조선 한글소설 『당태종전』의 『西遊記』 전유 양상 小考

Abstract

Dangtaejongjeon (당태종전, 唐太宗傳), a classical Hangul novel by an unknown author in the late Joseon (朝鮮), is a adapted story which was newly composed from the story of the Tang (唐) Emperor Taizong (太宗)’s visit to the underworld in Journey to the West (西遊記). Novel readers in late Joseon had a strong tendency to share Chinese novels which were not original texts but rather adapted works, being gone through their own ‘appropriaton’ process. This study regards Dangtaejongjeon as a novel in such a flow, and thus tries to examine the world of it in terms of appropriaton of the original text. This study considers that the Tang Emperor Taizong functioned as a ambivalent cultural code in Joseon society and thus adaptation was done on that basis. Contemplation about the aspects of adaptation was conducted with four perspectives in this study. Firstly, the author of this novel pursued historical details. It shows that the author would be a class with some knowledge. Secondly, this novel manifested the entire Buddhist world view by actively embracing Buddhist narratives. Thirdly, this novel also contained realistic Confucian values while expressing the Buddhist world view. These two outlooks did not conflict with each other and coexisted naturally. Fourthly, the description of the underworld has changed in Korea compared to the original. Dangtaejongjeon was written in many parts reflecting the cultural situation and ideological factors of the late Joseon through a process of ‘re-writing’ of Journey to the West. Dangtaejongjeon re-written in this way was able to be enjoyed without any heterogeneity among Joseon public readers. This study tried to dispute on the world of a adapted work of Chinese novel in Joseon in terms of not a simple import or influence relation but the ‘contact, modification, creation.’ I believe that this study would be helpful to enhancement of mutual understanding about classical novel culture and narrative tradition between Korea and China.