俛宇 郭鍾錫의 箴銘文 연구

Abstract

This study classifies the admonitory inscriptions(Jammyeongmun) included in Myeonujip(俛宇集), a collection of writings by Kwak Jong-seok(郭鍾錫), into formal types such as Gwanjam(official admonitions), Sajam(private admonitions), Zhaoyuming(personal maxims), and inscriptions on objects. It examines the moral and self-cultivational purposes of these writings along with their stylistic features. Grounded in the Confucian Guandaoron—the idea that writing serves as a vehicle for the Way—Kwak actively adopted the traditional genre of admonitory inscriptions as tools for self-reflection and moral exhortation. Rather than merely imitating classical models, he creatively transformed their functions of warning, introspection, and didacticism in accordance with the historical context of late Joseon. In Gwanjam, he articulated Confucian remonstrance through indirect and humble rhetoric aimed at rulers and officials. In Sajam and Zhaoyuming, he emphasized the importance of confronting one’s moral flaws and maintaining a posture of constant self-discipline. In inscriptions on objects, he symbolically embedded Confucian values into everyday artifacts, shaping an ethical ideal of the Confucian gentleman. Influenced by Han Yu’s Five Admonitions, Kwak composed his own five-part admonitory text focusing on ‘likes and dislikes, thoughtfulness, self-discipline, coping with hardship, and scholarly pursuit.’ This reworking of the classical format illustrates how literary tradition was reinterpreted within the framework of moral cultivation and Confucian practice in the late Joseon period. Kwak’s inscriptions thus represent a convergence of literary expression, ethical introspection, and Confucian pedagogy, revealing how Confucian literati responded to a time of cultural and institutional decline.