조선건국기 李詹의 ?光 인식과 仁 정치론 (Lee Cheom/李詹's view of ‘Gwak Gwang/?光’ in the early days of the Joseon dynasty, and his notion of benevolence(仁) in political terms)

서지정보

· 발행기관 : 한국사상사학회
· 수록지 정보 : 한국사상사학 / 30호 / 69 ~ 101페이지
· 저자명 : 도현철

초록

이 글은 이첨의 곽광 인식의 차이를 통해서 왕조교체기를 살다간 유교지식인의 현실 인식과 지적 흐름을 살펴보는 것이다.
漢나라때의 재상인 곽광은 武帝의 유지를 받아 昭帝를 보좌하였고, 무도한 昌邑王 劉賀를 폐하고 宣帝를 迎立하였다. 그 후 곽광은 딸을 昭帝의 황후로 보냈는데, 곽광이 병사하고, 곽광의 부인이 宣帝의 황후 許氏를 독살하려한 것이 세상에 알려지면서, 곽광이 반역의 계획이 있었다는 것이 드러나 곽광 일족은 연좌되어 수천가가 동시에 죽임을 당했다.
이첨은 위화도 회군 이전 시기에 곽광을 긍정하였다. 이첨은 곽광이 昭帝를 보좌하고, 창읍왕 유하를 폐하고 宣帝를 옹립한 것은 꺼져가는 劉氏 王朝를 되살리고, 漢나라의 기틀을 다시 세웠으니 충신이라고 하였다.
그런데, 공양왕 2년 5월 이후 이첨은 곽광이 군자다운 사람이지만 어질지는 못하다고 보았다. 그 이유는 上官 부자와 桑弘羊이 반란을 일으켜 죽었는데, 이는 곽광이 사전에 막을 수 있었지만, 좌시하여 일을 키워 큰 살육을 보게 하였고, 上官 부자의 실패의 원인이 딸을 황후로 세운 것에 있었는데, 곽광이 이를 경계하지 않고 자신의 딸을 황후로 들였기 때문이라는 것이다. 곧 이첨은 곽광이 천하의 公을 위하여 漢나라 왕실을 구원한 충신이지만, 집안의 私를 소홀히 하여 한 왕실과 조정에 해를 끼쳤다고 하였다.
이첨은 올바른 宰相에 의해 君主가 인도되기를 원했고, 왜구를 물리치고 위화도 회군을 단행한 이성계가 고려의 社稷을 안정시키고 왕조를 중흥시킬 인물로 생각했다. 이성계에게서 한나라의 이윤으로 昭帝를 보좌한 곽광을 발견하였던 것이다.
그런데 이첨은 정도전, 이성계의 易姓革命 계획에 반대했다. 정치적 의혹사건을 빌미로 반대파 사대부에 무자비한 숙청을 행한 것에 불만이었던 것이다. 이첨의 정도전, 이성계에 대한 반감은 과거 역사 인물에 대한 평가와 연관되고, 곽광을 재인식하게 된다. 곽광이 漢나라의 劉氏를 다시 잇게 한 충신이라는 것이지만, 그 마음씨의 은미한 곳은 따지게 되면 仁하지 못하다고 하였다. 천하를 위해서 공적인 일을 하면서 동시에 자기의 집안을 위하여 사적인 이익이 된다면 이것은 그 마음이 순수한 인에 입각한 것이라고 할 수 없다는 이유에서였다.
곽광에 대한 비판적 관점은 이성계에 대한 경계이고 새로운 왕조 창업에 대한 반대의 표시이다. 공양왕이 이상군주가 되고 고려왕조의 중흥을 바라는 이첨의 자연스런 논리의 귀결이라고 할 수 있다.

영어초록

In this article, what kind of perception of the world that a Confucian intellectual had during the time when Goryeo was being replaced by Joseon, will be examined through the perception that a person named Lee Cheom had regarding another person from the past, a minister named Gwak Gwang.
Gwak Gwang was a minister who served the ancient Chinese dynasty Han/漢. By the death wish of Emperor Mujae/武帝, he served the succeeding Emperor Sojae/昭帝, dethroned the corrupted and violent Changeub-wang/昌邑王 Yu Ha/劉賀 and helped Emperor Seonjae/宣帝 to the throne. After that, Gwak Gwang presented his daughter as Sojae/昭帝's queen.
But after Gwak Gwang died from a disease, the plot in which Gwak Gwang's wife had conspired to poison Seonjae/宣帝's queen Heo(許氏) was revealed to the world. Also, Gwak Gwang's own conspiracy of treason was disclosed as well, and as a result the entire house of Gwak Gwang was implicated in the aftermath. Family members of thousands of related households were instantly put to death.
Before the time of Lee Seong Gyae's so-called ‘Wihwa-do return’, Lee Cheom thought very highly of this Chinese figure Gwak Gwang. He reasoned that Gwak Gwang was a truly loyal vassal who faithfully served his majesty, as Gwak literally resuscitated the Yu House's family line and reestablished the basis for the Han dynasty, by serving Sojae, dethroning Changeub-wang Yu Ha, and enthroning Seonjae.
But in the second year of King Gongyang-wang's reign, May of that year to be exact, Lee Cheom started to dictate that while Gwak Gwang was indeed a man of honor, he was not so benevolent in nature after all. There were two reasons for such evaluation. First, Lee Cheom noted that Gwak Gwang did nothing to stop his superior, the son of that superior and a person named Sang Hong Yang/桑弘羊 from staging an insurrection. In Lee's eyes, Gwak Gwang remained negligent and did nothing to prevent a large-scale massacre from happening. Secondly, Lee Cheom pointed out that Gwak Gwang never paid attention to historical facts which revealed that the fall of Gwak's superior and the son as well was not unrelated to the fact that Gwak's superior decided to present his daughter as a queen for the emperor. In Lee's eyes, instead of learning something from that historical fact, Gwak Gwang himself repeated such faulty action by presenting his daughter as the queen of the empire as well. In the end, Lee Cheom evaluated that Gwak Gwang was a loyal vassal who saved the royal family of Han dynasty, for the greater good that would serve the public interest of the entire country, but at the same time Gwak also endangered and in some aspects acted against the interest of the royal family and the government, by being negligent to the task of controlling the more private sides of his own family.
Lee Cheom hoped that the King(the leader of the country) would be guided by a morally sound and just minister. And he believed that Lee Seong Gyae, who had been successfully repelling the Japanese pirates, and also displayed political power by recently returning his troops from Wihwa-do to the capital city against the direct order of the King, would be the ideal candidate for a leader who should revive the dynasty, and stabilize the fundamental basis of the country(in this case, the guardian deities of the State[Sajik/社稷], and also the country itself). In other words, he saw Gwak Gwang, who had loyally served Han dynasty's Emperor Sojae, from Lee Seong Gyae.
Yet, Lee Cheom opposed Lee Seong Gyae's and also Jeong Do Jeon's plan of replacing Goryeo with a new dynasty, and replacing the Wang house royal family with a new one. He also opposed their launching of a political purge, justified by a political incident which implicated many Sa-Daebu figures who did not agree with their plans for a new dynasty.
Lee Cheom's antipathy and ill feeling against Jeong Do Jeon and Lee Seong Gyae were related to his evaluation of past historical figures, and it finally led to his reevaluation of Gwak Gwang, whom he reasoned to have been, while remaining to be a loyal servant to the Han dynasty's Yu House family, not so benevolent in the deeper layers of his very own nature. He argued that if someone served the public interest while also serving his or her own interest, or the interest of his or her immediate family, then the service of that person could not be considered to have been based upon pure benevolence originated from one's own mind.
His critical view of Gwak Gwang was a warning meant for Lee Seong Gyae, and was also an expression of objection to the forthcoming new dynasty(and also the idea of founding one). Considering Lee Cheom's consistent position which hoped for the continuation of the Goryeo dynasty, and hoped for King Gongyang-
wang's success as an ideal leader of the country, his view of Lee, including his view of the prospect for a new country, was a natural one.

참고자료

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