의/협의 변천사― 최근 중국 인터넷 ‘선협소설’에서의 의/협 개념

Abstract

This article tries to explain the change in the concept of ‘Yi’ and ‘Xia’ in ‘Xianxia’ stories. ‘Xianxia’ is a sub-genre of ‘Wuxia’(Chinese knight errand stories), and recently becoming more and more popular in the field of internet literature of China. <Fanrenxiuxianzhuan> can be regarded as a major work of this sub-genre, and shows us a profound change is taking place in the very concept of ‘Yi’ and ‘Xia’. At first, ‘Xia’ had very little to do with ‘Yi’, as ‘Xiake’ was a man of his own moral and often acted very unconventionally. But as time went by, this ‘real’ Xiake was substituted by ‘literary’ Xiake, who abided by moral values such as ‘Yi’. But in Xianxia stories, the behavior of main characters is highly utilitarian and often unethical, even anti-social. In 21st century, we could say that Xianxia story is a kind of survival guide in the highly unethical, post-moral society that we live in. The prevalence of Xianxia story could help us to understand the changes taking place in contemporary China.