조선후기 소설에 나타난 청나라 지배의 중국에 대한 인식의 변화와 의미

Abstract

Classic novels were mainly set in China, especially the Tang, Song or Ming Dynasty, so there are few works set in the Yuan Dynasty or the Qing Dynasty. Such works as Wanghoejeon, Jingsebitaerok, and Taewonji have the Yuan or Qing Dynasty settings, which seems to be caused by the public perception that the latter was found by barbarians while the former by the Han. In the late Joseon Dynasty, loyalty to the Ming Dynasty, which had perished, and exclusion of the Qing Dynasty was pervasive; however, there began a move toward new understanding of the Qing Dynasty. Such a move is divided into three groups: the one that realistically accepted the Qing Dynasty as a ruler of China, another that considered the Qing Dynasty as the center of China, and the other that perceived China ruled by the Qing Dynasty as relative space. It is noteworthy that Wanghoejeon, Jingsebitaerok, and Taewonji included the changed perception of the Qing Dynasty in the late Joseon Dynasty. That is, those novels faithfully reflected the then current new ideas of the Qing Dynasty, and it confirms that classic novels exactly caught the change of perception at that time. Moreover, Jingsebitaerok, and Taewonji, which were nakseonjaebon novels, were read by the royal family, and Wanghoejeon was written by Kim Je-seong, a nobleman. It means such novels were enjoyed by the upper classes, so they would cause the change of perception of the Qing Dynasty among the upper crust.