This lecture attempts to introduce one aspect of Explanation of the Diagram of the Supreme Ultimate (太極圖說) by Zhou Dunyi (周敦頤) accepted in the Joseon Dynasty through the Diagrams of the Heavenly Mandate (天命圖). These diagrams are famous for being the trigger for the Four-seven debate (四端七情之論辯), the most important debate in the intellectual history in the Joseon Dynasty. The Four-seven debate began when Ki Daeseung (奇大升, 1527-1572) sent a letter with questions to his teacher Yi Hwang (李滉, 1501-1570) in 1559. However, if we look at the process of establishment of the Diagrams of the Heavenly Mandate, it can be seen that the diagrams are not single-authored by Yi Hwang but is originally drawn by a young scholar named Jeong Ji-un (鄭之雲, 1509-1561) and was continuously changed during the debate and even contained the results of the argument by Yi Hwang at the end. Moreover, the Explanation of the Diagram of the Heavenly Mandate written by Jeong Ji-un contains Yi Hwang’s epilogue, in which described Jeong Ji-un’s original diagram and his revision following Yi Hwang’s correction and how the Diagram of the Supreme Ultimate condensed and absorbed into their diagrams. In the 16th century Joseon, not only Jeong Ji-un and Yi Hwang, but also various scholars such as, Kim In-hu (金麟厚, 1510-1560) and Ki Dae-seung drew the Diagrams of the Heavenly Mandate under the influence of the Four-seven debate. Although there is a difference in the description on the human mind-nature, we can confirm the common tendency that the circles in the Diagram of the Supreme Ultimate, in which the ontological order unfold vertically, overlap with a circle, the symbol of ideal form of circulation and the terrestrial beings appears in hierarchically in each Diagram of the Heavenly Mandate. Professor Dennis K. H. Cheng, Chair Professor of Cultural History of the Department of Literature and Cultural Studies, The Education University of Hong Kong, will be our honourable moderator of this lecture.
