A comparative study: symbolic meaning of animals between Korea and China

minsoo park

doi:10.21049/ccs.2010.21..271

Cross-Cultural Studies

2010, 21(), pp.271-288
DOI : 10.21049/ccs.2010.21..271
Publisher : Center for Cross Culture Studies
Research Area : Literature

minsoo park ¹

¹삼육대학교

ABSTRACT

In their everyday life, people form social phenomena and relations through the shapes and habits of animals. Therefore, animals contain the idea of the way of life of certain nations, spiritual and cultural feelings, and the symbolic meaning which can be recognized between the members of the unique nation. The symbolism of animals varies depending on different nations, because the adages are the essence of the language including their culture, thought, custom, and life. Examining their own adages can be one of the ways to find out what the animals symbolize in different nations. Another reason is that they are the dictionaries, reflecting their own way of thinking and traditional values, so to speak. The research shows that, between Korean and Chinese adages, it is in a similar frequency, using materials such as mammals, birds, fishes, reptiles, and insects. The adages are focused on the 12 animals which is familiar to both nations, a rat, an ox, a tiger, a rabbit, a dragon, a snake, a horse, a lamb, a monkey, a rooster, a dog and a boar. We compared the symbolism, the surface meanings in adages, and the figurative meanings of these animals in Korea and China. As a result, it is found that some are almost the same in usage. However, some are totally different such as expressions related to the animals, the cultural differences and clear understanding. It is necessary to do comparative researches in a detailed and various way by studying the issues derived from verbalism.
KEYWORDS

animals, symbols, comparison, adages, culture
REFERENCES (14)

[book] 김사화 / 1953 / 속담론 / 대건출판사

[book] 김용덕 / 1992 / 한국문화 상징 사전 / 동아출판사

[book] 남철규 / 2005 / 문양의 의미 / 태학원

[book] 박영원 / 2001 / 디자인 기호학 / 청주대학교

[book] 신항식 / 2003 / 롤랑 바르트의 기호학 / 문학과 경계

[book] 임두빈 / 1998 / 한국 미술사 101장면 / 가람기획

[book] 조성제 / 2005 / 무속에 살고 있는 우리 상고사 / 민속원

[book] 허균 / 1995 / 전통문양 / 대원사

[book] 朱立才 / 2004 / 语言文化比较研究 / 新世界出版社

[thesis] 노인숙 / 1997 / 한국 생활 문화에 나타난 동물 Illustration에 관한 연구 / 석사 / 서울 산업대학교대학원

[thesis] 박희정 / 2006 / 한국 대학 동물 캐릭터의 역사적 의미에 관한 연구 / 석사 / 홍익대 대학원

[thesis] 육흔 / 2003 / 한·중·일 삼국 속담의 비교 연구 / 박사 / 명지대 대학원

[web] / http://www.baidu.com / http://www.baidu.com

[web] / http://www.naver.com / http://www.naver.com
KCI Citation (7)

KJC Korea
Journal Central

Statistics

Tools