Im Yunjidang

By Sungmoon Kim

This Element aims to critically examine the philosophical thought of Im Yunjidang 任允摯堂 (1721-93), a female Korean Neo-Confucian philosopher from the Chosŏn 朝鮮 dynasty (1392-1910), and to present her as a feminist thinker. Unlike most Korean women of her time, Yunjidang had the exceptional opportunity to be introduced to a major philosophical debate among Korean Neo-Confucians, which was focused on two core questions-whether sages and commoners share the same heart-mind, and whether the natures of human beings and animals are identical. In the course of engaging in this debate, she was able to reformulate Neo-Confucian metaphysics and ethics of moral self-cultivation, culminating in her bold ideas of the moral equality between men and women and the possibility of female sagehood. By proposing a 'stage-approach' to feminism that is also sensitive to the cultural context, this Element shows that Yunjidang's philosophical thought could be best captured in terms of Confucian feminism.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1009010662
• ISBN13: 9781009010665
• Release Date: August 2022
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press
• Length: 82 Pages
• Weight: 0.27 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.2" x 6.0" x 9.0"