Who Should Ascend the Throne? The Two Views of Korean Confucians

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Published: Jul 13, 2021
Keywords:
Yi Saek;, Jeong Do-jeon;, royal succession;, political authority;, political legitimacy

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Youngsun Back
Sungkyunkwan University

Abstract

This paper examines the thoughts of two prominent Korean Confucians of the late Goryeo 高麗period (918–1392), Yi Saek 李穡 (1328–1396) and Jeong Do-jeon 鄭道傳 (1342–1398). Although they were both renowned as followers of Zhu Xi’s Neo-Confucianism, they held differing views on several important issues. One of these issues was the royal successions of King U 禑王 (32nd) and King Chang 昌王 (33rd). Yi Saek considered them to be legitimate rulers of Goryeo, while Jeong Do-jeon denied their legitimacy and accused those involved in their enthronements of treason. In order to conceptualize their differences, I first explain the distinction between the ownership conception and the service conception of political authority introduced by Joseph Chan. Based on this philosophical framework, I analyze and compare the thoughts of Yi Saek and Jeong Do-jeon. My conclusion is that they based political legitimacy on different grounds: for Yi Saek, legitimacy is based on the founder’s achievements in setting up the cultural and political foundation of Goryeo, whereas for Jeong Do-jeon, it is based on the founding king himself, who established the dynasty in 918. Accordingly, I call their views the “founding service” conception and the “founder’s ownership” conception of political authority, respectively. I hope this analysis and comparison of their differing conceptions of political authority can contribute to a better understanding of their political thoughts and the development of the concept of political legitimacy in Korean history. 

Article Details

How to Cite
Back, Y. (2021). Who Should Ascend the Throne? : The Two Views of Korean Confucians. Journal of World Philosophies, 6(1), 58–72. Retrieved from https://scholarworks.iu.edu/iupjournals/index.php/jwp/article/view/4161
Issue
Vol. 6 No. 1 (2021)
Section
Articles

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Author Biography

Youngsun Back, Sungkyunkwan University

Youngsun Back is an Assistant Professor at the College of Confucian Studies & Eastern Philosophy, Sungkyunkwan University, South Korea. Her publications include Traditional Korean Philosophy: Problems and Debates (co-edited with Philip J. Ivanhoe, 2016), “Are Animals Moral?: Zhu Xi and Jeong Yakyong’s Views on Nonhuman Animals” (2018), “Rethinking Mozi’s Jian’ai: The Rule to Care” (2019), and “Revealing Contingency Through Shun’s Ascension to the Throne” (2020).

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