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A Study on the Dramatic Elements of Theatrical Entertainments Performed during the Reign of King Chungnyeol in the Goryeo Dynasty － With Emphasis on the Records of A History of Goryeo －
Journal of Humanities
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Since Korea imported the style of Western dramas, the history of Korean theater has been described with much focus on the plays produced in the modern period. Korea’s theatrical entertainments before the modern period had not been properly evaluated in the history of Korean dramas due to their differences from the Western-style dramas and to the dearth of drama scripts. It is generally known that the popular theatrical entertainments before the creation of the hangeul (Korean alphabet) had been orally transmitted without any reliance on play scripts. According to the record of the “Akji (A Record of Music)” section in A History of Goryeo (Goryeo-sa), “Samjang (三藏)” was performed at court for King Chungnyeol. Although “Samjang” didn’t have a theatrical script that corresponded to the concept of modern drama, the work can be recognized as a text for theatrical entertainments. From other records of A History of Goryeo related to King Chungnyeol, we can see that a stage was established for performance and there existed a professional troupe devoted to performing “Samjang”. This paper is aimed at reilluminating the three elements of earlier period theatrical performance – Jangjeon (帳殿) established during the reign of King Chungnyeol, “Samjang” recorded in “Akji” of A History of Goryeo, and the theatrical troupe Namjang (男糚) which performed “Samjang” – in terms of space for performance, texts and actresses, respectively. This paper also aims to reaffirm from the perspective of the contemporary East Asian cultural bloc that the theatrical elements of a stage, a text, and actors existed in the Goryeo dynasty and the text helped create the theatrical production. This study is expected to shed a new light on reconfirming the origin and creation of Korea’s dramas from the perspective of the East Asian cultural bloc.
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