이 논문은『주역』 「계사전」의 ‘生生之謂易’의 문구를 토대로 ‘生生’의 의미와 구조, 儒家에서의 ‘생생’의 목표를 고찰하는 것을 목적으로 한다. 지금까지의 연구가 ‘생생’의 의미를 너무『주역』의 보편적 문화가치인 ‘우주 생명의 보편적 순환과 연속’이라는 측면에만 치우쳐 다루다 보니 조화와 균형의 의미로만 해석하였다. 따라서 이 논문은『주역』에서 강조하는 사물의 생성ㆍ변화ㆍ발전ㆍ소멸이라는 과정 중 대립과 소멸이 또 다른 생성ㆍ성장을 가능케 하는 중요한 순환의 고리가 된다는 점에 주목하여, ‘죽음’이 ‘삶’의 완성이 될 수 있는 근거를 살펴본다. 즉 ‘생생’이 소멸/생성, 음/양, 죽음/삶, 땅/하늘, 달/해, 여자/남자 등등 ‘대립을 통한 생성과 조화’를 특징으로 하는 변증법적 구조로 이루어졌다는 분석을 통해 ‘생생’에 ‘死生’의 계기가 있음을 밝힌다.
지금은 ‘잘 죽는 것’과 관련해 죽음학이 학문적으로 논의되고는 있지만, 그래도 아직까지 특정신앙이 없다면 일반적으로 죽음에 대해 말하는 것은 일종의 금기 또는 삶에 대한 모독으로 여겨지기 십상이다. 이런 이유가 특히 유가적 전통에서 죽음을 기피하고 삶을 중시했던 태도와 무관하지 않다고 말한다. 그러나 이것은 지나친 오해이다. 유가는 죽음을 기피했던 것이 아니라 오히려 삶이 날마다 새로워져 완성되는 계기 속에서 죽음을 열린 관점으로 봤던 것이다. 유가의 사생관은 살아있어도 죽은 삶[의미 없는 삶]이 되지 않도록 하는 것, 다시 말해 제대로 된 삶을 사는 것을 강조한다.
고대 유가 지식인들의 영원과 불멸에 대한 바람은 ‘생생’의 개념 속에 집약되어 있다. 여기서 말하는 영원과 불멸의 바람은 육체적 생명의 연속이 아닌 지성적 삶을 통한 정신적 가치의 영원을 의미한다. 즉 유가는 죽음을 마지막 성장과 영원의 계기로 봤다. 따라서 ‘죽음’이 죽음을 맞이하는 자의 마지막 성장이 된다는 점에서 ‘생생’의 의미 속에 ‘사생’의 의미를 포함하고 있는 것이다.
진리는 본래 변증법적 사고의 소산이므로, 삶과 죽음에 대한 진리 탐구도 마찬가지로 변증법적이다. 삶의 측면에서 죽음을 묻고 조망하고, 죽음의 측면에서 삶의 의미를 묻고 반성을 해야만 삶과 죽음이 모두 유의미한 것으로 인간에게 다가오게 되는 것이다. 죽음의 의미는 죽음 자체만을 이야기해서는 절대 밝혀질 수 없다. 왜냐하면 존재론적으로 죽음은 삶과 궤를 같이 하기 때문이다. 흔히 삶과 죽음이 서로 닮았다고 하는 맥락에서 죽음이 삶의 거울이라고 말하곤 한다. 따라서 죽음의 의미는 삶을 함께 이야기함으로써 드러나고, 또 삶의 소중함을 동시에 이끌어 내는 점에서 의미를 지닌다.
The main objects of this study are to find the meaning and structure of Ceaseless Production and to investigate the importance of Ceaseless Production from the Confucianists point of view based on the words products-producing-products is called Yi from Zhouyi. The meaning of Ceaseless Production, until now, has been largely dealt with as a generalized cultural value of Zhouyi, the circulation and continuation of universal life, and usually translated as harmony and balance. This study is an inquiry into the basis for death becoming the completion of life by examining the importance of the cycle of creation, change, development and extinction of life as a link between death and life. In other words, analyzing the dialectic structure of Ceaseless Production that is characterized by ‘creation and harmony through opposition’, such as extinction/creation, yin/yang, death/life, land/sky, moon/sun, woman/man etc., that reveals ‘Death and Life’ in Ceaseless Production. Thanatology, nowadays, is discussing death academically and scientifically related to ‘Well-Dying’. However, if there is not a specific religious belief, talking about death is still considered a kind of taboo or defilement of life. For that reason, it is generally thought especially in the Confucian tradition their attitude is to evade death and value life. This is, however, a gross misunderstanding. The Confucianists are rather open-minded and see death in life as being newly completed everyday rather than becoming extinct. Therefore, Death and Life of the Confucianists is not to live without a life (meaningless life), so to speak, live a well worth life. A desire for eternity and immortality of the ancient Confucianists has well integrated into the concept of Ceaseless Production. It means that the desire for eternity and immortality isn’t about the continuing of physical life. It is more mental eternity through intellectual life and seeing death as an opportunity for the last growth of a dying person, Ceaseless Production implies the concept of ‘Death and Life’. Truth is the product of dialectic thinking, so the quest for truth about life and death also has to be dialectic. A person can only be able to see the significance of life and death by searching for the meaning of life through the perspective of death and vice versa. The meaning of death can not be revealed by death itself because in the ontological point of view death is in the same line with life, i.e. death shares a fate with life. Death is said to be a mirror of life in the context of having similarities between life and death. Therefore, the meaning of death is understood through talking together about life which leads at the same time to valuing the importance of life.
The main objects of this study are to find the meaning and structure of Ceaseless Production and to investigate the importance of Ceaseless Production from the Confucianists point of view based on the words products-producing-products is called Yi from Zhouyi. The meaning of Ceaseless Production, until now, has been largely dealt with as a generalized cultural value of Zhouyi, the circulation and continuation of universal life, and usually translated as harmony and balance. This study is an inquiry into the basis for death becoming the completion of life by examining the importance of the cycle of creation, change, development and extinction of life as a link between death and life. In other words, analyzing the dialectic structure of Ceaseless Production that is characterized by ‘creation and harmony through opposition’, such as extinction/creation, yin/yang, death/life, land/sky, moon/sun, woman/man etc., that reveals ‘Death and Life’ in Ceaseless Production. Thanatology, nowadays, is discussing death academically and scientifically related to ‘Well-Dying’. However, if there is not a specific religious belief, talking about death is still considered a kind of taboo or defilement of life. For that reason, it is generally thought especially in the Confucian tradition their attitude is to evade death and value life. This is, however, a gross misunderstanding. The Confucianists are rather open-minded and see death in life as being newly completed everyday rather than becoming extinct. Therefore, Death and Life of the Confucianists is not to live without a life (meaningless life), so to speak, live a well worth life. A desire for eternity and immortality of the ancient Confucianists has well integrated into the concept of Ceaseless Production. It means that the desire for eternity and immortality isn’t about the continuing of physical life. It is more mental eternity through intellectual life and seeing death as an opportunity for the last growth of a dying person, Ceaseless Production implies the concept of ‘Death and Life’. Truth is the product of dialectic thinking, so the quest for truth about life and death also has to be dialectic. A person can only be able to see the significance of life and death by searching for the meaning of life through the perspective of death and vice versa. The meaning of death can not be revealed by death itself because in the ontological point of view death is in the same line with life, i.e. death shares a fate with life. Death is said to be a mirror of life in the context of having similarities between life and death. Therefore, the meaning of death is understood through talking together about life which leads at the same time to valuing the importance of life.
