Although our country possesses an enormous number of classical books well preserved in original form, the awareness of approaching and exploiting them has not been properly encouraged. Therefore when we talk about ‘Classical literature in Chinese la...
Although our country possesses an enormous number of classical books well preserved in original form, the awareness of approaching and exploiting them has not been properly encouraged. Therefore when we talk about ‘Classical literature in Chinese language’ (漢文), ‘classical culture and institutions’ (古文獻) or ‘traditional thought’ (傳統思想), what we receive are nothing but the shakes of the head and waves of the hands (to express the difficulty and powerless). It is the result of the old-fashioned custom according to which we could not properly create our own traditional culture as well as viewpoints on history or values. In order to overcome that limitation, the necessity to develop the subjects of ‘national history’ (國史), ‘ethics’ (道德), ‘morality’ (倫理) or ‘Classical literature in Chinese language’ (漢文) at school is emphasized, but in the current education system that focuses only on entrance exams, it is hard to be realized. However, in this difficult situation for the development of the classical education and traditional culture, there still are activities trying to preserve our long-standing traditions, that is to say the researches on the ‘classics’ (經書) which are carried out by scholars who spend much time and effect to maintain the connection with the pass. But it cannot be denied that those researches - on ‘classics’ or one given figure’s viewpoint of classics - have gone through a process of quantitative expansion with several weak points and restrictions. Hereupon I try to consider the current situation of the research on the classics, and state some opinions . though simple . on the way the education of classics must follow. When ruminating the image of ourselves building a multi-cultural society, I expect that the ‘research on classics’ can overcome the simple theoretical discussions to play the role of intellectual basis of the future. In this significance, the research on Korean classics needs to focus on and demonstrate the identity (體), the relationship (人) and the creative knowledge (知) that are inherent in our classical heritage.