮮儒者中華認同的新解釋－－「天下」與「國家」的整合分析

Joseon Confucians’ “Chinese Identity”: A New Interpretation

二十世紀初，韓國處於動盪危亡之際，知識界竭力打造社會內部的國族認同，朝鮮儒者對於中華文化的認同，從而遭到嚴厲的批判，被視為國亡民衰的成因之一。本文認為這種評價及其背景，頗有重探之必要。對朝鮮儒者而言，家國興亡和天下盛衰實有密切之關聯，絕非截然二分，明亡之後，更以承繼中華、守衛道統自許。朝鮮歷代之「中華認同」亦非建立於否定「國族認同」的基礎，而是出於「文化箕子」與「血緣檀君」之結合，直至殖民時期，在西方民族主義與日本國家主義等思潮的刺激之下，過去「天下國家」的想像始為改觀。

In the early twentieth century, when the nation’s existence was in peril, Korean intellectuals worked to strengthen national identity, and Joseon Confucian scholars came under special attack for regarding Chinese identity as an honor. Intellectuals charged that Joseon Confucian scholars possessed only a weak sense of national identity. Critics claimed that their inappropriate Chinese identification weakened national coherence and brought about the fall of the nation. However, through my analysis of Joseon Confucians’ statements about inheriting Chinese culture, I have determined that Joseon Confucians’ Chinese identification was not conflict with their Korean national identity. Based on Joseon Confucians’ own ideas, Joseon was basically considered to be within the “All-under-Heaven” (Tianxia) world with China at the center, and Joseon Confucians could be proud of themselves after they internalized Chinese culture and took on the task of continuing the Daotong. I illustrate that integration with the cultural and racial examples of Jizi and Tanjun. However, ultimately Tianxia thought was replaced by the ideal of the sovereign nation under the influence of modern nationalism by the colonial era.