next »
CH'ANG LI | MS 2765-7

CH'ANG LI

MS 2765/7
MS Short Title CH'ANG LI
Text CH'ANG LI: COLLECTED WORKS OF NEO-CONFUCIAN PHILOSOPHY. REVISED BY CHU HSI
Description Printed in Chinese on paper, Korea, early 17th c., 1 f., 33x21 cm, 9 columns, (26x17 cm), 16 characters in Chinese book script by movable wooden type Hullyon-Togam-Ja, Kyong-o-Ja style casted in 1594-1605.
Provenance 1. Melvin P. McGovern, Los Angeles (-1966); 2. Björn Löwendahl, London.
Commentary Neo-Confucian teachings were first introduced into Korea An Hyang, during the reign of Chungyol. An Hyang visited Peking in 1290 and returned to Korea with a copy of Chu Hsi's works and his portrait. Neo-Confucian philosophical and political thinking made ultra-conservatism the dominant characteristic of Korean society. Authority, as exemplified in the person of Chu Hsi, rather than reason, became the criterion of truth. The Korean philosopher Chong Mong-ju is regarded as the founder of Neo-Confucian thinking in Korea. He was the first scholar to elevate Korean Confucianism to the level of a true philosophical discipline. Each pose is illustrated and contains a short description of its function. The next method is called 'the meditation of the 24 solar terms', also illustrated and described. This type of meditation comprises 24 poses, each of which is supposed to remedy certain diseases. Two ancient Daoist exercises, recorded in the following pages, for the benefit of the internal organs, were written as verses, the last one composed in 948.
Place of origin Korea
Dates Early 17th Century