Moral and Criminal Responsibilities for Free Choice between Good and Evil in the Philosophy of Chŏng Yakyong, with Reference to Matteo Ricci

ABSTRACT

Humans must take moral and criminal responsibility for making a free choice between good and evil, according to Chŏng Yakyong, and this view was influenced by Matteo Ricci. Choosing to commit an evil action means committing a willful crime, so one must take responsibility for this action in the form of punishment. However, unintentional wrongdoings can be forgiven. For example, a man stealing to survive or killing a robber in order to live should not be punished, because these individuals have no choice but to do so. Those claims of Chŏng are his own creation, not influenced by Ricci or Confucianism. By contrast, the idea that a child’s intentional hiding of his father’s crime should not be punished because of the child’s duty of filial piety was influenced by Confucianism. However, a large crime committed by a child on the basis of filial piety, such as committing murder to rescue one’s mother, only lends cause for commutation. Unlike Chŏng, Ricci regarded a child’s act of stealing bread to feed his family as an action of evil rather than an act of filial piety, since theft is an evil action.

KEYWORDS:

• moral responsibility
• criminal responsibility
• punishment
• ethics
• Confucius
• Matteo Ricci

Notes

1 I quote the manuscripts of many scholars in this paper, so I am grateful to them.

2 Chŏng read Zhuzhi qunzheng, 主制群征 written by Johann Adam Schall von Bell (湯若望) in 1784, at the age of 23, before writing Chajujikwŏn 自主之權 in Maengja yoŭi (Tasan Chŏng Yagyong yŏnbo 茶山 丁若鏞 年譜 (Chronology of Chŏng Yagyong's Life), so he was influenced by the concept of chaju 自主 in the Zhuzhi qunzheng.

3 Chŏng’s criticisms are similar to those of the Evidential Learning scholars in the Qing dynasty (1636–1912) of China. These scholars focused on analyzing the meaning of words and Chŏng focused not only on that but also self-cultivation and the ordering of society (Chŏng 2002d, 242a). Chŏng used the new methods of linguistic analysis and etymological research to enlarge on traditional philosophical questions and provide alternatives to Zhu Xi’s theories (Setton 1997, 125).

4 At the time, Chŏng Yakyong received Kigi dosŏl (The Book of Marvelous Instruments), a work by Terenz (1576–1630) in 1627, a Catholic missionary dispatched to the Qing dynasty (1616–1912) in China from King Chŏngjo (r.1752–1800). He used it to design various machines (Chŏng 2002e, 220d). Owing to this, Chŏng invented a machine (kŏjung ki) to raise heavy stones which aided in the construction of the Hwa Fortress (Hwa sŏng). Currently, this fortress is located in the city of Suwon in Kyŏnggi Province, and it was listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1997. The design of the machine was influenced by European scientific techniques and hence the fortress represents a bridge between East and West.

5 Chŏng Yakyong, Chŏng Yagchŏn 丁若銓 (1758–1816), an elder brother, and Kwon Ilsin (?–1791), a friend, baptized themselves based on the procedures found in Catholic books, according to Chukuk ilki (The Daily Records of Interrogation) (Chukuk ilki 1994, 259a). Because of Chŏng’s faith in Catholicism, he was exiled to Changki on the extreme southeastern tip of the Korean Peninsula in the spring of 1801, immediately after King Chŏngjo’s death (Chŏng 200b, 339b). Later, he was again exiled to Kangjin on the southwestern tip of the Korean Peninsula. (Chŏng 2002b, 339b). He only returned home to Mahyŏn in Kyŏnggi province, a suburb of Seoul, in 1817(Chŏng 2002b, 339b) after eighteen years of exile.

6 Before then, Chŏng Yakyong’s cousin, Yun Chichung (1759–1791), burned his mother’s spirit tablets because the Pope banned the use of Confucian ancestor rites. At the time, Bishop Alexandre de Gouvea in Beijing communicated the Pope’s order to the Chosŏn dynasty’s Catholic believers (Baker 2017, 70). Consequently, Yun Chichung was put to death for following the pope’s directive. Chŏng Yakyong and his older brother Chŏng Yagchŏn no longer performed Catholic rituals, but another Chŏng Yagchong 丁若鍾 (1760–1801) acted as a Catholic leader and was eventually executed (Chŏng 2002, 339b). Chŏng Yagchŏn was exiled to Hŭksan Island 黑山島 (Chŏng, “Chachan myojimyŏng,” 339b) on the southern tip of the western Korean peninsula near the sea, where he eventually died. Although Chŏng Yakyong abandoned Catholicism (Chŏng 2002b, 339b), his ideas of moral freedom were influenced by Ricci’s Tianzhu shiyi.

7 This Simni rok [The Records of Trials] is a compilation of the records of trials from the reign of King Yŏngjo to King Chŏngjo by the scholar-officials in Kyujang kak (Royal Library), and they dedicated the book to King Chŏngjo (Chŏngjo sillok, 21th day of 12th lunar month, 23th year of King Chŏngjo’s reign [1799]).

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Jongwoo Yi

Jongwoo Yi received his PhD in Neo-Confucianism from Sungkyunkwan University in Seoul. He is a Research Professor in Humanities Korea Plus Center in the Institute of Japanese Studies, Dankook University, South Korea. Currently, he pursues his interest in the interrelations and comparisons of Chŏng Yagyong’s Confucianism, Matteo Ricci’s Catholicism, and Zhu Xi’s Neo-Confucianism.