19세기 후반 일본 여자교육의 모델이 된 여성들― 수신 교과서 《婦女鑑》의 인물 구성 연구

Abstract

In this paper, the characteristics of the character composition appearing in the moral textbook Hujokagami in Japan were examined. The research method specifically quantified the distribution of 124 women who appeared as major messengers by country of origin, the variation in their activities, and the factors of status and social status.Hujokagami, featuring 124 women from 12 countries from the 11th century BC to the 19th century AD, showed Japan’s modern transitional aspects well in the late 19th century. In particular, readers of this book were able to indirectly experience the image of women crossing borders, races, and ethnicities by combining the experiences of various Western countries, unfamiliar local names, and long-distance travelers. There is also a change in Japan’s perception of China and the West. In particular, it can be seen that Japan’s pride as a civilized country overlaps with Western figures. This led to an attitude of understanding and evaluating Japanese and Western women on an equal basis. Lastly, the social status of women is mainly introduced by men’s class and origin. This is a form of categorizing women’s positions as daughter, wife, and mother. In particular, it was found that the status of wife at the time was socially important. Of course, there are also images of women who embody moral values through women’s unique abilities rather than subsidizing husbands or substituting men’s positions (roles). The presentation of such a character reconstructs the existing femininity and also means the reorganization and expansion of a new moral view. With the rediscovery of the position of wife, charity was regarded as a civilized moral code and developed as a quality that an ideal woman should possess. The challenging and subjective image of a woman who achieved such self-realization was also to embrace independence, which had not been conceptualized up to that time, as a new femininity. Hujokagami presents an exemplary image of a woman in Confucian society and the transition period to the modern era, and internalizes it. However, the reader goes beyond imitating (performing) the exemplary female figure in the learning process. The reader not only follows exemplary behavior, but also forms the ability to empathize with others by indirectly experiencing various human relationships appearing in the story. This means that the moral textbook Hujokagami should be grasped not in the world of repetition and imitation, but in a system of representation such as rearrangement and re-meaning.