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The Spatiotemporal Background and Historical Implications of the Creation of Hwayang Gugok

Kim Sung Hee 1

1국사편찬위원회

Accredited

ABSTRACT

Based on the results of previous research on the ‘Gugok culture,’ which was transplanted from China and blossomed on the Korean Peninsula, this study examines how Zhu Xi’s ‘Gugok’ was received and interpreted in Joseon and what cultural phenomenon it created in the process of its subsequent transformation from a historical perspective. In particular, this study aims to examine how the Joseon elite’s appropriation of ‘Gugok culture’ took shape and developed in the 17th century, when the change of zeitgeist due to the destruction of the Ming Dynasty by the Qing Dynasty was prominent, and to diagnose its historical implications and present-day significance. Zhu Xi’s “Muidao Song,” and “Muigugokdo,” a depiction of the actual landscape of ‘Gugok,’ were transmitted to the Korean peninsula along with the acceptance of Confucianism in the late Goryeo Dynasty, and were actively enjoyed by the Joseon scholars as the development of Confucianism began in earnest in the 16th century. For them, ‘Gugok’ on Muyishan was perceived as the birthplace of Zhu Xi’s philosophy and the ideal place for Confucianism, so naturally there was a great deal of interest in literary and artistic works based on it, and attempts to incorporate ‘Gugok culture’ into the topography of Joseon began to appear. In particular, Seoin scholars of the Noron faction were active in their attempts to implement Zhu Xi’s ‘Gugok’ into Joseon, and the Gosan Gugok established by Yi Yi, as well as Song Si-yeol’s Hwayang Gugok and Kim Soo-jeung’s Gok-un Gugok, are still recognized today as representative examples of the ‘Gugok culture’ that developed on the Korean peninsula. Among them, Hwayang Gugok is a space that was painstakingly cultivated by Noron figures who tried to establish the tradition of Confucianism handed down from Zhu Xi to Song Si-yeol with the intention of recreating the origin of Zhu Xi’s philosophy in Joseon, and it became the center of Noron’s public discussion throughout the late Joseon Dynasty. Hwayangdong, originally named as a scenic spot in the central part of the Korean Peninsula, has become a place where the ‘Gugok culture’ of Joseon, which originated by Zhu Xi, was completed with Confucianist traditions and partisan adoration. Hwayang gugok was itself a constructed sanctuary that symbolized the cultural hegemony of the late Joseon Dynasty. The cultural markers visualized and internalized in the valley by Song Si-yeol himself or his disciples were inherited and disseminated through the direct and indirect experiences of travel and literature. By selecting, interpreting, and incorporating the symbols contained in Zhu Xi’s “Muidao Song” into their works, they sought to culturally legitimize the power of their school, and by adding the symbol of the ‘Cardinal Principle of Revering the Zhou Dynasty’ to it, they sought to lead and monopolize the cause of the times. This was because these actions were in line with the current thinking of the time, and thus served to strengthen the academic and cultural authority that underpinned the political authority of their school.

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