ABSTRACT



Study on Literature of Bokjae Gijun



Mi-hyun Han



Department of English, Graduate School
Chungnam National University
Daejon, Korea


( Supervised by Professor Advisor Hyang-bae Lee)

Bokjae Gijun (1492-1521), one of the scholars of Gimyosarim was executed in the time of a massacre of scholars in final while trying to realize the ideal of Jichi with Jo Gwang-jo. A study on Gimyosarim has been proceeded from earlier on as its influence on Joseon's histories of thought and literature is so extreme. By the way, the study has been concentrated on a few scholars such as Jo Gwang-jo and Kim Jeong until now. It is not only a few people like Jo Gwang-jo and Kim Jeong who affected on the thought and literature in the early period of Joseon but the whole converged power of Gimyosarim that drived a change of the age and the style of poetry also. Therefore, the study of each scholar of Gimyosarim must be done first to soundly understand the thought and literature in the early period of Joseon. In this thesis, it is expected to examine an individual's mind who lived in turbulent times and thus, to wholly understand the thought and literature of Gimyosarim by studying the literature of Gijun, one of the scholars of Gimyosarim.
Gijun who was originated from non-aristocratic family based on Giho district seems to have been comfortably fixed economically and hierarchically as his ancestor and his five brothers passed the state examination, and he was a son-in-law of Yun Guem-son who was the 1st class nobleman. He studied with Jo Gwang-jo in Cheonmasan in Songdo when he was 19 years old, though he is not found out to have a particular relationship with any mentor, which explains the fact that he became a companion with Jo Gwang-jo and grew up into Gimyosarim afterwards. Gijun who had repeated a rapid process of promotion after beginning his official career took the initiative in enthusiastically reforming while positioning as a center in Gimyo sarim. But his effort ended in failure due to Gimyosawha in 1519. He was exiled to Ahsan at first and transported to Onseong after being added the other punishment for him. Gijun who had tried to go to Mujang to visit his worried mother turned back half way only overlooking the place where she was from a distance. He was carried to Hanyang again on charge of asylum with this trip turning out to be an unexpected circumstance. Afterwards, Gijun was confined in thorn hedges in Onseong and was executed in final owing to a constant slander by Hungupa.
We can look through his thought on literature based on the comments in the literary circle and on his literary works though there does not currently exist his own written one about it. Gijun describes his emotion in moderate way without any authentic precedents nor a rhetoric in his poems. He also, gives feeling of resonance and serenity by assigning echoing sound to poetic language and rhyming words. This is a characteristic found in poetry of Tang dynasty as was referred by Yun Geun-su commenting, 'his poems possess the poetic style of Tang dynasty.' By the way, he wrote verses categorized as Myeong verse using sixty things in his confinement with which he tried to make his self-improvement. In this aspect, Gijun made an appearance of a moralist by mentioning the theory of Neo-Confucianism and ceaseless self-improvement in those verses.
In this thesis, I examined Gijun's poems dividing them into his love for the king and his family, his sorrow in exile and his will to transcend the gloomy reality.
First, I examined his love for the king and his family in his poems. Gijun felt a responsibility as a civil officer to serve king with loyalty as to provide benefits to the people. Therefore, we can read the sense of loyalty desiring king's benevolence to the people in his poems. He who had directly witnessed miserable situation of the people during exile wrote the poems expressing sympathy with them. He, also shows the longing for his family through metaphors of dream and imagination from the distance. It feels more sorrowful to be unable to fulfill in reality, though he meets his family in his dream and imagination.
Next, I looked into his sorrow in exile in his poems. He shows anxiety about death and extreme tension when being exiled in the time of the massacre of scholars. In his poem 「Reciting things」, he shows fear for death mentioning 'do not intend to do evil to things'. There appears his impatient mind and tension of the exile standing at the crossroads of life and death in his poem. Gijun feels senses of unfamiliarity and loneliness in a different and barren environment, and custom of northern district of Onseong. It could not help but get unfamiliar to him who was born and raised in Kyungki district. He uses words like 'barbarian, barbaric language, foreign country' when expressing landscape and custom of Onseong, which show the impression that he lives in the other country rather than in the land of Joseon. Gijun describes the gloomy situation where he has no one to depend on as being exiled alone in the northern district.
I, lastly, examined his poems in which his will to transcend gloomy reality was expressed. Gijun describes his frustrated and despairing mind using images of aging like 'grey hair, getting old, weakening'. At the height of his pain, he tries to stick to his fidelity and morality to the end without clinging to reality like an empty dream. He determines to accept his death with dignity and to adhere to his righteous fidelity as Baegij and Sukje, Noh Jung-rhyeon did.
『Deokyangyugo』, meanwhile, containing 「Socheopmyeong」 and「Sixty Myeong」 which he handed down has the largest number of verses in the history of Korean literature in Chinese characters. Gijun wrote Myeong verses using sixty things in his confinement with which he tried to make his self-improvement every day and strove to hold on to his fidelity in the pain during exile.
In Gijun's Myeong verses, there appears his aspect of a practical moralist who intends to strength and improve his mentality in the midst of the pain. We, also can read his will to always show vigilance and to renew himself day after day even if he is not watched by others. Especially in these Myeong verses, we can notice his senses of self-reflection and regret while Myeong is written to seek a philosophical reason from things and to improve oneself by looking at them in the morning and evening in general. He expresses the senses of regret and derision of himself about entering the government even though he is not wise and talented in the confused period in the verse titled 「A foolish door」. He, meanwhile, asserts to be humble and prudent for avoiding disaster in the chaotic times. Gijun says we have to behave ourselves with discretion and modesty in 「An eave lowering on its own」, 「A bowl dislikes being full」, 「A self to the end」. The message is similar in 「A box I pull out humbly」, 「The clothe growing into dignity」, 「A basin that respects water」. In above mentioned verses, his mixed emotions of regret, self-reflection and remorse are shown.
Gijun, also, tries to accept his span of life and to adhere to his principle to the end. In 「A standing tree」 he makes up his mind to stick to the righteous morality like upright fencing tress even in the chaotic times. In 「A cane not willing to bend」, he determines to hold on to his fidelity like the cane that does not want to bend. Gijun says it is his destiny to meet the favorable opportunity and we should not neglect our study in any ages what so ever. In 「A floor enjoying a long distance」, he writes to try harder to enjoy learning, to appreciate and sincerely like it as to realize the law of nature. Gijun appears to accept his fate by realizing the nature's law.
Next, I examined formal characteristics of Gijun's literature. He likes the mostly to compose poems in type of Geunchesi. We can discover that he did not focus on writing them in one type as there are similar numbers of Chileonjeolgu, Oeonyulsi and Chileonyulsi. He composes poems in various forms such as Gosi, Japchesi and Buh describing poet's thought and landscape in his mind as they are irrespective of forms and situations as well.
In Yulsi it is necessary to make a pair of Hamryeon and Gyeongryeon. How to weave emotion and landscape together has an enormous influence on the frame of poem as a beauty of rhyme and form is revealed through pairing lines. Gijun uses lots of pairing in his poems. A characteristic in his poems is to make numbers of pairs on all Suryeon, Hamryeon and Gyeongryeon in Yulsi and he uses pairing in classical poems as well.
Gijun expresses the theory and philosophy of new Confucianism based on classical scripture in Myeong verses, while he describes his emotions without any rhetoric as they are considering revealing his nature important in poems. This is because Myeong is a style of literature mainly written for giving wariness and lessons. By the way, the fact that Gijun expresses his emotions in Myeong verses is unusual. He, also quotes Chinese classics even when describing his emotions in Myeong verse. The reason why he did not quote them in his poems is not because of his lack of knowledge about classical scripture but of his literary attitude. He emphasizes on revealing the nature in poems and morality in proses as the scholars of Sarim group do in the early period of Joseon.
They say in 「Hogoksihwa』, Gijun's emotion of deep sorrow is strongly felt in his literary works. The fact that a sense of grief is discovered in his poems written before the exile is peculiar, though we can find sad feeling in them after his exile is natural. The words such as 'loneliness', 'alone' and 'sadness' are frequently used in book 1 of 『Deokyangyugo』 where Gijun's poems before his exile are contained. However, it is difficult to find an ambitious spirit in the poem written by a young government office who repeated promotion vigorously. The desperate mind of the exile and mournful feeling for his family are shown in book 2 and 3 of 『Deokyangyugo』 where his poems written after the exile are contained.
I, lastly looked into Gijun's literary status and significance in our history of literature based on this study so far. The literary perspective of Sarim group opposes technicalism in literary works and strongly shows the style of Tang dynasty's poetry revealing human nature as it is, because it stresses on a relationship between writing and morality. Gijun, also, expresses his emotions without rhetoric as they are and his sense of sorrow with fierce, which indicates his poems feature the characteristic of Tang's poetry. The transferring process from style of Song dynasty prevailing in the late period of Goryeo and in the early period of Joseon to that of Tang dynasty is not only thanks to the effort of Kim Jeong alone. The ability of Gimyosarim as a whole enabled the change of the style of poetry. Gijun, one of the scholars of Gimyosarim considered the style of Tang's poetry important along with them and played a role in transferring it from Song's style to Tang's. In his Myeong verses we can discover the practical academic attitude of Sarim that tried to connect literature with morality in the early period of Joseon. Gijun made every effort to concentrate on cultivating his mind by attaching meaning of moral lesson and wariness to surrounding things in his daily life.
The thought and literature in the early period of Joseon does not rely on several scholars like Jo Gwan-jo and Kim Seong. The capability of whole group of Gimyosarim brought about the change of stream of times. Therefore, a research on every scholar of Gimyosarim who lived and shared an ideal together apart from Jo Gwan-jo and Kim Seong should be proceeded to wholly understand the thought and literature at that times. I would like to close the limitation of my thesis looking forward to continuous study on Gijun and the other scholars of Gimyosarim in the future.