최남선의 국토순례기행문에 나타난 자연인식과 생태적 문명관

Abstract

This article is trying to prove Nature recognition and View of civilization through travel essays of Choi Nam-sun. Choi Nam-sun took part in a country trip in mid-1920s. Most of discussion about his travel essays have been focused on aspects of his nationalism, though there are other things that couldn't explain through this point of view. Choi seems to have the distinct nature recognition that The other, wrote travel essays in the same period, didn't have shown. That is, Choi criticize the human civilization and praise Nature, saying Nature have real beauty and truth. Moreover he encounter sanctity of nature in Mt. Baek-du, and Mt. Kum-gang and etc, where he believed sacred place in Korean peninsula. Thus to him, this travel was like a pilgrimage to the Holy Land. When Choi reached “Choen-Pyong”(“천평”) in Mt. Baek-du, his mythic imagination was maximized. He not only knew about mythic, but also had mind of worship nature like the ancients. Choi explained the ancients have belief that the soul return to their ancestor's mountain when people passed away. Each ethnic groups in East Asia have their own mountain and that mountain is regarded as sacred place where each soul of ethnic groups would return. Also, Choi insist that haman being can recover his own true nate by returning back to nature in his travel essays. He named this ancient people's spirit, spirit of 'returning'. Meanwhile this should not confused with the Europe Romantist's slogan, Jean Jacques Rousseau's “Retour a la nature(Come back to nature)" representatively. Futhermore Choi understood nature like mother who give birth to human being and take care of them. This point of view have important meaning, because some researchers argue recently turning back a matriarchal society instead of today's violent patriarchal society. Also Choi told he want to new civilization community(“Sae-Nara”, “새 나라”), not human-dominated, the divine nature-dominated community. The way of his thought is different to recent critics of nation-state, don't consider importance of nature.