갈암 이현일의 시문에 나타난 역사의식

Abstract

The political situation of the Choseon Dynasty in the 17th century was unstable and insecure with the issue of Chosun being courteous toward the Song Dynasty and the Manchu war of 1636, of which the Qing Dynasty invaded Choseon. Under these circumstances, Galam Lee Hyun Il(1627-1704), who took this situation seriously, tried to meet the challenge and came up with solutions. Many of his work unfold stories about the war, showing his worries about Choseon and its people. To that end, this paper studies the poems among the many of his pieces in order to interpret his historical consciousness and inner psychology. In his poems, he expressed a deep grief and fury over the war and described the situation of Choseon at risk by portraying peaceful nature and fearful battlefields in contrast. He moved forward as he presented solutions to precarious situations. He also suggested a way Choseon could learn lessons from its past history and make headway. In other aspects, he was firmly determined to establish the status of his family clan by featuring main characters of the birthmyth of Choseon in his work. Regarding his historical consciousness, he worked for a good cause as he presented an ideal character which Choseon should pursue by tracing good and evil acts of noticeable figures in Chinese history. As an officiary, he was benevolent and compassionate as he embraced the pain of the people who suffered extortion by bureaucrats and forced labor by the Qing. Regarding his psychology, he had inner conflicts as he seems to have incompetent feelings for the jeopardized country. But he prayed for Choseon to bereconstructed by restoring national pride and elevating legitimacy of the nation state. Overall, Galam has many positive aspects in his way of interpreting history. On the other hand, he failed to perceive the political paradigm of the international community in the 17th century as he took the stance that Choseon should revere the Ming Dynasty while severing relationship with the Qing Dynasty.