The Symbolic Meaning of the 'Tiger' in Minhwa and its 'Social Contexts' in Joseon Period

조선시대 호랑이 민화의 동물 상징 및 그 사회적 맥락

The purpose of this study is to analyze the symbolic meaning of the Tiger in Korean Folk Paintings, Minhwa, (hereafter, Minhwa) connected to its social contexts in Joseon period. Thinking of the Tiger Minhwa as a 'visual language' and regard the Tiger as a 'visual signifier' as well as the united-signifiers such as a Korean magpie, pine tree and so on in Minhwa. This research is to analyze these signifieds, 'Signified', what we say in this paper, have composed its symbolic meaning related to the social 'ideological complexes' and collective consciousness during Joseon period. In a word, the characteristic of the Tiger signifier has changed and spread out from the ideal trend to a worldly one. Since the late Joseon period, the change of the social contexts was, because of the civil classes who recognized the limitation of the Sung Confucianism(the doctrines of $Chi-Tz\={u}$), the predominated ideology of that time. To get rid of their uneasiness, they brought the Shamanism, Taoism and Buddhism at the front which were usually the lower class ideology or belief and tried to construct the collective consciousness and safety of their real lives. Therefore, the trend of this 'common conceptualization' show us the positiveness and flexibility to the Tiger signifier through the variation, appropriation and producing signifier. Moreover, even to the same Tiger, there were various meanings and most of them were concentrated in the meanings as follows ; Beoksa(in Korean term is to drive away evil spirits) and Gilsang, which is the good omen of a luck. All these were based on the value of 'this world'. In conclusion, through this research, the concept of the Tiger as a apotheosis has lowered its statutes and being secularized.