Modernity has its conceptual history. Its early history goes back to the period before the rise of the social sciences. Historically speaking, it is a long tradition in the West that pursues the intellectual interests in interpreting the meaning of the word, ‘the modern’. This paper, first, summarizes this conceptual history. With this introduction, the purpose of this paper is to investigate the historical records of ‘근대(近代, Geundae)’ and its related terminologies, which have been used as the translation of ‘the modern’, in the classical texts in Korean intellectual history. This paper chooses the Annals of Chosun Dynasty as the object of this investigation. This text, the Annals of Chosun Dynasty, provides a clue for identifying the historical consciousness of the politico-administrative class of Chosun which had been lasted more than five hundred years. With the terminologies, ‘근(近, Geun)/금(今, Geum)’, they recognize the problematique of their period and resolve the critical agendas. Additionally, ‘‘고(古, Goh)’ supports this linguistic function. With the observation of the linguistic usages in the Annals of Chosun Dynasty, it is identified that the administrative-political class in the Chosun period culturally had ‘serious attitudes’ and made sincere efforts to solve the problematique of their period.

Laoz’s the Natural Tao concept and the Comprehensive Tao concept have extraordinary meaning in Chinese history of thought. It is seriously affecting Confucianism. At last, Laoz’s the Natural Tao concept is affecting different Chinese thought-schools at the Acient age and became a seed locating the principles of YinYang and Five elements as the Natural Tao in the Sung Confucianism, Laoz’s the Comprehensive Tao concept is affecting Juxi’s the new interpretation for Judoni’s the theory of Taegeukdo(太極圖說) at the Song age and became a seed locating the theory of LiKi(理氣) as the Comprehensive Tao in the Sung Confucianism. So I will look at process of locating the Natural Tao and the Comprehensive Tao in the Sung Confucianism. I will look at Judoni’s the theory of Taegeukdo(太極圖說) in chapter1, Zhandhoengkeo’s theory at Taeheo(太虛) and Ki(氣) in chapter2, Two-Jung’s theory at Li(理) and Ki(氣) in chapter3, Juxi’s theory at Taegeuk(太極) and LiKi(理氣) in chapter4. And to understand more clearly Monism and Dualism to LiKi(理氣), I will look at the difference and the troubles for Mugeuk and the Taegeuk(無極而太極) between Judoni and Juxi in chapter5. In addition, I looked at the Natural Tao concept and the Comprehensive Tao concept by Atheism in the Sung Confucianism.

As a confucian scholar, Choe Han-ki(崔漢綺) proposed a very practical and comprehensive method of person evaluation from a bit different perspective at that time. He presented the Chek-in(測人) concept on the basis of Ki-hak(氣學) that is critically synthesized by the Gi-in(知人) of confucianist and Sang-in (相人) of physiognomist. The purpose of this paper is to explain the Ki-kak’s foundation of Chek-in and compose the concrete categories of person evaluation through Ki-hak approach. The person evaluation category of Choe Han-ki is intertwined with the academic characteristics of Ki-hak and anthropology of Ki-hak. The world view of Ki-hak is very different from that of neo-confucianism and accept rather than of modern Western science. We summarized the academic characteristics as study of Ki, practical ideas, philosophy of oneness, and thought of unification. And we examined the anthropology of Ki-hak which is based on the scholarly characteristics of Ki-hak and closely related to the person evaluation categories. We also inquired the anthropology of Ki-hak by the way of body(形體), nature (心性), personality(人品) and behavior(行爲) from the point of view of Ki-hak. Finally, we suggested the six categories of appearance(容貌), atmosphere of body(神氣), virtue of mind, behavior(行事), way of human, and position which are based on the scholarly characteristic of Ki-hak and the anthropology of Ki-hak.

Brecht was almost the only modern german dramatist to turn to Asian theater and philosophy for inspiration. He was incessantly interested in Chinese and Japanese theater and read the Chinese philosophers like Laozi, Confucius, Mozi and Zhuangzi through life. That is, many of Brecht's plays and writings were deeply influenced by the chinese traditional thoughts. But he left few concrete traces in his works behind so that we can track the philological relation between him and Chinese thoughts. So we can investigate it primarily via intentio operis. His 『Meti, the Book of Changes』 which is the main object of my paper, has many elements of the traditional Chinese philosophy though Brecht himself didn’t mention it much. The book is almost a mixture of various chinese thoughts: the realistic view of life, the ecological worldview and anti-metaphysical cognitivism. It is here most important to see through that everything changes. Brecht found here especially a analogy to marxism wich focuses on the process of social changes. That is the reason why Brecht has tried to connected Meti und I Ging(I-Ching) that are originally two different areas. I Ging(I-Ching) is based on the insight that all things change, and Meti is interested in reforming of the society. The nature changes naturally or circulates, but the human society suffers from stagnating in traditions or some systems. By means of the principal of I Ging(I-Ching) and by virtue of revolutionary will of Meti Brecht as socialist wished to shake and reform the stagnant society. That is, his writing 『Meti, the Book of Changes』 was aimed to motivate the people to think about the social misery and to change it. In addition Brecht found the style of I Ging(I-Ching) fascinating which shows a effective fusion of aesthetics and politics. It means also that the protagonists of the book are philosopher, teacher and poet, in which Brecht saw a ideal feature of future theatre. Like I Ging(I-Ching) Brecht was interested in the future-oriented wisdom.

Considering previously studied three kinds of time, ‘real time’, ‘relational time’ and ‘ideological time’, are focused on Western ideological and interpretational value, this study intends to widen the three kinds of time to Eastern interpretational ideology by interpretation of those three times as ‘physical movement time’, ‘momentum time before and after event’ and ‘human memory-centered time’. And also by approaching them with timek of ‘change of circulation, transformation and current’ that is implicit meaning from ideology of I-Ching. As a result, it is confirmed that all three times have the characteristics of continuity of nature and architectural space from the viewpoint of physical movement time that admits circulatory change of nature in architectural space, time of momentum before and after an event that admits suggestive space of nature by transformational change, and memory-centered time that architectural space continues change by transformation of current in nature. Accordingly, this study has the meaning of exposing the fact that Eastern ideology immerged from modern ages is not the product of eastern response against Western ideology, but individual timely value coexisted in the east and west through architecture as a visual expression of society by fusing these two ideologies.

Confucian democracy discourse has caused considerable controversy in Korean academic society during last two decades. Most scholars regard confucianism as a reactionary ideology for authoritative regime, on the contrary some regard it as a pro-democratic value for providing sources of thought to overcome the egoistic culture of Korean society. But nobody researches the Confucian strong contributions to democratize modern Korea. This thesis aims to explain how sincere Korean Confucian intellectuals contribute to succeed April revolution in 1960 from the point of religious commitments. Results of this study are follows. Firstly, Korean Confucian intellectuals could preserve traditional networks despite governmental controls and oppressions during the First Republic. Secondly, Confucianism-based Korean intellectuals including leading writers contribute to organize ‘April 25th professors demonstration’ evaluated as decisive factor for success in ensuring hasty retreat of dictatorship. In conclusion, This thesis claims that Confucian democracy discourse debaters should give thought to empirical and historical documents further. Intensifying the interpretation on Confucian intellectual’s inheritances, We could make confucian democracy theories rooted deeply in Korean society.

To investigate whether religion as social institution in South Korea is a factor contributing to social cleavages rather than social integration, we examine the effect of religious affiliation and belief on individuals' social identity, ideological preference as well as attitude toward other religions and politics. While previous research around this topic has been focused on theoretical discussion, this paper empirically analyze the differences among various religious groups in behavior and attitude in relation to socially controversial issues, using the 2008 Korean General Social Survey (KGSS). The analyses was performed in following four areas: (1) individual happiness and socio-economic status; (2) value systems on socially controversial issues; (3) relationship between religion and politics; (4) attitude toward other religions and religious extremism. In addition, we analyze the extent to which religiosity and religious affiliation affect social cleavage, in comparison to other contributing factors incurring social cleavage, such as generation, ideology, region, and occupation(class). The findings are as follows: depending on religious affiliation, there are statistically significant differences in four areas (consisting of twelve subcategories), except for two subcategories (i.e. income and attitude toward coexistence of multi-religions. Some notable findings are as follows. There are significant difference among religious groups in sexual attitude and opinions with regards to abortion. As is in the case of Western societies, there is substantial differences in these issues between religious and non-religious groups in South Korea. Interestingly, there also exists significant difference in these issues, depending on their religious affiliations. Compared with Catholics and non-religious groups, Protestants and Buddhists tend to agree with political involvement of religious leaders. Regardless of their religious affiliations, respondents seem to accept coexistence of multi-religions in South Korea. However, according to analysis on inter-religious favorableness and social distance, Protestants are least favorably regarded by other religious group members and non-believers, and show highest level of exclusivity to others. We discuss the implications of these findings as well as limitations and future research suggestions.

Nowadays migration is rapidly increasing and the globalization of labor is being accelerated. This trend is same in Korean society. Therefore, research on multi-cultural society is activated in Korea. The existing results of research have contributed to understand and solve the problems of Korean multi-cultural society. But the limitation of the existing results of research is that they are confined to resolve the concrete problems of multi-cultural society. I recognize the meaning of the existing results of research. But the investigation of the ways of fundamentally solving the problems of multi-cultural society is needed. The limitation of the existing results of research is come from the world view of the researchers. Therefore, we need to explore a new world view which can provide the views to interpret the fundamental causes and to suggest the ways of fundamental solving of the problems of multi-cultural society. In this sense, we are looking for a new world view in Ding(鼎) in I-Ching. Ding(鼎) in I-Ching symbolizes the East Asian traditional caldron made of cast iron. The use of this is to transform the diverse chopping block. Therefore, Ding(鼎) in I-Ching can provide wisdom of how diverse culture can be transformed and harmonized. In this paper, the problems of the multi-cultural policy of Korean society is analyzed. Next, the characteristics of world view of Ding(鼎) in I-Ching will be discussed. Finally, the ways of solving the problems of Korean multi-cultural society will be explored through Ding(鼎) in I-Ching.

In contemporary Korean society, the majority of parents wish their children to draw a map of a successful life, ranging from the prenatal education to the ancestral tablet. In this regard, I attempt to explain this social phenomena in terms of Bernstein’s concept of ‘totally pedagogised society’. For this, firstly, we will ask how parents understand the ‘trainability’ Korean society requires. In this regard, we argue that parents recognize the trainability through the list of synchronic and diachronic-social pressures. Secondly, we argue that ‘totally pedagogising’ is realized through parents’ reactions to such social pressures. Thirdly, we argue that pedagogy encroaches upon the individual’s spirit, looking at how an individual is colonized through it. Finally, with three arguments above, we define the nature of contemporary Korean society as ‘the totally over-pedagogisied society’.

After the “Buddhist Persecution of October 27” imposed by the new military regime in 1980, approximately 2,000 Buddhist personalities were illegally taken to the police station for interrogation and faced hardship. Then a slander attack hit the religious association, and the Korean Buddhist community suffered considerable material and psychological damage. However, there is no complete truth investigation yet even 30 years after the event, and the government that caused the damage has tried to seal up the matter under the cloak of settlement of past affairs. The Buddhist community has engaged in a variety of activities for the settlement of the 10·27 Buddhist Persecution according to the nature of each administration and internal capability. But it should try to identify more colorful implications of the event in order to ensure that the sacrifice the Buddhist community made will be justly evaluated in history and to make a contribution to the development of Korean society. That is, it needs to activate the following discussions to investigate “the 10·27 Buddhist Persecution as a fact” and figure out “the 10·27 Buddhist Persecution as significance,” opening up the way toward true settlement of past affairs: First, the efforts in the social category should involve illuminating the 10·27 Buddhist Persecution and its settlement process as a civil “struggle for recognition” against the national violence. If it is obsessed with suppression of certain religion and resulting compensation issues while ignoring the universal nature, it will have a difficult time identifying broad social significance. Secondly, there should be efforts to make the 10·27 Buddhist Persecution as an opportunity for self-reflection on Korean Buddhism. The logic of “purification” emphasized by the Buddhist community since Korea’s liberation is on the premise of one's infallibility and the denial of others and accordingly is at risk of growing into the logic of expulsion through a “transplanted” way rather than reflective self-purification. Thus the wisdom of properly understanding and practicing the dialectic logic should be accompanied in order to ensure that the attempt to overcome the internal contradiction of the religious association through purification will achieve desirable results.

It has been a conventional wisdom that families in South Korea and Taiwan share common features which belong to the Chinese Confucian tradition. To test this assumption on homogeneity in East Asian families, this article compares material families, normative families, and state’s official family norms between S. Korea and Taiwan. Especially, focused on the influence of the state’s family norms as political ideology, this article compares distinct family institutions and perceptions that we witness today in S. Korea and Taiwan. In the level of state, with the advance of modernization, official family norms in Korea have shifted to traditional extended family whereas, in Taiwan with various family norms coexisting, the nuclear family norm which was Mainlanders’ family norm, was formally institutionalized as state’s official family ideal. In result, in the level of each people’s perception, extended family norms are widely spread in Korea meanwhile nuclear norms prevail in Taiwan. This result implies that the same historical legacy undergoes the different modern adoption and transformation process according to each society’s distinct political context. It means that family is not a predestinate inevitability, but a cultural construct which is continually constituted and re-constituted according to social and political environments.

Hong Kong welfare policy can be summarized as the absolute minimum expenditure and minimum government’s intervention. The social welfare provision of Hong Kong in the early 1970s did not consider as a means of distribution of wealth and civil rights and social rights were not the targets to be considered. Hong Kong government was basically negative to the expansion of public welfare expenditure and tried not to intervene so long as the social conditions did not threat the political and economic safety. The long-standing “positive non-interventionism” decided the future of Hong Kong’s welfare. The most critical problem of Hong Kong welfare state is that Hong Kong government can not increase tax burden of the people to cope with the increase of the number of welfare beneficiaries. Traditionally the financial expansion of social services of Hong Kong was restricted by the principle of low tax. The basic law of Hong Kong clarified to keep the low tax policy originating from the colonial period. Following the clarification all the Hong Kong governments are royal to the principle of minimum public expenditure. The expansion of welfare expenditure was possible only when the economy expanded. The tradition of conservative fiscal policy has continued to be the basic fiscal law even after the transfer of Hong Kong to China in 1997. Together with the non-existence of the true class party and the powerful labor union the non-interference politics of the Hong Kong welfare state developed into a residual welfare state only to support the extreme poor or the social dropouts. These facts make it hard to evaulate Hong Kong welfare state as one of the three types of welfare regime of Esping-Anderson. Also it is different from those of the other East Asian welfare states to name them as “a fourth” welfare regime.

In this paper, I studied the relationship among the cyber-communication, religious life, religious identity, and religious exclusiveness. Then I discussed the possibility of inter-religious conflict and cyber-religious life. I was confirmed that cyber-religious life strengthens the religious identity and religious exclusiveness. And I found that influence of cyber-religious life on the religious identity and religious exclusiveness appears differently on religious groups. Also, I have found that a large number of inter-religious conflicts occur in cyberspace. In multi-religious society, the inter-religious conflict can happen at any time due to the deepening of inter-religious competition. Cyber religious life is affecting the development and deepening of inter-religious conflict in cyberspace, through strengthening of religious identity and exclusiveness, providing various action lists that can be mobilized in inter-religious conflict. The significance of this paper is to describe emerging process of social conflict from Religious identity, especially the way that cyber- religious life is involved in formation and strengthening of religious identity and religious exclusiveness. In addition, this study is providing meaningful information about the results to bring the expression of religious identity in a multi-religious context.