The Research & Education Center for Philosophy at CNU will hold an international academic conference, titled \"A New 21st Century and Seonbi1) Spirit\". The conference will be held at Yongbong Hall of International Conference Bldg. on Nov. 27. (10 a.m.-6 p.m.) Commemorating the 500th anniversary of Yang San-bo
s birth, the conference is prepared in order to ruminate over the spirit of seonbi (Confucian scholars) and investigate human natures which can be applicable to the people living in the 21st century. In the conference, the matters on how seonbi spirit of Confucianism should be studied and how the spirit should be adopted for the 21st century will be discussed. Two research articles regarding to Yang San-bo2) and four articles on seonbi spirit will be presented. Tu Weiming, Director of Harvard-Yenching Institute, will give a keynote speech on
Confucian Humanism as a Resource in Global Ethics
and Prof. Oh Jong-il from Jeonju University will give a keynote address with a topic of
A Moral Sense of Sosoewon Yang San-bo.
Tu Weiming has been a Professor of Chinese history and philosophy and of Confucian Studies in the Department of East Asian Languages and Civilizations at Harvard University since 1981. He earned a B.A. at Tunghai University in Taiwan, and both an M.A. and Ph.D. in history and East Asian languages at Harvard University. He is the first professor of Confucian studies at any English-language university, a position awarded to him in 1999. He has contributed a section on Confucian spirituality to a forthcoming encyclopedia on the history of the religious quest, and an essay for a report of the U.S. President
s Committee on the Arts and the Humanities. In the conference, Prof. Tu Weiming will ask the questions, \"Is the Confucian tradition compatible with the Western understanding of human rights? Are there fundamental human values, regardless of cultural differences, common to all peoples of all nations?\" Prof. Oh Jong-il, specializing in Confucianism and Korean metaphysics, will explain the significance of Yang San-bo
s existence related with the faithfulness of Honam people. In the afternoon, there will be presentations made by foreign scholars including Prof. Yang Tiens from Chinese Social Science Research Center and Prof. Ogawa Haruhisa, an honorary representative of the NGO and professor emeritus at the University of Tokyo in Japan, Prof. Zhu Jingnan from Zhejiang University in China, and Prof. Cao Ringin from Xiamen University in China. Prof. Choi Dae-woo (Dept. of Philosophy, CNU) explained the significance of the conference as a chairman. \"The 21st century, led by scientism and individualism, calls for an alternative like
seonbi spirit
which remains in existence in the history of Korean intellectuals.\" 1) seonbi - A man who attained a respectable level of learning but did not hold an official government position. Middle-class men were also called seonbi during the 19th century, when the status of the yangban, or elite class, was beginning to collapse. 2) Yang San-bo - Known as a retired scholar of Sosoewon Garden, created the garden for his respected teacher, Cho Gwang-jo. In 1519, conservative officials instigated a major purge of Neo-Confucian reformers led by Cho Kwang-jo (1482-1519). This purge, known as the Kimyo sahwa, was an important turning point in the history of Korean Confucianism for it saw the banishment of Neo-Confucian reformers and the consolidation of conservative control. Little more than a month after his banishment to Hwasun, south of Tamyang, Cho Kwang-jo was forced to take poison. Yang San-bo grieved over his teacher
s death and then he went to Damyang and spent ten years building Sosoewon on the site. Sosoewon, designated as the historical site #304 of Jeonnam Province, represents a typical garden of the middle of the Joseon dynasty (1503-1577). The garden, lying on land of 4,060 square meters, cherishes natural features of a Korean garden.