This study examined the current state and prospect of research on Song Soon’s Sino‐Korean poems. Mainly with regard to previous discussions centering on gasa Myeonangjeongga (俛仰亭歌), this study reviewed the outcomes of research related to Song Soon’s Sino‐Korean poems. This is for closer inquiry into his literary world, and for this purpose, we studied previous research on Sino‐Korean poems.
Previous studies largely categorized discussions on nature into three groups: first, Sino‐Korean poems written on nature; second, poems describing the manifestation of ‘Dao道’ in nature; and third, poems on pavilions and travels in nature. Besides, we reviewed studies on Song Soon’s requiems(輓詩), farewell poems, and friendship poems, which were fewer than nature poems but still occupied an important position in Song Soon’s Sino‐Korean poems.
First, it was found necessary to recognize the literary meaning and aesthetic characteristic of each poem classified by theme in research on Song Soon’s Sino‐Korean poems. With regard to the manifestation of ‘Dao道’ observed in his Sino‐Korean poems on natural theme, poems in which ‘Dao道’ was manifested were mostly Sino‐Korean poems on natural themes or for social criticism and therefore there should be renewed efforts to find the meaning. For this, each Sino‐Korean poem needs to be classified by theme and its character and aesthetic consciousness need to be pointed out adequately. Next, we discussed the necessity for discussing travel poems and pavilion poems classified by theme. In addition, given insufficient discussions on poems other than nature poems such as requiems, farewell poems, and friendship poems, it is considered necessary to call people’s attention to them. Song Soon’s requiems and farewell poems have been little discussed separately so far, and occasionally they were covered together with nature poems or friendship poems. In this situation, researchers need to take interest in these types of poems and continue discussions steadily based on various materials.
When these research tasks are conducted, they may achieve a reflective search for the proper understanding of trend in research on Song Soon’s Sino‐Korean poems, and enhance people’s interest in his poetry.