Practical Wisdom, Leadership and Culture by Intezari Ali; Spiller Chellie; Yang Shih-Ying

Author:Intezari, Ali; Spiller, Chellie; Yang, Shih-Ying
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Taylor & Francis Group
Published: 2021-07-15T00:00:00+00:00

Kyong (reverent seriousness) and Simhak (self-cultivation)

I want to focus particularly on T’oegye’s perspectives of Kyong (경) and Simhak (심학), as they may well be the most influencing concepts in the East Asian pursuit of education and practices beyond education. Although Confucianism as a total entity has been claimed as well as criticized for undergirding the extreme emphasis on high performance, competitiveness, and teacher-centered attitudes in East Asian education, these two concepts might be the causes of such criticism. Some people mistakenly believe that the overheated educational aspirations in East Asian societies are caused by Confucian traditions that emphasize diligence in pursuing reverent seriousness and self-cultivation. Kwak et al. (2016), for instance, examine a few cases that could be misinterpreted as a negative effect of Confucianism. For example, they assert 1) that the practice of the rite (예) is often related to “formalities,” while it is in fact more closely related to body-knowledge; 2) that “reading classics” is a core method of learning considered as “rote learning,” but should in fact be regarded as engaging in higher levels of abstract and reflective thinking using metacognition and contemplation; 3) that the practice of reverent seriousness involves conformity to norms and authority, when it is in actuality a method of self-discipline (self-cultivation); and 4) that self-development refers only to individual self-development, when in fact it also includes spiritual growth (self-cultivation).

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