金俊根筆 『텬로력뎡』삽화 연구

Abstract

The Korean version of The Pilgrim’s Progress published in 1895 was the first Korean translation of Western and Christian literature. The original work The Pilgrim’s Progress was written by the Englishman John Bunyan(1628~1688) in 1678. The translators of the first Korean version of The Pilgrim’s Progress were Harriet Elizabeth Gibson(1860~1908) and James Scarth Gale(1863~1937),Christian missionaries who came to Korea in the late 19th century. A Korean genre painter of the late 19th century, Kim, Jun-geun also played an important role as The Pilgrim’s Progress’s illustrator. These illustrations are considered to be the beginning of Christian art in Korea. The important fact is that Kim’s illustrations were similar to those of the English version and not to the Chinese version of The Pilgrim’s Progress. The illustrations of the English version of The Pilgrim’s Progress, published in England by Cassell & Company, were done by H. C. Selous and M. Paolo Priolo. The illustrations of Chinese version are anonymous ones of the Tian lu li cheng tu hua (天路歷程土話) published by Hui shi li tang (惠師禮堂), Guangzhou, 1870~71. There’s no doubt that Kim’s illustrations were influenced by those of H. C. Selous and M. Paolo Priolo rather than those of Tian lu li cheng tu hua (天路歷程土話). The composition of illustrations and contents of story in Kim’s drawings were identical to those of H. C. Selous and M. Paolo Priolo. This showed that Western art entered directly into Korea and not through China. Also, Kim had some knowledge of perspective and shading, techniques of Western painting, prior to the making of The Pilgrim’s Process . Kim further established the style and techniques of Western paintings through the production of The Pilgrim’s Progress based on the illustrations of Selous and Priolo. Another characteristic of Kim’s illustrations is that he replaced Western people to represent Koreans. Because of the Christian missionary policy, Kim’s illustrations followed Nevius’s method that propagated Christianity based on the culture of indigenous people and atmosphere. These illustrations were able to communicate the idea of the book to others easily. Moreover, the Korean version The Pilgrim’s Progress was available to all classes and generations. Kim made possible the generalization of educational reading by distributing his illustrations as popularized modern art. So to speak, the Korean genre painter, Kim, Jun-geun voluntarily or not opened new field of illustration.