고양시 설화의 내용과 현실 인식

Abstract

The purpose of the present paper is to examine folk tales from the region around the city of Goyang and Haengju Mountain Fortress. For this purpose, Chapter 2 of this paper reviews the possible sources of the “Legend of Aprons,” a folk tale about civilian women carrying rocks in their aprons to fight against the Japanese invaders. The Korean word for an apron is haengju chima, the first part of the word being a homophone with the name of the fortress, and the latter part meaning “a skirt.” For this reason, some link the folk tale to the victorious battle at the namesake fortress against the Japanese invaders in the 16th century (Haengju daecheop), and others suggest that the word haengju came from haengja, meaning a Buddhist ascetic. The theory associating the word “haengju” to the victory at Haengju Fortress has its root on folk etymology, and it has been proven wrong by the presence of the particular word in a book written by the Joseon-Dynasty scholar Choe Se-jin decades before the battle. Chapter 3 classifies the folk tales from the region into four types, and examines how the contemporary reality was understood in these stories, which contain people’s wishes for victory in the Imjin War against the Japanese; popular consciousness in the period of dynastic transition; frustration of the people’s will; the legend of the Mighty Baby (agijangsu); and the people’s resigned or pioneering attitude toward destiny. Finally, Chapter 4 describes the significance of the Tale of Victory at Haengju Fortress, and proposes ways to use the region’s folk tales in the modern context.