조선전기 언해사업의 지평과 문명전환의 맥락- 새로운 언어문자의 창제와 새로운 학문주체의 탄생

Abstract

This article is a part of efforts to examine what process the foundation of Joseon Dynasty and the vision of Confucian civilization went through in the transitional period of Yuan Dynasty and Ming Dynasty in China. King Sejong planned a huge project of changing the nation into a country of Confucian civilization and created a new writing system, Eonmun(言文) / Hunmin Jeongeum(訓民正音) as an effective tool for the completion of the project. Thus, he started to compile the oldest Confucian classics such as Unhoe(韻會, Chinese character pronunciation dictionary) and Saseo(四書, Four Books) and then annotation book like Samgang Haegsildo(三綱行實圖), which is a basic book of confucian cultivation. Also he used annotation for a music book like Yongbieocheonga(龍飛御天歌) that displayed the dignity of foundation of Joseon Dynasty and actively made use of annotation to create buddhist songs like Wolin Cheongang Jigok(月印千江之曲) whose aim was to wish for peace and prosperity of royal family. However, the plans of King Sejong was not succeeded smoothly through the reign of King Munjong, Danjong and Sejo. Although Buddhist scripture annotation project went well vigorously in the period of King Sejo, compared to original intention of creation, the usage was sharply reduced. There can be many reasons that the translation work was delayed or reduced. However it is clear that one of the reasons is that the creation of new writing system and the translation work with it acted as an element of anxiety for established authority who monopolized Chinese characters until then. As a matter of fact, dualism of writing authority seemed as a severe threat to their vested interest and the signs of resistance due to that could be seen in several places. That’s why they endeavored to express the way of Chinese civilization that they dreamed of through Chinese characters, which was universal writing system in the Middle Ages. As long as they are alive and had control over politics and academics from the period of King Sejo to King Seongjong, the work of translation had been left undone or delayed. However, newly arising scholars during the reign of King Seongjong, were in conflict with the established but carved out their own territories. They determined to be more thorough in Neo-Confucian ideology to complete Confucian civilization and believed to distribute their ideology to all parts of society. As a result, they came to meet Confucian civilization project and translation work for its practical use that King Sejong long ago planned. That’s the reason that they became the main characters of translating Poetry of Dubo(杜詩), a new model of poetry and arranging and spreading Samgang Haegsildo(三綱行實圖) Confucian book annotation, translation work that was left alone for a long time.