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A Study of the Structure and Formal Characteristics of Sasikyeonggi-ga as a Wollyeongche Gasa

  • The Research of the Korean Classic
  • 2026, (72), pp.211~231
  • Publisher : The Research Of The Korean Classic
  • Research Area : Humanities > Korean Language and Literature > Korean Literature > Korean classic prose
  • Received : December 19, 2025
  • Accepted : February 5, 2026
  • Published : February 28, 2026

Lee Sang-suk 1

1경북대학교

Accredited

ABSTRACT

This paper investigates the thematic characteristics and literary significance of Sasikyeonggi-ga, which is a gasa work in the wollyeongche style. As a wollyeongche gasa, Sasikyeonggi-ga not only celebrates the four seasons but also depicts the seasonal customs of specific months throughout the year. In this respect, the work embraces all conventional classificatory categories applied to gasa literature, demonstrating multidimensional content. Sasikyeonggi-ga consists of a total of 96 lines, primarily composed in the 4･4 rhythmic pattern. While the work encompasses all four seasons of the year, it differs from conventional compositions that begin with spring by adopting a cyclical structure that starts with winter, proceeds through spring, summer, and autumn, and concludes again with winter. The text is divided into twelve sections: sections 1–4 depict spring, sections 5–7 summer, sections 8–10 autumn, and sections 11–12 winter. It portrays the beauty of each season, celebrates seasonal customs, and presents scenes of daily life within them. In describing seasonal beauty, the portrayals of spring and summer employ vivid perspectives, shifting from the micro to the macro and then returning to the micro. In particular, in the sections depicting seasonal customs such as the seventh night of July and the full moon of August (sections 6–10), the narrator repeatedly contrasts those who enjoy everyday pleasures with those who remain alone. The last section presents a scene of people gathering in a warm room and joyfully singing the folk song Yangsando, thereby completing the theme of embracing and enjoying life in the present. Through its systematic organization and repeated thematic contrasts, the work emphasizes the beauty and value of the present moment amid the joys and sorrows of life and death. The authorship and date of composition of Sasikyeonggi-ga are not easy to trace due to a lack of extant sources. However, based on the content of the work and the period during which Yangsando was popular, this study estimates that the text was composed in the late nineteenth or early twentieth century by a woman who valued the traditions of the Yeongcheon region. In this regard, the literary significance of Sasikyeonggi-ga can be summarized as follows. First, it inherits and transmits the gasa literary tradition of the Sasiga lineage that had continued since the Joseon Dynasty. Second, it achieves thematic expansion by accommodating the cultural changes of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.

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