≪尙書≫ ‘敬’의 의미 고찰

Abstract

‘Jing(敬)’ occupies the highest frequency of appearance among ‘Jing(敬)’-like vocabulary in 68 times in Shangshu(≪尙書≫). ‘Jing(敬)’ is a ‘Huiyizi(會意字)’ which follows ‘Ji(苟)’ and ‘Pu(攴)’, and its original meaning started from the meaning of “to watch out for the flock”. As the object of ‘Jing(敬)’ gradually develops from a specific object called ‘sheep’ to all objects and work, it has ‘wariness meaning’ such as ‘to be careful’. The object of ‘Jing(敬)’ expands further, and a specific object does not appear, and it develops into ‘discipline meaning’, which represents the meaning of cultivating virtue, always refraining from every matter and every hour. This is an important motivation for the development of ‘Jing(敬)’ into ‘the meaning of moral concept’ from the period of Xizhou(西周). If the object of ‘Jing(敬)’ becomes a person, it takes on ‘respect-meaning’. ‘Jing(敬)’ is frequently used as an adverb in sentences, which is also the reason why ‘Jing(敬)’ develops as ‘qianci(謙辭)’. ‘Shen(愼)’ overlaps with ‘wariness meaning’ and ‘discipline meaning’ in ‘Jing(敬)’. In terms of semantic characteristics, ‘Jing(敬)’ has a lot of ‘discipline meaning’, whereas ‘Shen(愼)’ has more ‘wariness meaning’. Even if it represents ‘discipline meaning’, it is distinguished from ‘Jing(敬)’ because the object of ‘Shen(愼)’ is mainly accompanied by pro