일본고대문학에 나타난 神仙譚의 구조와 환상적 모티브 –나라조(奈良朝) 시가(詩歌)문학의 선녀담을 중심으로–

Abstract

How was the Chinese idea of Taoist hermits with miraculous power adopted by ancient Japanese writers, and how was it reflected in ancient Japanese literary works? The present study analyzes the fantastic motives of the idea of Taoist hermits portrayed in the Yoshino Taoist fairy stories and the Matsuura Taoist fairy stories in the context of how Taoist fairy stories were featured in Japanese literature. In terms of literature, the idea of Taoist hermits of ancient Japan was adopted by contemporary writers as a kind of knowledge. Among others, Taoist fairy stories, which were crucial in creation of literary works, were a motive that helped understand writers’ perception of the idea of Taoist hermits. Taoist fairy stories contained “literary amusement” of ancient writers based on (fantastic) imagination. In particular, the Yoshino and Matsuura Taoist fairy stories, which were created based on poetry of the Nara period, established the image of a Taoist fairy pursued by ancient Japanese. In addition, they represent the early types of Taoist fairy stories that can help understand how the idea of Taoist hermits was adopted and developed in Japan.