存齋 魏伯珪의 文學論 硏究

Abstract

Wi Bak-gyu, who was born in Janghung, Jollanamdo province in the 18th century, is a member of a positive school. Following in the scholastic tradition of Byunggye, Yun Bonggu, he possessed great learning and wide knowledge and left behind many literary works. He presented a memorial called <Manunsangso> to the king, which required the reformation of six incorrect practices of legal systems, criticizing their reality. His literary theory unfolded with this recognition of the reality. Considering that the writing style is closely related to the vicissitudes of a country, Wi Bak-gyu viewed the deterioration of writing style in Goagoe, the National Examination, as a serious problem. Thus, Wi proposed to the king that he must select public servants according to the quality of writing style, and insisted that official examiners must be well educated. To reconsider the writing style, Wi emphasized the proper method of reading. He thought that the reason for the deterioration in writing style was the improper reading habits of scholars. So, he presented meticulous methods of reading in terms of semantics, syntax, phraseology, parallelism, etc. He believed that through the proper way of reading, one could reach the origin of ‘Do,’an oriental truth, making the writing style better. The ultimate style that Wi pursued was a style to help acquire ‘Do.’ He emphasized the relation between a writer’s writing and his or her ideas, believing that there was no object that escapes ‘Do.’ Wi argued that before a scholars writes, he or she must acquire ‘Do’ by reading the books of sages, and thought that the style of writing that expresses the acquired ‘Do’ is truly beautiful. From the above, it seems that the literary theory of Wi has a limitation that it follows an established tradition, but when the concrete contents of his theory are examined, Wi definitely has different ideas about literature than other scholars.