2023, Vol., No.91

Journal of Humanities 2023 KCI Impact Factor : 0.6

pISSN : 1598-8457 / eISSN : 2508-4550
https://journal.kci.go.kr/inmun

This paper aims to examine the specific interactions between Joseon dynasty literati Shim Eon-gwang, Jeong Sa-ryong, and Ming dynasty envoy Gong Yong-qing by analyzing their poetry and prose exchanged in official and private settings. Through this analysis, it explores the concrete circumstances of social intercourse between Joseon literati and Ming dynasty envoys in the 16th century. In the year 1537, Shim Eon-gwang was selected as a receptionist for envoy and was in charge of guiding and serving Gong Yong-qing's delegation in Hanyang. He had the opportunity to participate in formal events such as banquets and sightseeing alongside Gong Yong-qing. During this process, Shim Eon-gwang not only showed his admiration for Chinese culture in general and respect for Gong Yong-qing but also expressed pride in Joseon's culture in his poetry. At times, Ming dynasty envoys deliberately chose challenging poetic forms to showcase their talents, and Gong Yong-qing's use of ‘palindrome-style (回文體)’ verse was one such instance. Without hesitation, Shim Eon-gwang composed two palindrome-style poems following the rhyme scheme, showcasing his excellent proficiency in the Chinese language. If the communication between Gong Yong-qing and Shim Eon-gwang represents formal exchanges that took place during events such as sightseeing and banquets, Gong Yong-qing's correspondence with Jeong Sa-ryong during his journey or upon his return to Ming can be regarded as a representative example of private interactions between Gong Yong-qing and Joseon dynasty literati. During their return journey, the two exchanged a total of four letters, frequently expressing their admiration, longing, and the sorrows of parting. Even after returning to his homeland, Gong Yong-qing continued correspondence with Jeong Sa-ryong, maintaining their private relationship. This was particularly noteworthy in the 16th century, a period when the principle of ‘a vassal can not be diplomatic’ was upheld. However, due to their official positions, both Gong Yong-qing and Jeong Sa-ryong, being government officials, inevitably prioritized their respective countries even in their private interactions. Therefore, their relationship cannot be considered purely private.

This paper is aimed at examining the aspects of the protagonist Hong Gil-dong’s succession of a family line as an adopted son in Hong Gil-dong Jeon (The Biography of Hong Gil-dong) and thereby clarifying its meaning, This is also an attempt to clarify the changes of the protagonist in the first half and the second half of the novel, while also identifying the principle of his behavior that penetrates the entire work. To this end, this paper has analyzed the process that the threat caused by Gil-dong acts on the home and the whole country and leads to his exclusion. This was due to the conflict between the problematic situation of humble birth and the contradictory conditions of extraordinary talents and Gil-dong attempted to establish legitimacy as a way to overcome such a problematic situation. The process led to the acquisition of private and public recognition represented by the family and the state by acquiring the throne in Yuldoguk, a country different from the Joseon dynasty, which completely succeeded the family. This can be interpreted as a result of resolving prohibited desires in a hierarchical status-based society in its own way, and as a result, Hong Gil-dong Jeon can be defined as a work that contains the best results that can be derived within the framework of the contemporary ideology at the same time, given that the situation of conflicts was resolved through coexistence rather than antagonistic logic.

Icaino Anthology (1978) is a poetry collection by Kim Si-jong that seeks to reveal the meaning of "living in Japan" while exploring his own status of an ethnic Korean living in Japan away from the General Association of Korean Residents in Japan (Chochongryeon), which was the center of his life in Japan. Icaino, the central subject of this collection of poems, is a Korean settlement in Ikuno-gu, Osaka, and the name Icaino is has symbolic significance in itself to the Koreans in Japan The designation was removed from the place names in Osaka City in February 1, 1973. This paper starts with presenting a question of why Kim Si-jong reintroduced the idea of "Icaino," which had already been erased in 1973, in his poem 1975. The Korean society in Japan still exists as a non-entity in Japan. The July 4 South-North Joint Statement in 1972 makes Korean society in Japan dream of "reunification" of Korea again, but Park Chung-hee's Yushin system and military regime frustrated it. The generation of young Koreans in Japan is not convinced of 'Joseon', 'Korea', and 'an ethnic Korean living in Japan' anywhere. This paper aims to examine Kim Si-jong's critical position on the division of the Korean Peninsula, the Cold War, and discrimination in Japanese society, as well as political and social aspirations from the perspective of an ethnic Korean living in Icaino City in Japan.