김태준(金台俊)과 궈모뤄[郭沫若] ― 한 고전학자의 인식론적 전환의 계기

Abstract

Early Korean literature pioneer scholar Tae-joon Kim shows epistemic change, and thispaper was written to track the scholarly influence from China interposed in such change. The arguments about his scholarly methods were mostly either positivism or historicalmaterialism, however this does not seem to be enough to analyze Kim’s research processand his scholarship. Kim once said that one of the most important reasons for his epistemicchange was Guo Mo Ruo’s ‘Researches in Ancient Chinese Society(zhongguo gudai shehuiyanjiu)’, but the research of the book’s effect to Kim has not been done yet. By bringingthe Kim’s transition in, it is expected to overcome the dichotomy and also to have anew overall understanding of Kim. Kim was highly active in the 1930s and what started to appear in the academic field at thattime was ‘chosun studies(Cho sun hak)’, which is a consecutive study of ‘Nationlogy(Kuk’hak)’in the beginning of the twentieth century. Kim puts himself into the ‘scientific’ researchergroup such as Nam-cheol Shin and Nam-woon Paek, and harshly criticized the unscientificscholars and those who are in the government’s pocket. ‘Researches in Ancient ChineseSociety’ published in 1930 by Guo Mo Ruo was considered to be well inherited the outcomeof the ‘Rearranging National Heritage Movement’ in the 1920 and also to build a foundationfor ‘Social History Controversy’ in the 1930s. Guo’s new interpretation of the ancientChinese history was highly acclaimed by non-Marxist scholars. Kim’s early literature history writings do not show any clear historical awareness. Literature history about two proses written before 1931 is more like a list of works. Later,as his scholarly interests extended to verse, thoughts about history started to appear. Since it was the first stage of Chosun literature as modern study at the moment, it is assumedthat he used contemporary Chinese and Japanese books. The Chinese books heused for his study were mostly dealing with the new understanding of ‘Shijing’. Thesebooks were written under the influence of ‘Rearranging National Heritage Movement’ and‘New Culture Movement’ in the 1920 and thus advocated anti-Confucius and anti-tradition. Guo’s Researches in Ancient Chinese Society and ‘Quanerji’ were two of them. Kim shows in-depth understanding and contemporariness of Chinese academic arena ofthat time, and he chose to quote Guo, not by coincidence. Guo challenged the traditionalinterpretation of the Confucian classics, and in 1924, while translating ‘SocietyOrganization and Social Revolution’ written by Kawakami Hajime, he started to focus onhistorical materialism. In 1930, he even suggested a brand new interpretation of ancientChinese history based on historical materialism, which overturned the traditional interpretationof the classics. At the same time, the mainstream of the classical studies inChosun were based on neo-Confucianism, and considering such academic condition, Kimwould have been shocked by the new point of view and methods. From 1934, the terms and outlooks of the world based on historical materialism startedto show in Kim’s writing. There would have been various routes in regard to Kim’s historicalmaterialism studies, and among them, the effects of ‘Researches in Ancient ChineseSociety’ is noticeable. Since 1935, Kim had broadened his research to history and publishedmany articles about ancient history of Korea based on historical materialism. Inthose days, the study of Dan goon was the main theme and Kim published an article titledas ‘Research on Dan goon Mythology’ and here, he assimilated Guo’s historical researchmethods and applied it to extend and reinforce his own arguments. As can be seen from above, the research process of Kim, especially the sustainability ofChinese academics to the interposition of materialism to his view, could be verified. However, aside from the proof confirmed in this research paper, Kim’s study was formedin the midst of various academic arenas of Korea, China and Japan. Thus, Kim’s complicatedacademic history such as traditional studies, Keijo Imperial University, JapaneseOrientalism and Marxism, should also be pursued and analyzed.