峿堂 李象秀의 「唐文評」 연구

Abstract

To understand the history of literature in the late Joseon Dynasty, it is necessary to examine the history of embracing the literature of the Tang and Song Dynasties which is in the core. Sang-soo Lee is the Tang-Song style writer in the late Joseon Dynasty. He learned the literary theory of the Tang-Song school through the associating with literary people associated with Nongam and created his own original literary theory which he practiced in reading and writing. Especially, 「Review of Tang's Literature」 is a typical work that fully represents Sang-soo Lee’s literary view. It is a literary review which analyzed the literary works from the Tang Dynasty, which becomes the predecessor of the Tang-Song School, in two aspects: the thesis and composition, and it reflects the essence of the literary theory of Sang-soo Lee who succeeded to and further developed the literary theory of the Tang-Song School. The characteristics of Sang-soo Lee's review can be generally summarized into concise description, select theme, and context identification. Concise description means to describe maximum by using the least amount of language, and it undergoes a series of processes such as the careful selection of theme, organic composition, and neat expression, which are influenced by the Tang-Song School. Select theme is the carefully selected theme that becomes the clue for creation, and it was mainly the contents useful for 'State Governance' and 'Moral Influence of the Monarch' from the idea of 'cultivating oneself before appeasing others' in Confucianism. Context is the matter of identifying and analyzing the theme of the literature based on the circumstance in which the text is formed. Identifying the context requires extensive reading. The logic that there is a certain custom in literature and any author who masters that custom can create excellent literature is no doubt the legacy of the literary theory of the Tang-Song School. However, including antithesis in the category of ancient Tang-Song literature to increases its significance and applying the creative writing theory of the Tang-Song School in reading to use the analysis of text based on context identification as the clue for criticism and creation are from Sang-soo Lee's own analytical literary theory. This demonstrates the substance of the succession and development of the Tang-Song School in the late Joseon Dynasty.