『우해이어보(牛海異魚譜』 소재 국자(國字) 고(攷)

Abstract

This article examines the Korean Chinese character(國字) that appear in “Uhae-ieo-bo牛海異魚譜” written by Damjeong藫庭 Kim Ryeo金鑢, a writer in the late Joseon Dynasty, and considers how these were applied to the folk poetry “Usan-Japgok牛山雜曲.” “Uhae-ieo-bo” contains 22 Korean Chinese characters that are believed to have been created by Kim Ryeo himself. Until now, it has been generally understood that they were created to borrow characters from native Korean words, but there are greatly different opinions about what kinds of fish they indicate, and there has been a severe lack of examination based on the theory of Chinese characters. Kim Ryeo personally created and used unfamiliar Chinese characters to express the names, shapes, and habits of fish, which are called native or Jinhae dialect, and through this, he not only enabled readers to intuitively understand information related to fish, but also attempted to capture the unique environment and culture of Joseon, which was not subordinate to China. He also took care not to violate the rules of the rhythm of Chinese poetry when using the ladle he created in “Usan-Japgok.” This was mostly done by using it in a position that was not restricted by four tones, or by using a nickname instead of the name of the fish that included the Korean Chinese character. This shows that “Uhae-ieo-bo” is valuable not only as a marine natural history resource, but also as a literary text that demonstrates Kim Ryeo’s own writing ability.