존재 위백규는 18세기 후반을 ‘이익을 탐하는 사회’로 규정하고, 이를 법과 제도가 아닌 덕성의 회복을 통해 치유하고자 했다. 그는 천자로부터 서인에 이르기까지 전 인민의 도덕성을 회복함으로써 향촌 내 자율적 도덕공동체를 수립하려던 주자학의 기획을 추구했다. 먼저 사서(士庶)를 구별하지 않고 덕성에 따라 학교(서원, 향교, 州學, 성균관)에 나아가 수업하고 이를 평가하여 관료로 출신하도록 했다. 향리층에게도 능력과 덕성에 따라 5품 실직으로 나아갈 수 있는 기회를 제공하여 사욕보다 공공의 책임을 가지도록 했다. 향촌의 중요한공무를 담당하는 향임을 기본적으로 관료제 시스템으로 흡수함으로써 청렴하고 능력 있는 자들이 적극적으로 향임직을 담당할 수 있도록 유도했다. 특히 위백규는 향중 공론을 적극적으로 수렴했다. 서원과 향교의 훈장과 교수를 향촌의 공론에 따라 선발했으며, 서원과 향교의 운영도 향촌의 자율에 맡기도록 했다. 이 밖에 사창이나 환곡 그리고 시장의 운영과정의 대부분을 향촌의 공론에 따르도록 했다. 향촌 공론에 대한 존재의 신뢰는 항산 없는 소민에 대한 불신으로 교화를 유보했던 18세기 대표적인 개혁안을 제시한 다산 정약용과는 다른 것이었다.
Jonjae Wi Baek‑gyu categorized the late 18th century Joseon society as a society in ‘aggressive pursuit of profits’, and tried to present a way to heal such society not with institutional means but with the concept of restoration of the people’s sense of morality. He wanted to reconstruct the attempts of Zhuxi, who attempted to create an self‑supervising moral community in local regions by restoring the civic sensitivity at every level of the social structure, from the emperor to all commoners. First, Jonjae intended that people should not be discriminated by their class, and that they should be allowed to enter the Seoweon schools by their morality so that they could be granted with the opportunity to become governmental officials in the future. Also, in order to encourage Hyang’ri local clergymen to rather pursue public interest than private needs, he provided them with the opportunity to advance their career to a substantial 5‑Pum seat if their capability and character warranted it. By absorbing the Hyang'im figures, who were responsible for all the crucial functions of the local community, into the local administrative governing system, he practically recruited many honest and capable people for the Hyang’im seat. Jonjae especially endeavored to collect the public opinion of the local community. He selected the Hunjang masters and professors at the Seoweon and Hyang’gyo schools by suggestions of the public opinion, and left the management of those schools to the local community’s autonomous decisions. He also let the public opinion dictate and determine the course of local operations which included the institution of Sachang, Hwan’gok and local marketplaces. His genuine trust in the local community’s public opinion was what made him so different from Tasan Jeong Yak‑yong, whose hesitation to enlighten the lower class was out of his distrust of the general public which did not have a solid economic base for survival.
Jonjae Wi Baek‑gyu categorized the late 18th century Joseon society as a society in ‘aggressive pursuit of profits’, and tried to present a way to heal such society not with institutional means but with the concept of restoration of the people’s sense of morality. He wanted to reconstruct the attempts of Zhuxi, who attempted to create an self‑supervising moral community in local regions by restoring the civic sensitivity at every level of the social structure, from the emperor to all commoners. First, Jonjae intended that people should not be discriminated by their class, and that they should be allowed to enter the Seoweon schools by their morality so that they could be granted with the opportunity to become governmental officials in the future. Also, in order to encourage Hyang’ri local clergymen to rather pursue public interest than private needs, he provided them with the opportunity to advance their career to a substantial 5‑Pum seat if their capability and character warranted it. By absorbing the Hyang'im figures, who were responsible for all the crucial functions of the local community, into the local administrative governing system, he practically recruited many honest and capable people for the Hyang’im seat. Jonjae especially endeavored to collect the public opinion of the local community. He selected the Hunjang masters and professors at the Seoweon and Hyang’gyo schools by suggestions of the public opinion, and left the management of those schools to the local community’s autonomous decisions. He also let the public opinion dictate and determine the course of local operations which included the institution of Sachang, Hwan’gok and local marketplaces. His genuine trust in the local community’s public opinion was what made him so different from Tasan Jeong Yak‑yong, whose hesitation to enlighten the lower class was out of his distrust of the general public which did not have a solid economic base for survival.
