′Xixiang′ and ′Dongsang′: A study on the acceptance of Chinese traditional dismas in Korea ane cultural exchanges between Korea and China

′서상′과 ′동상′: 희곡을 통해 본 중국문화 수용문제

  • Published : 2004.06.01

Abstract

$\ulcorner$Xixiangji[West chamber]$\lrcorner$ is one of the most popular Chinese dramas which was first translated into Korean by Chung-hee Kim in 1811. $\ulcorner$Dongsanggi[East chamber]$\lrcorner$is a Korean drama which was written in Chinese by Ok Lee in 1791. It adopted the form of Chinese traditional drama, $\ulcorner$xixianji$\lrcorner$. 1 think theses are very interesting examples which show how we accepted Chinese dramas through translation or modification and created our own dramas in the past. 1 quoted their names in the title because it is thought that they can represent the direction of the stream of cultural exchange between two countries in the past. The direction has recently changed. Han stream[Korean cultural effect] has become very powerful in whole Asia in last 10 years. Cultural exchange between Korea and China has been very steady and popular over 2000 years before the 20th century We used to have cultural identity by using Chinese character and accept many of the cultural aspects from China. Now, we are trying to reestablish the relationship which has been cut off for about 50years. In this paper I tried to retrospect the results of cultural exchange in the past and argue about the problems we are now facing by examining interchange or acceptance of the Chinese drama including translations and theatrical performances. 1 also tried to suggest the diverse ways of mutual exchange to uplift the cultural level of two countries.

Keywords