호랑이와 인간의 결연설화에 나타난 한중(韓中) 인식 비교

Abstract

This paper attempts to compare Chinese folktales and Korean folktales in terms of an interspecies romance between a tiger and a human being, inspired by the comparisons made by Il Yeon, based on Kimhyunkamho, and other Chinese folktales. Chinese folktales and Korean folktales have this in common: a human being is involved in a romantic relationship with a tiger, a different species, since no human candidate for a spouse can be found. Often in both folktales, the attempted relationships end in a crisis due to the violent bestiality of the tiger, which leads to the end of the symbiotic relationship. In Korean folktales, the human being often severs the interspecies relationship in order to restore his humanity and, as in Kimhyunkamho, tries to live a noble human life, which is elevated to a religious dimension. On the contrary, in Chinese folktales, the tiger’s bestiality is regarded as a means to overcome the human condition, and the tiger’s superior physical power is used to address the irregularities of human society. Both folktales share a fear of the tiger’s ferocity. The difference seems to derive from the fact that, in Korea, the Myth of Dangun and Kimhyunkamho have had a significant impact on subsequent folktales and in China’s case, the minority races worshiped tigers as totems and tended to respect physical power.