충신 개자추(介子推)설화의 한중 비교

Abstract

This paper presents comparison results of historical records and Chinese and Korean tales about Jie Zi Tui, one of the representative loyal subjects in the history of China to compare the perceptions of loyal subjects. History books depict him as a pure loyal subject that wished for no rewards for his meritorious deeds. His mother agreed with him and hid in the mountain with him. Jinwen Gong bestowed feudal land on him and built a shrine for him to praise him. In Chinese tales, he was described as such a loyal subject that he would feed his own thigh to Jinwen Gong. He was, however, left out of the distribution of honors, returned to his hometown, and hid in the mountain with his mother. Jinwen Gong set the mountain on fire to find him, who ended up being burnt to death in such a tragedy. He is considered as the origin of Hansik. On the other hand, he was depicted as a Taoist hermit that wanted to be one in the first place even though he served the king as his loyal subject. His wish was so strong that he parted even with his mother and went into the mountain. In Korean tales, he was described as an unfortunate loyal subject and devoted son that did meritorious deeds, returned to his hometown, hid in the mountain with his mother after being left out of the distribution of honors, and was burnt to death in the fire set to find him. In Korean folk songs, he suffered an unfair fate as he died an unfortunate death before enjoying his life blessed with rewards. In Korean oral literature, he was perceived as a worldly figure of unfair fate that could not enjoy happy spring with others every year rather than a historic Chinese figure that was the origin of Hansik simply due to an unfortunate death, which is a huge difference.