19세기는 ‘서세동점’이란 세계사적 조류가 한반도 상에 본격적으로 부딪혀서 큰 파란이 일었으며, 그에 따른 사상적 각성 혹은 학문적 대응이 요망되었던 시점이었다. 이런 시대상황을 통찰해서 학문을 성취한 두 위대한 학자로 앞에 정약용, 뒤에 최한기를 손꼽을 수 있다. 본고는 두 학자의 저작을 ‘동서의 학적 만남의 두 길’이란 시각에서 독해한 것이다. 정약용의 경우 경학으로, 최한기의 경우 기학으로 각기 다른 학문체계를 수립하고 있다. 이 양자는 체계가 다른 만큼 동서의 학적 만남에서 상이한 길을 모색한 것이었다. 그러한 학문체계의 다름은 天觀에서 비롯되었다고 보는 것이 필자가 취한 관점인데, 특히 최한기의 기학이 동서의 학적 회통을 추구한 내용을 본고는 중시해서 논하였다.

In 19th century, Korea crashed into the worldwide current that values the West Korea needed to understand the new ideology and to respond academically. Among those who faced these needs, Jeong Yak-yong and Choi han-gi were the most representative figures and their magnificent academical achievements came from the awareness of these needs. Their needs can be interpreted as the academical integration of the East and the West, and therefore the author analyzes Jeong and Choi from this point of view in this essay. The difference between these two figures can be summarized as kyonghak of Jeong and science of gi of Choi. In the respect of balancing of the East and the West, they are of one kind but, in the respect of the system of thought, they are totally different. Their differences said to have been caused by their different point of view about cheon(天, heaven) in this essay. And I am focusing on the Science of gi, which attempts to integrate the East and the West academically.

In 19th century, Korea crashed into the worldwide current that values the West Korea needed to understand the new ideology and to respond academically. Among those who faced these needs, Jeong Yak-yong and Choi han-gi were the most representative figures and their magnificent academical achievements came from the awareness of these needs. Their needs can be interpreted as the academical integration of the East and the West, and therefore the author analyzes Jeong and Choi from this point of view in this essay. The difference between these two figures can be summarized as kyonghak of Jeong and science of gi of Choi. In the respect of balancing of the East and the West, they are of one kind but, in the respect of the system of thought, they are totally different. Their differences said to have been caused by their different point of view about cheon(天, heaven) in this essay. And I am focusing on the Science of gi, which attempts to integrate the East and the West academically.

天觀,一統思想, shil-hak(實學), kyonghak(經學), science of gi(gihak, 氣學), a point of view about cheon(天, Heaven), shindok(愼獨), woonhwa(運化), the ideology of unification