<西京別曲>에 나오는 ‘大同江’과 ‘배’의 상징성

Abstract

Korean love poetry contains three different types of metaphorical expressions regarding the “river(water) and boat.” First, there are cases in which a river(water), a boat, and a boatman all appear in one piece of work. In this case, the boat indicates the lyric speaker, and the boatman indicates a matchmaker who brings the lyric speaker and his or her lover together. Examples of this are found in works such as the gasa “Sokmiingok (續美人曲)” written by Jungcheol and the sijo “At a Pond (池塘에).” Second, there are some works in which the boat (bae ‘船’) implies the abdomen (bae ‘腹’) of a woman. The boat combined with a “river(water)” symbolizes the sexual unity of man and woman as in “crossing a river(water) by boat” or “playing at a river(water) on boat.” Examples of this type are seen in the sijo “Where Did You Sleep? (어디 자고)” and “Into Your Bosom as Cold (칩다 네 품에).” Third, there are cases in which a river(water) and a boat metaphorically represent a woman and a man, respectively. Again, as in the second type, the “river(water) and boat” symbolizes sexual unity and can be found in the sijo “At South Mountain (南山에)”, “With a Long Pine Tree (長松으로)”, and the Twelve-Gasa “Hwanggyesa (黃鷄詞).” It is believed that the third stanza of “Seogyeongbyeolgok (西京別曲)” includes the third type of metaphor about the river(water) and boat. Based on this interpretation, we can infer from the all three verses of the third stanza that the lyric speaker is worried about her lover being engaged in a sexual relationship with another woman and that she blames the boatman for helping her lover get into the relationship with this woman. Thus, the metaphor about the river(water) and boat is one of the old and traditional figures of speech which has been used from the songs of Goryeo (高麗) dynasty such as “Seogyeongbyeolgok (西京別曲)” to the songs of late-Joseon (朝鮮) dynasty such as “Hwanggyesa (黃鷄詞).” Although subtle differences may exist between the realizations in these works, the “river(water) and boat” has been a long-standing metaphor for sexual relationship and is still in use today.