한문방각본의 성격에 대하여

Abstract

The collapse of the traditional class system in the nineteenth century Chosun brought a new type of book market. It was the advent of commercial wood-block printed books in both Classical Chinese and Hangul. The commercial wood-block printed books in Classical Chinse usually represented the culture of the highly educated intellectuals but the ones in Hangul were mainly the products of popular entertainment, especially for the lower class people. As it became relatively easier to change one’s social class by paying money, the number of newly risen upper class increased and the demand for commercial wood-block printed books in Classical Chinese also arose. It can be said that since this new type of books were closely related to a new social order, its research should be advanced in relation to the historical background of this new social order. The commercial wood-block printed books are the materials to understand common people, therefore it is natural that researches on these books lead to the studies on the popular culture of the late Chosun dynasty. In doing so, not only the commercial wood-block printed books in Hangul should be regarded as the source materials to study it but also the ones in Classical Chinese should be, too. One of the most urgent tasks for such studies is to create a list of the actual works in Classical Chinese. In order to create the list, this paper aims to investigate the characteristics of the existing commercial wood-block printed books in Classical Chinese by classifying them into three groups. The three groups are as follows; the books needed for composing Chinese poems, reference books for rituals and the elementary books for learning the Chinese classics.