‘정감록’ 기억의 형성과 예언서 출현: 1739년 李濱 사건을 중심으로

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to examine what constituted Chŏnggamnok(鄭鑑錄), a book of prophecy, and the background of its appearance which began to appear in the records of the Chosŏn(朝鮮) Dynasty since 1739. In doing so, I tried to describe the history by focusing on the creation, the transformation, and the reconstruction of human memory. It has been the work of describing the ways in which the memories of Chŏnggamnok(鄭鑑錄) appeared in Chosŏn(朝鮮) society, declined in the course of collisions and conflicts, and then re-emerged and expanded. I tried to make use my interest that lies in the phenomenon in which memory is transformed into a record by examining the Chosŏn(朝鮮) society where the memories of Chŏnggamnok(鄭鑑錄) appeared in the name of a book of prophecy. It aimed to understand the structure of formation of a record from fragments of memories that have lasted for a long period of time. Through the series of political events since the beginning of the Chosŏn(朝鮮) Dynasty, the elements embedded as the memories of Chŏnggamnok(鄭鑑錄) were Kyeryongsan(鶏龍山), Chŏngssi(鄭氏), and Chinin(眞人). They were closely related with the Chŏngyŏrip(鄭汝立) incident in the late 16th century. At that time, Chŏngyŏrip(鄭汝立) spread various prophecies that were threatening to the Chosŏn(朝鮮) Dynasty. Chŏngyŏrip(鄭汝立) made use of Kyeryongsan(鶏龍山) and Chŏngssi(鄭氏) as he appointed his own surname Chŏngssi(鄭氏) to be the replacement of the Chosŏn(朝鮮) dynasty with the transfer of the capital to Kyeryongsan(鶏龍山). In so doing, he superimposed the expressions such as ‘early in the Chosŏn(朝鮮) Dynasty’ and ‘a hundred years earlier’ to add mystery and justify the prophecy. Chŏngyŏrip(鄭汝立) was able to make and spread the prophecy because of the prevalent dissatisfaction among people following the collapse of the peasant class. The elements of prophecy that Chŏngyŏrip(鄭汝立) spread left various traces in the society later. There are two typical examples. First, Kyeryongsan(鶏龍山) had been recognized firmly as the capital of Chŏngssi(鄭氏) dynasty, and Second, Chŏngssi(鄭氏) as Chinin(眞人)’s surname. It can be argued from this that the elements constituting Chŏnggamnok(鄭鑑錄) as a book of prophecy were not products of a certain period. The fragments of memories of Chŏnggamnok(鄭鑑錄) had survived for a long time and attracted people, in the course of which they were transformed and appropriated to be passed down to the next generation. The Chŏnggamnok(鄭鑑錄) as memories turned into a record at a certain point of time while attracting people and being chosen by them. I would like to conceptualize the emergence of Chŏnggamnok(鄭鑑錄) as a book of prophecy as the crystallization of this process. I have examined the Lee Bin(李濱) incident in 1739 through which memories of Chŏnggamnok(鄭鑑錄) had been transformed into a record. I was able to find out that the peoples’ desire for utopia was the background of the appearance of the book of prophecy. The utopia was the place with a certain size of cultivatable fields from which one could subsist without worries. In addition, I found out that Lee Bin(李濱) was closely related with the rumor of utopia which was popular in Hamgyong(咸鏡) Province at that time. The prophecy of Chŏnggamnok(鄭鑑錄) also originated from him. This was significant in that it transformed the memories epitomized by ‘the fall of Lee(李氏) Dynasty and the prosperity of the Chŏng(鄭氏) Dynasty’ into a literature. What is more, the contents of this prophecy in the 18th century were different from what Koreans know in the 21st century.