• (The)Study of the Eastern Classic
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• no.41
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• pp.91-120
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• 2010

In this paper, I tried to analyze the image of bamboo from Chang Hyun-kwang's poetry. Especially I focused on defining the symbolic meaning of bamboo as a poetic material. To achieve this, I inspected his view of world and politic life. He considered his contemporary period as 'ethically corrupted' world. During his life time, he served for three kings and also suffered from the fires of war four times. That means, he had to undergo the political unrest and national crisis during his life time. Due to the chaotic state of affairs, all the people were busy pursuing their own interests. It made Chang had no choice but retiring from active life. While Chang revealed his attitude to life through writing poetry, he used the image of bamboo as a completion of one's mature character. And the image of bamboo what he used was somewhat different from general one. Chang used the image of bamboo in two ways. The one is seeking live in retirement, and the other is chasing completion of his own mature character in academic way.