城垓子 2號 木簡에 보이는 尊稱語 ‘足下’에 대하여

Abstract

The wooden strip number two, excavated at the moat of the Wŏlsŏng palace, is a four-page document in the form of a wooden strip and has caught the attention of researchers on Silla history. This study has critically examined prior decipherment and interpretations on its first line. As a result, it has found that “taeojirang” was misread and instead should be read as “taejojirang” and that “taeo” is interpreted not as the fifteenth office rank in Silla’s seventeen office ranks but a person’s name “Taejo” or “Taejoji.” Also, instances appeared in wooden strips of Silla and Paekche as well as document materials concerning the Silla kingdom prove the interpretation of “bowing twice” rather than that of “bowing ten thousand” to be right. The term “bowing twice” first appeared bibliographically from the fifth century, frequently appeared from the King Chinp’yŏng’s reign in the sixth century, and spread since Silla's unification of the Three Kingdoms, which this study understands as the establishment of the Confucian proprieties in Silla. The term “chokha” had two meanings: “below one’s feet” and “you” as an honorific language. But the Wŏlsŏng wooden strip indicates that the honorific language “chokha” should be interpreted as it was meant by. In addition, documents materials which include instances of “chokha” demonstrate that it was used among kings in the period of the Later Three Kingdoms. This means that the term was used in expressing men of considerable standing and that a man named “Taejo” or “Taejoji” was not a person of low rank. This study understands the honorific language “chokha” as having originated in China. Decipherable materials and document materials have many examples of how “chokha” were used. There were differences in use over time, but the term had always been used as an honorific language. Judging from the fact that it appears in the wooden strip number two at the moat of the Wŏlsŏng Palace as well as the Japanese instances in the first half of the eighth century, it is assumed that China transmitted it to Silla and then Silla transmitted it to Japan. The wooden strip number two excavated at the Wŏlsŏng moat is the earliest source material demonstrating that the honorific language “chokha” was used in Silla. Without it, we might have still believed that the term was used in the late period of Silla. Thanks to this wooden strip, it is possible for us to date back the period of the term’s use to much earlier times, which may represent another major academic achievement resulting from its intensive study.