소혜왕후 한씨와 『내훈』 그리고 젠더 문제 — 그 사회사적 독해와 재음미

Abstract

This article attempts a kind of reading of Queen Sohye Han, Naehoon, and Gender issues in the perspective of social and philosophical history. Naehoon is the first literature to actively accept and reconstruct the ‘Gender Consciousness’ of the Neo-Confucian Civilization. It is necessary to read in the context of the Neo-Confucian transformation of Joseon dynasty. Naehoon is a book compiled by a women in the 15th century for women’s education and tried to present a new image of women. Referring to the four books of Sohak (小學), Yeolnyeo (烈⼥), Yeogyo (⼥敎), and Myeonggam (明鑑), she presented some Neo-Confucian Gender Consciousness propositions, for example ① Men and women do not sit in the same seat when they are seven years old [男⼥七歲不同席], ② Husband is the sky of wife [夫乃婦天], ③ A woman does not serve two husbands [不更⼆夫], ④ Three principles for a woman to follow [三從之道] and Seven bad things that can drive a woman away [七去之惡]. Although such propositions and norms were presented, Queen Sohye placed a certain distance to the ideology of Yeolnyeo [烈⼥], a woman faithful to her husband after his death. Naehoon did not lead to excessive strictness that emphasized sexual purity rather than starving to death. Naehoon did not even accept the extreme ideology of Yeolnyeo. It was a careful choice considering the situation of Joseon dynasty at the time. She thought it was impossible to blindly push ahead with the ideology of Yeolnyeo.