KJCKorea
Journal Central

This study purposed to examine the background and thematic characteristics of Lee Ahn‐nul’s poem Jeungyugokyeokri(贈幽谷驛吏). Through this study, we attempted to review an aspect of the tradition of Chinese poems during the early and mid Chosun Dynasty and to suggest a viewpoint to prospect the thematic and stylistic characteristics of Lee Ahn‐nul’s poems, which represent the mid Chosun Dynasty. Jeungyugokyeokri is not an optimal poem for explaining the ultimate thematic and aesthetic level of Lee Ahn‐nul’s poems. However, this work reveals the general characteristics of his poetic spirit and contents, and the characteristics can be summed up into the record of facts and the consciousness of family. Essays on poetry and anthologies mentioned Sawolsipoil(四月十五日), Munga(聞歌), etc. as Lee Ahn‐nul’s poems representing Mogreungseongse(穆陵盛世 – the flourishing days of literature during the reign of King Seonjo. – Previous research also tried to evaluate his literary achievements based on these works. It is quite important to discuss the characteristics of a writer and his works through analyzing the writer’s finest works and to set the thematic and aesthetic position distinguished from other poems written in the same period. However, this process should be performed through efforts to identify the writer’s most typical work and the work’s attributes guaranteeing the typicality. Only then, the history of Chinese poems may secure a substantial area of the history of thought comprehending the life and spirit of historical beings. In this sense, Jeungyugokyeokri shows an important ground for explaining the typical characteristics of Lee Ahn‐nul’s poems and plays the role of a stepping stone for evaluating the thematic and aesthetic achievements of his poems in the history of literature.

the record of facts, the consciousness of family, the tradition of Chinese poems during the early and mid Chosun Dynasty, Poetic device