조선시기 한국인과 한국범의 관계 변화

Abstract

This study was conducted in order to explain change in the relation between Korean people and Korean tiger observed in Korean history through critical review of previous studies and historical records, and to identify the background reasons of how Korean people gained a unshakable dominant position over Korean tiger as well as the causes of the extinction of Korean tiger as a long‐term consequence of the dominance. For these purposes, we examined the changing relation between human and tiger in Korean history in the aspects of change in world view, systems and policies, and knowledge and behavior. First of all, in the aspect of world view, Korean people’s world view had pursued coexistence with Korean tiger based on Buddhism, but with the foundation of the Joseon Dynasty, it was switched to a new world view that put humans at the center and advocated the hunting of tiger as a threat to human life. Joseon rulers, who founded the dynasty based on Neo‐Confucianism, designated tiger hunting as “a measure to remove harms for the people [爲民除害],” and considered it the administrators’ duty to drive out tiger, which was the symbol of troubles. Moreover, in the aspect of systems and policies, the Joseon Dynasty executed new tiger hunting policies. It organized and operated tiger hunting forces as devices enabling military tiger hunting, and developed tiger hunting methods and tools and spread them throughout the country. Furthermore, by rewarded tiger hunting, the government opened the path for many people to attain wealth and power through hunting tigers. In addition, the king monitored the effective execution of tiger hunting policies through the tiger skin tribute system. Such a change of world view and the execution of tiger hunting policies enhanced people’s knowledge about tiger, which, in turn, changed their ways of coping with tiger‐related troubles. That is, until the Koryo Dynasty, people had not been familiar with tiger living inside the boundary of the forest, and their understanding of tiger had been highly influenced by false images based on horror and religious world views. With the foundation of the Joseon Dynasty, however, many activities were performed including crown hunting and tiger hunting, the publication and distribution of envoy records, the introduction of reward systems, and various networks of literati in local areas, and as a result, people’s knowledge of tiger became more realistic and the volume of knowledge also expanded. Consequently, there was a stronger tendency of coping with individual or national disasters caused by tiger more rationally and actively.