다산이 꿈꾸었던 세상― 茶山과 天主敎

초록

This paper directly addresses the relationship between Dasan (Jeong Yak-yong) and Catholicism. As seen in the Ming scholar Sun Yuanhua’s poem “Yangdu-sa” (Two-Headed Snake), the metaphor of a creature with two heads was used to symbolize early Chinese Catholics who sought to reconcile Confucian values with the Christian faith. Likewise, Dasan and other Korean Catholics of his time belonged to this “Yangdu-sa” lineage—those who strove to harmonize Confucianism and Catholicism. Dasan envisioned a world in which the teachings of Heaven (Catholicism) and those of Confucianism could coexist side by side. Dasan sincerely embraced the Catholic faith. Although he clearly renounced it at one point, he repented in his later years and restored his faith. His authorship of The History of the Transmission of the Gospel in Joseon (Joseon Bogum Jeollaesa), repeatedly attested to by Bishop Daveluy in his Memoirs of the History of the Korean Martyrs and in his letters to France, as well as by Dallet in History of the Church in Korea, serves as undeniable evidence of his late-life repentance. These records provide detailed accounts regarding the scope, format, and contextual details of Dasan’s work. In writings such as “Jamyeongso” (Self-Explanatory Memorial) and “Jachan Myojimyeong” (Self-Written Epitaph), included in his collected works, Dasan systematically distorted, minimized, or deleted all references to Catholicism—engaging in self-censorship. Therefore, it is difficult to grasp the truth of Dasan’s relationship with Catholicism based solely on his own statements. To approach the truth, these must be cross-referenced with other records, as the contents Dasan deleted often survive vividly in writings by his political adversaries. This issue should not be approached as one of hypocrisy or deceit, but rather as an ambivalent intellectual stance of a Joseon scholar who sought to make Confucianism and Catholicism coexist. Particularly revealing are the two versions of “Jachan Myojimyeong” and the epitaphs of five figures—Gwon Cheolsin, Yi Gahwan, Yi Giyang, Jeong Yakjeon, and Oh Seokchung—which Dasan designated as “secret manuscripts” (bibon) in his later years, forbidding their inclusion in his collected works. These epitaphs reflect the subtle shifts in Dasan’s attitude that accompanied his eventual repentance. Although he consistently argued that these men had lived lives unrelated to Catholicism, closer examination reveals repeated instances of distortion, concealment, and deletion—acts of censorship that reveal his deliberate efforts to distance them from Catholic associations. At the time he wrote these pieces, Dasan was hoping to return to the central government, and thus he did not hesitate to engage in such distortions and self-justifications. The extent of these distortions becomes clear when one compares corresponding passages between Dasan’s secret epitaphs and Daveluy’s Memoirs of the History of the Korean Martyrs. The portions omitted or altered in Dasan’s writings appear intact in Daveluy’s records. To claim that acknowledging Dasan’s late-life repentance is to label him a hypocrite is entirely unfounded. This issue cannot be reduced to a simplistic all-or-nothing dichotomy. A fair and balanced understanding can only be reached by viewing it from the middle ground—the intellectual and spiritual struggle of Joseon’s Yangdu-sa scholars who sought to achieve a harmonious coexistence between Catholicism and Confucian values.

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