Abstract
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This article seeks to reassess the possibility that different kind of Sijo anthology existed in the early to mid-18th century, by examining from a material perspective and by shedding light on several distinctive aspects to the oldest extant anthology of Sijo called Cheongguyeongeon(靑丘永言), compiled by Kim Cheon-taek(金天澤) in 1728. The original handwritten version of the Kim Cheon-taek’s Cheongguyeongeon(靑丘永言) had remained unpublished, so the type printed edition published by the 朝鮮珍書刊行會 in 1948 was commonly referred to as the “珍本(original edition of) Cheongguyeongeon” and had been a central research material for a long time. However, the manuscript is attracting even more attention and interest amongst researchers after the National Hangeul Museum purchased the original materials and released the photocopied and the annotated edition in 2017.
The Kim Cheon-taek’s Cheongguyeongeon is considered to be highly polished, far exceeding standard for one’s first collection in terms of well-organized structure, meticulousness in the selection of works and authors. Moreover, the compilation distinguishes itself from other collections for singing, in the sense that it included: preface and editorial notes to a work exactly the save as original, entire series for serial work, vast amount of Saseol-sijo(사설시조) at the end. Thus, it can be suggested that, just like Haedonggayo(海東歌謠), Cheongguyeongeon had similar versions produced before and after its completion, because the author put so much effort in it.
Few distinctive aspects were examined in this study to grasp the intentions behind Kim Cheon-taek’s compilation and the circumstances behind it, Few of those are: the arrangement of works based on the structure, characteristics of prefaces included, the process of setting the “Yeohang-yukin(閭巷六人)” category, and the characteristics of content revealed through selected works. The results of the study indicate that Kim Cheon-taek aimed to reflect the musical aspect and changes in sijo of the time, conducted author verification and source validation, established the order of categories according to the role of sijo music and culture, arranged authors and works considering the ways of interpretation and enjoyment of songs, and writing preface by himself or asking it for the authors, thereby strove for a complete production of a sijo anthology resembling the tradition of nobleman’s poetry compilations.
However, this process couldn’t be achieved overnight. It required endless efforts and considerations, including data collection and organization, analysis of works and author verification, selection and finalization based on comparisons with similar works. Therefore, it is necessary to pay special attention to recent discussions on Cheongguyeongeon(Park Sun-ho edition), which carefully examined the possibility of its connection with the Kim Cheon-taek edition, as well as recent studies that investigated the nature of sijo collections in the early to mid-18th century. Considering the internal completeness and the potential existence of an original or earlier versions, it seems it is more natural to assume a gradual progression towards the final compilation.
The Kim Cheon-taek edition of Cheongguyeongeon differs significantly from the theatrical scripts for singing in the 19th century, which are more commonly referred to as “gajip”. The compilation is more suitable for the term “Sijojip(Sijo anthology)”. Therefore, even if Cheongguyeongeon(Park Sun-ho edition) or a few other collections appeared before or simultaneously with the Kim Cheon-taek edition, it does not diminish their significance or meaning as the “first” of its kind. The completion of the compilation can clearly be considered as a first ’event’ of the history of sijo, because this middle-class men was able to complete such a consistency structured collection of sijo out of his pride in singing culture and his extraordinary versatility.
While acknowledging that the Kim Cheon-taek edition of Cheongguyeongeon is too well-polished to be considered as the first work, previous literatures made it challenging to rearrange the collection’s position in the sequence of all collections. Early researchers classified collections from a narrow perspective and arranged those with overly simplistic criteria. Now, new collections from the early to mid-18th century are discovered that an objective examination of their formation process can be made through investigating those. Unbiased investigations into the connections and influences between these materials will enable us to recognize that the editor’s interest promoted the diverse nature of compilation of the time, by adaptation and variation.