English abstract of an article published in Korean. The full text is available in Korean only.
Abstract
Objectives This study reexamines the Palgwaejam (八卦箴, Eight-Trigrams Admonitions) in Volume 2 of Yi Je-ma's Gyeokchigo (格致藁), proposing that the eight trigrams can be read not as a static typology of persons but as a structure in which a relational field assigns the role within a jeong-wi (情僞, false/exploitative relational disposition; deception, 欺詐, is its representative species).
Methods Using the 1940 first edition (edited by Han Du-jeong) as the base text, collated with Ji's annotated translation (2001) and Lee's Dongmu Yugo (1999), each passage was examined in four stages: original text, literal translation, annotation, and interpretation. The reading was situated against prior interpretations within Sasang studies (Jang et al., 1992; In, 1995) and the Yijing-based lineage (Kim, 1999; Lim, 2013–2024).
Results Three observations are presented, at the level of a diagnostic layer within the larger Palgwaejam structure (a generative schema and the fan-seong telos are treated in companion papers). First, the operative verbs 圖 (to plan) and 着 (to attach), with the formula 八卦定吉凶, suggest a dynamic rather than classificatory grammar; the trigrams may denote eight vectors of jeong-wi. Second, the four-tier Gon (坤) admonition indicates that a field can assign the deceiving role (我必行欺詐), while an inner layer of virtue (忠敬恭信) may sever that progression. Third, jonsim (存心) and susin (守身) appear to form an asymmetric praxis—not deceiving versus not being deceived—which the eight trigrams later align into a four-axis × two-pole matrix (developed in a companion paper).
Conclusions The Palgwaejam may be read as a structure in which roles are assigned by the field rather than by individual character, recovering a dynamic dimension that prior static interpretations did not develop. This field-based role assignment operates as a diagnostic layer beneath the text's generative schema and its fan-seong (反誠) telos.
Key words Medicine, Korean Traditional; Philosophy, Medical; Interpersonal Relations; Deception; Personality; Korea
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Choi Jang-hyuk | Doctor of Korean Medicine · Director, Dongjedang Korean Medicine Clinic