The Subtle Path to Heterodoxy: Reflections on the Concept of ‘Yiduan’ in the Jinsilu

Abstract

Neo-Confucian philosophy in the Korean Chosǒn period (1392-1910) partook of a moral discourse that drew extensively on Song Chinese texts from the 11^th and 12^th centuries.  Among these, the Jinsilu (Reflections on Things at Hand), compiled by Zhu Xi and Lü Zuqian in 1175 proved especially influential.  This paper examines in detail a central theme of the Jinsilu: heterodoxy or yiduan, situating it both within the broader traditions of earlier Confucianism and as well as within the context of Neo-Confucian thought or daoxue as it was developed the 11^th century, by the brothers Cheng Yi and Cheng Hao. It identifies three distinct, if overlapping conceptions of heterodoxy in the Jinsilu. The paper argues that the most pessimistic and aggressive attitude toward the danger of straying from the orthodox way and the condemning of those who had done so derived from Cheng Yi. His thought and sense of near dread concerning heterodoxy would prove highly influential in Chosǒn Korea.