집현전 학사 최만리의 정치활동 (Choi Man-ri's Life and Activities)

서지정보

· 발행기관 : 한국고전번역원
· 수록지 정보 : 민족문화 / 37권 / 37호 / 193 ~ 220페이지
· 저자명 : 박홍갑

초록

1419년 문과에 급제한 최만리는 이듬해 집현전이 창립되면서 박사(정7품)를 제수 받았고, 7년이 지난 시점에도 집현전 응교(종4품)로 활동하였다. 이 때 최만리는 현실 정치에 참여할 기회를 별로 가지지 못한 채 정책 수립을 위한 기초적 학문 연구와 경연 혹은 세자 교육에만 매진하였던 것으로 보인다. 그 후 최만리는 1431년에 전임 서연관 제도가 만들어져 1435년 폐지될 때까지 세자 사부로만 전념하였고, 이어 집현전을 이끄는 부제학에 올라 1444년 갑자상소를 계기로 낙향할 때까지 집현전을 지켰다.
순수 학술기구로 출발한 집현전이 점차 정치적 기구로 변해가던 상황과 짝하여, 최만리도 생애 후반 10년 정도는 매우 적극적인 정치활동을 펼치고 있었다. 1437년부터 모두 15차례에 걸친 상소에서 그의 정치적 입장이 잘 드러나는데, 상소 내용이 대체로 예민한 정치사회적 문제들이었다. 이렇듯 그의 언론 활동이 생애 후반기에 집중되었던 것은 당시 권력구조나 정치적 분위기와 직결된다 하겠다.
최만리의 학문경향은 書筵을 통해 짐작할 수 있는데, 당시 세자 교육은 체와 용의 결합체인 [대학연의]를 중심으로 하되, 폭넓고 실용적인 학문까지 포함하고 있었다. 아울러 당시 집현전 학풍이 心性의 측면과 敬을 강조하는 측면이 강했고, 특히 正心과 養性을 이루는 방편으로 경을 내세우고 있었다. 따라서 최만리 역시 이와 연관된 학문 성향을 보였을 것이다. 또한 집현전 학사들의 개방적이고 실용적인 입장에서 공리를 우선으로 하는 ‘박학치지’ 강조의 학풍을 띄고 있는데, 이런 의식세계가 갑자상소에까지 영향을 미쳤을 것으로 판단된다.

영어초록

Choi Man-ri passed the state examination for civilian officials in A.D. 1419. He was appointed to the post of Paksa, which was of a first level position within the 7th official rank, in A.D. 1419, when the Royal Academic Institute of Jiphyeonjeon was established. He served in Jiphyeonjeon for the next 7 years and was given a post of the second level of the 4th official rank: Eunggyo. What he was mainly in charge of at the time, since he only had a few chances to participate in real politics, was doing basic academic research to frame government policies and participating in an academic seminar for the King and the Crown Prince. Academic seminars for the Crown Prince were institutionalized in A.D. 1431, and from that time until the system was repealed in A.D. 1435, Choi Man-ri served as a tutor to the Crown Prince. After that, he was appointed to the post of Bujehak, the chief official of Jiphyeonjeon, and stayed there until he left the post after presenting a petition to the King in the year of Kabja (A.D. 1444).
As Jiphyeonjeon, which was established merely for academic research, was gradually changing into a political organization, Choi Man-ri was also becoming more political and spent 10 years of the latter part of his life briskly working on political activities. His political position is most strikingly revealed in those 15 petitions—mostly concerning controversial political-social issues—he submitted to the King starting in A.D 1437. The fact that his critical-political activities were mostly from the latter part of his life is related to the political atmosphere and the power structure of the time.
Choi Man-ri's academic tendency is revealed in the record of academic seminars he participated. The education for the Crown Prince was mainly focused on The Interpretation of Ta-shueh (『大學衍義』) which is a combination of the substance (體) and the function (用), but it also included practical studies. Jiphyeonjeon was founded by King Sejong, thus, its academic trend was unavoidably dependent on the King's academic tendency and his governing philosophy, so Choi Man-ri also seemed to be concerned about the nature of the mind (心性) and reverence (敬). At his time, reverence was believed to be a method of achieving the right mind (正心) and cultivation of the mind (養性). The practical and uninhibited academic trend of Jiphyeonjeon scholars had a certain relationship with the academic trend of the Ming Dynasty, the trend of broad study and extension of knowledge (博學致知) in which public interests were given priority. So it is possible to say that Choi Man-ri's consciousness of public opinion and public interest affected the substance of his petition to the King in the year of Kabja (A.D. 1444).

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