Ever since the Hwandangogi was first known to the public in 1911, the authors of the Samseonggi (Anhamro and Won Dong-jung), one of the five history books comprising the Hwandangogi, have remained one of the biggest mysteries. This study is on Won Don...
Ever since the Hwandangogi was first known to the public in 1911, the authors of the Samseonggi (Anhamro and Won Dong-jung), one of the five history books comprising the Hwandangogi, have remained one of the biggest mysteries. This study is on Won Dong-jung, an author of the Samseonggi.
Recently an argument has been presented that Won Dong-jung is the same person as Won Cheon-seok, a recluse at the close of the Goryeo dynasty. The main purpose of this study is to clarify whether or not Won Cheon-seok is actually Won Dong-jung who wrote the Samseonggi. This study has adopted Lucien Goldmann’s way of “two people pick up a table.” In fact, it is difficult to confirm the detailed whereabouts of Won Dong-jung or Won Cheon-seok at the present time because few records of them remain. Despite that, this study makes a new attempt to discuss what the existing studies have not dealt with on Won Cheon-seok.
To begin with, this study compared and examined Won Cheon-seok and Yi Am, and Won Cheon-seok and Beom Jang, respectively. Yi Am was a high-ranking official, serving as Sumunhasijung (vice prime minister) at the close of the Goryeo dynasty. He established a view of history based on the Spirit Teaching, writing on the history of the Korean people in East Asia from the Spirit Teaching’s standpoint. Won Cheon-seok was related to Yi Am in several ways and was also greatly influenced by him. Beom Jang was one of the 72 members of the Dumundong group which kept loyalty to the Goryeo Dynasty even after its fall, opposing the foundation of Joseon. Beom Jang was a scholar of Neo-Confucianism basically, but he also held Korean traditional view of history based on the Spirit Teaching. Won Cheon-seok and Beom Jang were friends and exchanged their ideas as the co-authors of the Hwahaesajeon. Basically a Confucian scholar, Won Cheon-seok also recognized, understood and practiced the thoughts of Buddhism and Taoism. His religious view or view of the world can be summarized as the theory of three teachings-one principle, which signifies that the three teachings of Confucianism, Buddhism, and Taoism have different contentions but share the same logic. Such a thought of his is the core of the Korean traditional thought of the Spirit Teaching which has been passed down ever since the Three Kingdoms period. Won Cheon-seok acknowledged the existence of Dangun and Dangun Joseon. And he argued that the philosophy of Dangun Joseon was the thought expressed in the Scripture of Heavenly Code, which was also the basis of his perception of history.
Yi Am and Beom Jang received esoteric writings on early ancient history of Korea from a recluse scholar called Sojeon while staying at Cheonbosan Mountain. Influenced by these writings, Yi Am wrote the Dangunsegi from the historical standpoint of the Spirit Teaching. Beom Jang wrote the Bukbuyeogi, and it follows right after the Dangunsegi in the Hwandangogi. Won Cheon-seok was influenced by Yi Am’s Dangunsegi and had various esoteric records left by many learned men. Based on those records, he wrote the Yarok, covering Korean history from the early antiquity through the Goryeo Dynasty. The first part of the Yarok is assumed to be the Samseonggi. Actually, there have been some arguments, in the academic circle, that Won Cheon-seok and Won Dong-jung were the same person. Judging from various angles including the people with whom Won Cheon-seok exchanged opinions, his poems and records of his oral statements, it is possible to conclude that Won Cheon-seok would be Won Dong-jung, an author of the
Samseonggi.