동아시아 고대여성한시에 사용된 전고(典故)비교연구

Abstract

Korea, China, and Japan are located in East Asia; in historical and cultural contexts, the three countries have influenced each other and share much in common, which brought Confucianism to these countries. This paper explores the challenges that ancient women writers faced in the three countries, their position in ancient history, and their performance; based on this exploration, this paper discovers similarities and differences in the women writers from these three countries. Most remarkably, women writers of the ancient East Asia adopted a comprehensive anthology of literary texts, which were considered to be wisdom and knowledge from the past. The texts came from a wide range of ancient sources, and this is known as “literary quotations.” Using literary quotations, women writers in the three countries tried to push the envelope on sexual boundaries and demonstrate their savvy. Through this, there was a tendency to equate them with their male contemporaries. This study suggests that literary quotations from ancient sources reveal three literary values. First, using literary quotations, women writers were able to express themselves and avoid typical feminine narrative conventions. Second, it reflected women writers’ intellectual abilities. Third, it was a way of enhancing their creativity and literary imaginations. However, there were some differences between the three countries. Women writers in Korea focused on character portrayals. In China, however, they improved artistic expressions for visual effects. Women writers in Japan adapted images inspired by historical figures and focused on personal stories.