明末 民間笑話書 ≪笑府≫ 속 지식인 연구Ⅰ ― ＜腐流＞편의 과거 수험생과 선생을 중심으로

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to examine the actual appearance of intellectuals in the late Ming Dynasty from the perspective of the people, and to draw implications for modern intellectuals. The subject of this study is ≪Xiao-Fu笑府≫ a compilation of funny stories from the private sector by Feng Mong-long, a writer in the late Ming Dynasty. The book categorizes the stories into 13 sections and processes them using literary styles of Xiaohua. Feng Mong-long's commentary is added in some works to provide appreciation and information about the work. This study focused on ＜Fu-liu腐流＞ the second chapter of ≪Xiao-Fu笑府≫ and examined exam candidates and teachers. As a result of this study, it was found that the public's gaze toward test takers was only wishing for good luck without study hard. The people thought that the test takers did not have any knowledge, but only pretended to be proud and only consumed the country's grain. The increase in the number of examinees and their aging is due to the institutional problems accumulated in the late Ming Dynasty, but the public's eyes did not reach that part. The appearance of teachers was also portrayed as incompetent, just like the test takers. The incompetence of government officials is also a phenomenon that occurred when the country appointed those who failed in the exams or who passed the old age, that is, those who did not succeed as officials. The treatment of teachers was more generous in private schools than in government schools, and as a result, the perception that private schools were a stable and desirable job that everyone wanted to do was prevalent, because lodging and accommodations were guaranteed. In this way, during the late Ming Dynasty, intellectuals were not helpful to the people in real life. They were seen as snobs who tried to maintain their privilege by pretending to have knowledge, but in reality, they did not possess it. It would be nice to think again of our attitude toward knowledge today through the appearance of intellectuals in the late Ming Dynasty. As technology develops, we have doubts about acquiring basic knowledge. Because technology makes knowledge easy to obtain. Therefore, only the application of knowledge is emphasized rather than the acquisition of knowledge. However, it is impossible to judge the authenticity and value of acquired knowledge without systematic knowledge. In a modern society that increasingly focuses only on acquiring technical knowledge, we should think about what students and teachers can do to fulfill their duties.