조선 문인의 漢詩에 나타난 阿房宮의 심상

Abstract

The present paper examines the image of the Epang Palace in Chinese poetry produced by Joseon writers, focusing on the historical authenticity and aestheticism of the Epang Palace for literary work. This study found that the poetries dealing with Epang Palace as a main material mostly are from the early to mid-Joseon dynasty. The image of Epang Palace stands extremely tall that it can almost touch the sky, and in the bird’s view of having immense space with hallways connecting to all directions with rooms like beehive. From a political perspective, the Epang Palace was considered as the cause for the fall of the Qin dynasty thus recognized as a negative aspect of history that the posterity must be vigilant about. At the same time, the appearance of the Epang Palace with the grandeur and brilliance, dramatic story and tragic fate of disappearing futilely in flames, became a historical lesson and literary aesthetics. Therefore, the Epang Palace was repeatedly illustrated in works of art and literature. The dramatic contrast of the scene in which the magnificent Epang Palace deteriorates into ashes created the imagery as a catharsis by collapsing the aesthetic space that was a symbol of power and lust that have lost the justified of existence. Through a comparative study of poetry by Joseon writers and the “Fu on the Epang Palace” (「阿房宮賦」) of Du Mu (杜牧; “Du Mok” in Korean; 803-852), this study found that many Joseon writers borrowed the contents and expressions in “Fu on the Epang Palace” when composing poetry with the theme of Epang Palace. Also considering the fact that discussions and the interpretation of “Fu on the Epang Palace” mainly occurred in the mid-Joseon dynasty, it can be concluded that the interest, enjoyment, and acceptance of “Fu on the Epang Palace” influenced the production of Epang Palace-themed poetry by Joseon writers.