李彦瑱과 『虞裳傳』

Abstract

An official interpreter from the jung in (中人, middle people, a middle class consisting of educated professionals and technical experts), poet Yi Eon-jin (1740~1766; penname: Usang) participated in a Korean goodwill mission to Japan, or Tongsinsa (通信使, envoys for the conveyance of trust), dispatched by the Joseon (1392~1910) court in 1763~1764. During his sojourn in Japan, he supposedly received great praise from Japanese writers by composing a large number of outstanding classical Chinese poems. Thanks to this, Yis fame increased in Korea as well following his return. However, he died at a young age due to illness. Usang-jeon (『虞裳傳』, Biography of Usang) is a biography of Yi authored by Park Ji-won(朴趾源, 1737~1805; penname: Yeonam). Although this text often has been cited as relevant material in the study of Yis literary works, it has rarely been analyzed in depth as a piece of outstanding artistic prose. The present study closely links and examines Yis classical Chinese poetry and Parks Usang-jeon. From the resultant findings, records that Yi won literary fame in Japan are counterfactual and exaggerated. Furthermore, an examination of Hodong Geosil (『??居室)』, My House in the Alley), his representative work, reveals that the writer wandered considerably in terms of ideology, being deeply influenced by not only Confucianism and Buddhism but also Roman Catholicism. In addition, Parks Usang-jeon is an outstanding work as a biography of an artist, contributing significantly to the later idolization of Yi as a genius poet.