선도소설(仙道小說)의 바다 상상 - 조여적의 『청학집』 다시 읽기 -

Abstract

This paper examines the Cheonghakjip from a new perspective, which is said to have been written by Jo Yeo-jeok in the middle of the Joseon Dynasty. This book has already received special attention from Korean studies researchers in the early 20th century. This is because it was a rare material that tells the existence and unknown genealogy of Korean taoist masters(道士) and immortals(神仙). For this reason, this book has long been labeled as a book that records the past activities of taoist masters and immortals. However, I judged that this assessment was an obstacle that prevented us from seeing the literary qualities and colorful achievements of this book as it is. So, in this study, I defined this book as a fictional creation based on a unique interest in Taoism, not a book that records the unknown activities of the past taoist masters. This is a premise that can interpret the various stories in Cheonghakjip as narrative literature. And I paid attention to the stories about the sea in this book as subjects of study. These are important research subjects because they are stories that cannot be found in other works of Korean classical literature. Moreover, it was judged that this was appropriate to examine the position and meaning of Cheonghakjip in the history of Korean classical literature. Accordingly, I first introduced the major works according to their attributes and arranged their characteristic features. Based on this, the network with other literary works with similar material and subject was investigated. As a result, it was found that the sea-related stories contained in Cheonghakjip have interesting points of contact with the Yadam(野談) tales and novels of the late Joseon Dynasty. Then, I analyzed the reasons why such various sea-related stories were included in Cheonghakjip, which was created based on interest in immortals and taoism. This study, conducted through the above process, proves that the literary achievement of the sea in the late Joseon Dynasty is closely related to the interest in immortals and Taoism.