• Journal of Korean Classical Literature and Education
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• no.35
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• pp.153-193
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• 2017

This study explores the creation and enjoyment of Kuwoonmong (九雲夢) using a reference system called the cultural imagination, which is related to the Yin-Yang (陰陽) and Wu Xing (五行). When Kim Manjung wrote Guwoonmong, he may have composed figures and events based on this imagination. In particular, when he designed the eight seonnyeo (팔선녀), he set the order such as Gap (甲), Eul (乙), Byeong (병), Jeong (丁), etc. and characterized them according to the celestial stem (天干). Thus it was easy to avoid overlapping of characters and to construct various stories and relationships between them. The table below shows the characters of Kuwoonmong corresponding to the celestial stem. In not only the individual person but also the narrative world, Kuwoonmon demonstrates Yin-Yang and Wu Xing's imagination. In this respect, Kuwoonmon can be considered a large symbol encompassing the abstract theory of Yin-Yang and Wu Xing. Of course, the writer, Kim, Manjung would not have tried to symbolize the principle intentionally. However, he was also present in the environment of the cultural imagination that has been formed over the years. The same is true for the contemporary recipients of Guwunmong. They would have had a pleasant experience applying the cultural imagination and strengthening their familiar world view and human view.

• Journal of Korean Classical Literature and Education
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• no.38
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• pp.175-200
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• 2018

From the point of view of the law and public morals in Yi-dynasty, it is possible to discover new meanings in the love of Chunhyang and Mongryong-Lee, the conflicts between Chunhyang and Hakdo-Byeon, and the rescue of Chunhyang by Mongryong-Lee as a secret royal inspector. First, although the love of Chunhyang and Mongryong-Lee was against the law and public morals of Yi-dynasty, the narrator did not call to account, but he described the love as a romantic and new one conflicting with the ruling system. And it was an unprecedented case that Chunhyang asked a written contract as a legal guarantee for marriage when Mongryong-Lee courted her. Second, Hakdo-Byeon, the Namwon county governor, accused Chunhyang, a female entertainer of the Namwon county, of disobedience to his oder and contempt of him, and interrogated her with torture when she denied his demand for bed service which was prohibited by law. Chunhyang refuted against him and regarded his demand for bed service as the rape of a married woman. In this process, narrator sharply contrasted Chunhyang's claim for human rights with Hakdo-Byeon's legal administration. Characters such as people of Namwon county and king did not call Mongryong-Lee to account for that he, as a secret royal inspector, allegedly used his power privately to rescue his sweetheart Chunhyang from Hakdo-Byeon's illegal oppression. These different judgements on legal administrations of Hakdo-Byeon and Mongryong-Lee came from the legal emotion of characters and reading publics of . Namely, people who sympathized with Chunhyang's claim for love and human rights had the legal emotion that Mongryong-Lee's administrative order suspending Hakdo-Byeon's govenor's status could be approved as an legal and exciting one. Therefore the love of Chunhyang and Mongryong-Lee implied a new legal emotion which based on the sympathy with Chunhyang's human rights consciousness, and regarded the positive law of Yi - dynasty as one behind times.

• Journal of Korean Classical Literature and Education
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• no.33
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• pp.121-152
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• 2016

The purpose of this study is to illustrate the history of the Cheonsu-Temple天壽寺 and to describe the echo verse poem trend with regard to 'Waiting'待人 and why it is beautiful. The Cheonsu-Temple was located in the outskirts of Gaesung開城, the capital city during the Corea高麗 Dynasty. However, the temple was destroyed when the dynasty collapsed. Cheonsu-Station天壽院 was built amidst the temple ruins, as the temple was an important traffic point. The Cheonsu-Pavilion天水亭 was built in 1476 by Yi-Ye李芮 in the station's neighborhood. The station and the pavilion were completely ruined during the 17th century. Many poets visited the Cheonsu-Temple and composed poems in the latter part of the Corea Dynasty. 'Waiting'待人, written by Choi-Sarip崔斯立, -is the most famous work. Following this work, many poets composed echo verse poems 'Waiting' work that represented the anxiety of waiting for an old friend in front of the Cheonsu-Temple. The following is a highlighted verse: So many people who look like the old friend come to me, but it turned out no one was the man. This work is very picturesque. Over twenty echo verse poems 'Waiting' are categorized in three periods. They compared the "present" to the past by using the Zhenglingwei丁令威 origin from the former Joseon朝鮮 period. In the middle of Joseon period, Jungjong中宗 visited Cheonsu-Station and composed an echo verse poem 'Waiting'. The official literaries also composed poems there. In their works, they presented the collapse of the Corea Dynasty as inevitable and the construction of Joseon Dynasty as something reasonable. Cheonsu-Station was ruined in 17th century, followed after by the ruin of the Cheonsu-Pavilion. It appears that the echo verse poems to 'Waiting' in the latter Joseon period represented the ruin of the Cheonsu-Temple, the Cheonsu-Station, and the Cheonsu-Pavilion.

• Journal of Korean Classical Literature and Education
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• no.33
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• pp.153-184
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• 2016

This study investigates the funeral rituals practiced by the Joseon Dynasty as recorded about Lee Mun Geon (1494~1567, a.k.a Mukjae), who mourned by the grave of his deceased mother, Ms. Shin (1463~1535), a woman whose family's origin was Goryeon. The study focuse on the rituals performed by Lee after his mother's death, his participation in the funeral, and his mourning specifically as an individual who has lost his parent. Reviewing Lee's mourning life beside the grave, the contents of diary belonging to a nobleman in the middle of Joseon Dynasty were studied aimsing to find out the meaning of rituals, the overall recognition accorded to death, and the filial duties that were carried out by the noblemen of the time. Although noblemen in the middle of Joseon Dynasty ceaselessly attempted to change the observance of funeral rituals through legislation, it was difficult to change the mindset of the people, who fllowed the deep-rooted traditions of long history. It must be acknowledged that the Joseon Dynasty had a different cultural background than that of China. There was a fundamental problem when they tried to adapt The Family Rituals of Zhu Xi, followed by the Chinese, to the Joseon society. Although The Family Rituals of Zhu Xi emphasized ancestral rites focusing on enshrining mortuary tablets and the importance of establishing the family shrine hundred times, noblemen in the mid-Joseon Dynasty period cared for their parents in the grave by mourning for them than by following such practice. The solemn memorial service held in front of the grave, and the annual ritual service on the death anniversary were far more important to the noblemen in the mid-Joseon Dynasty. Amid such contradictions, the noblemen accepted and performed the mourning rituals beside the grave of their parent. Human beings across the ages have always dwelt upon thoughts of the afterlife. Most people believe that they attain a state after the death of their physicalbody. If humans did not have such thoughts, they would not be bothered if death occurs on being hit by a car on the street. Thus, human beings often think of the ritual services related to death, although in different forms. Therefore, mourning by the grave of their parent held great significance among the noblemen of the Joseon Dynasty as a sign of their filial piety.

• Journal of Korean Classical Literature and Education
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• no.32
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• pp.5-27
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• 2016

This study shows the points of interest and the meanings contained within Hyangga which are derived from three literary characteristics: easy-to-understand structure of dialectic thinking, old-fashioned and universal lyric, and the sense of a place from the past that it reveals. Hyangga is a literary genre that is structured on dialectic thinking in its form and contents. The construction of meaning in these poems happens three stages, which is explicit in four-line and eight line Hyangga as well as in ten-line Hyangga. Therefore, to enjoy Hyangga, it makes more sense to understand the structure of the thoughts contained in Hyangga. A deeper understanding and enjoyment of the thoughts contained in Hyangga can be gained by thinking dialectically. The poems of Hyangga that have survived to present day have peculiar and rich lyrics. The emotions and thoughts contained in Hyangga are a combination of the universal human being and historically peculiar ones. The literary interests of Hyangga come from its universality and individuality, and the concreteness and reality of emotions expressed in its poems. Its beautifully and aesthetically described emotions resonate deep within us. The poems of Hyangga reveal features relating to spaces. We are able to get a sense of places from the past by reading their description in these poems. The places mentioned in Hyangga bring about a connection between our past and our present because they describe the same place but in a different period. Hyangga is a literary genre depicting the emotions and thoughts derived from places that belong to our people's territories. Therefore, the sense of place that Hyangga awakens in us reveals how we exist in the flow of our history. To sum up, the point of interest and meaning contained within Hyangga reveal the structure of dialectic thinking, the lyrics of those days, and the feeling of a sense of place. If these boundaries can be extended, there will be a wider scope for enjoying Hyangga.