湖洲 蔡裕後 仕宦生活과 詩世界

Abstract

This article aims to consider Hoju Chae Yu Hu(1599~1660)’s poetic world with regard to his official life. Chae Yu Hu has Baekchang(伯昌) as his ja(字:family nickname) and Pyeonggang(平 康) as his bongwan(本貫:family ancestor’s hometown). He was a politician who worked mostly during king Injo(仁祖) to king Hyojong(孝宗) reigns and writer in charge of the national documentation. Within the chaotic political situation with a series of hardships including Imjinwaeran(壬辰倭亂:Japanese invasion of Korea in 1592), Injobanjeong(仁祖反正:king Injo’s coup), Igwal(李 适)’s Uprising, Jeongmyohoran(丁卯胡亂:Manchu invasion of Korea in 1627), or Byeongjahoran(丙子胡亂:Manchu invasion of Korea in 1636), Chae Yu Hu was exiled once but got back to his job several times. His life as an official can be still regarded to have been quite smooth taking charge of several major public posts. While taking up a public office, Chae Yu Hu was incorruptible and unworldly for the 40 years, and also, he was well-reputed for his upright and indignant personality. As a premise to examine Chae Yu Hu’s poetic world, this study looked into his official lifetime, the exact account of compiling 『Hoju’s Collection(湖洲集)』 and the summary of its contents, and also the contemporaries’ evaluation on his literature. In fact, Chae Je Gong(蔡濟恭) appreciated the status of Chae Yu Hu’s literature as the lead of Namin Simaek(南人詩脈:Namin’s poetic branch) then, and Taekdang(澤堂) Lee Sik(李植) said, “ Every single word he says is comparable to Tangsi(唐詩:dynasty Tang’s poetry).” In addition, Hakgok(鶴谷) Hong Seo Bong(洪瑞鳳) evaluated his Byeongryeomun(騈儷文) as a talent hard to find in this world. Chae Yu Hu wrote many Tangsi(唐詩)-style works in which he expressed his thoughts in mind naturally with his own simple language. As he lived most of his life as an official, he well expressed the feelings of those in a governmental post and the exchanges among the celebrities then.