『四字小學』의 형성과 유포

Abstract

This paper studies on the formation and the dissemination of 『Sa-cha- so-hak(四字小學)』 which is an elementary textbook. 『Sa-cha-so-hak』 is an easy textbook for beginner to get started which is made of four-letter word in one phrase based on ethics and morals. For this reason, 『Sa-cha-so-hak』 is used in various ways as elementary textbook and it is also a suitable material to teach manners to children. Nevertheless, as is generally known, there was no clear evidence that our ancestors used 『Sa-cha-so-hak』 as a children's elementary textbook and that they used it in sŏ-tang during the cho-sŏn Dynasty. However, the results of this study show that 『Sa-cha-so-hak』 had been widely used in sŏ-tang in Jeolla Province around 1920 and since then, it had been spreaded nationwide. In addition, if 『Sa-cha-so-hak』 was children's elementary textbook as the advanced level of 『Thousand-Character Classic』, there would have been more editions and publications there is now, but only one edition, printed with wood block, is existed. This proves that 『Sa-cha-so-hak』 has not been actively distributed or used as child’s elementary textbook as we had thought it would be. However, It is noteworthy that 『Sa-cha-so-hak』 took a new turn when it was published and distributed by a private organization in 1989.