안서우 <유원십이곡>의 구조와 작품 세계

Abstract

The life of Ahn Seowoo, who wrote ‘Yuwonshibigok’, was reconstituted based on a recently found material and the structure and oeuvres of the stanzaic sijos he wrote were investigated. Ahn Seowoo was a Sadaebu noble writer, who created 19 sijos in late Chosun dynasty. His life and the background region of his works were uncertain because the documents containing his works had been lost. It has been presumed without valid grounds that ‘Yuwonshibigok’ is a stanzaic sijo consisting of 13 stanzas and that it was written in Muju, Jeolla Province, where Ahn lived his latter years. As a new material, which can shed light on Ahn’s life and oeuvres, was found recently, however, it was ascertained that ‘Yuwonshibigok’ is a stanzaic sijo consisting of 12 stanzas and that ‘Yuwon’ appearing in the title is the name of a region in Jecheon, Chungcheong Province. Ahn worked for national government while the political conflict between Namin Party and Seoin(Noron) Party was severe. Belonging to Namin Party, his official life went through the ups and downs depending on the political conditions. When he was 49, he was involved in a political affair and had to move to ‘Yuwon’ in Jecheon, Chungcheong Province. He lived there for 3 years with his family. It was found that most of his works including ‘Yuwonshibigok’ were created while he stayed in Yuwon. In particular, ‘Yuwonshibigok’, a 12-stanza sijo composed of former 6 stanzas and latter 6 stanzas, demonstrates his self-contained life in nature. The former 6 stanzas of ‘Yuwonshibigok’ encapsulates the motive and detailed way of life of his secluded life in close correspondence. The latter 6 stanzas shows the mental conflict he had until he decided to turn to the nature, ending up with his belief in the settlement in nature. Different from the features of ‘Yuwonshibigok’, however, Ahn returned to the government after 3-year secluded life. He finished his official life as the governor of Ulsan when he was 62. The official life of Ahn may have been closely related to the political conflicts of those days. He spent his latter years in Muju, Jeolla Province until he died there. Because ‘Yuwonshibigok’ describes the process to settle in nature, it has been presumed that it was created after Ahn settled in Muju. However, now that it was found to have been written while the author stepped back from government temporarily, ‘Yuwonshibigok’ is expected to lead to new discussion on the consciousness and oeuvres of the Sadaebu noble writers in late Chosun dynasty.