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Research Article

Cosmic Resonance, Measure, and their Modern Meanings

Hee Jeong Kim

Sogang Institute for East Asian Studies, Sogang University

Published: August 2010 · Vol. 29 No. 2 · pp. 163-186

DOI: https://doi.org/10.33334/sieas.2010..59.163

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Abstract

In this article, I attempt to analyze the relationship between cosmic resonance and measure in East Asian tradition, and tunderstand their modern meanings. Cosmic resonance (ganying, 感應) is a central concept of ancient Chinese cosmology. This idea of cosmic resonance is related to the idea of pitch standard (lŭlŭ, 律呂). The concept of lŭlŭ is the musical and cosmic measure in the correlative cosmology. Ancient Chinese governments standardized weights and measures by lŭlŭ. The character lŭ(律) itself means law. After neo-Confucianism was established in Song dynasty, even though li(理), meaning the eternal measure and natural principle, was the most important value of Choson Confucianists, it decreased in importance in late Choson dynasty. Instead, Hong Dae-Yong and Choi Han-Gi interwove Qi thought with the idea of quantified measurement. They attempted to unify Eastern organic world-view and Western scientific thoughts. Kim Il-Boo’s thought of “Right Changes” (Jeongyeok) as Korean Millenarianism sought a new truth and measure of the world. They argued that, in a secularized modern world, we need to reinterpret views of religion, law, and science through historical relationships between cosmic resonance and measure.
Keywords: Cosmic ResonanceMeasurePitch Standard(Lŭlŭ)Qi thoughtRight Changes(Jeongyeok)Modern Meaning