조선 후기 산문에 나타난 ‘협(俠)’의 의미 = The Meaning of 'Hyeop' in the Prose of the Late Joseon

다국어 초록 (Multilingual Abstract)

All the works that dealt with Hyeop (俠, chivalry) as a material during the late Joseon depicted the people of the lower classes, such as beggars, servants, and gisaengs and their communications with various people. These works lay emphasis on Sin (信, faith) in Bunguyusin (朋友有信, 'Faith should reign over the relation between friends'), a rule of Oryun (五倫, moral rules to govern the five human relations), which consist of Hyo (孝, filial piety to parents), Chung (忠, allegiance to the country), Yeol (烈, faithfulness to the husband), Je (弟, giving the precedence to the elder brother), and Sin (信, faith to the friends). Hyo, Chung, Yeol, and Je come from the same thought except that they are different in aspects of the relations. All of them, except Sin, naturally require subordination and obedience, based on the unfair human relationship. But, Sin is a concept to support the equal relations among humans.
Hyo, including Chung, Yeol, and Je, was a basic rule for the system and had a powerful influence on the late Joseon. In this situation, the emphasis on Sin was a criticism or reflection that the prescriptive relationship centering Hyo made it impossible to have a genuine relationship. This means that Sin was a new alternative value and practical ethics. After all, the essays written from Hyeop in the late Joseon can be thought to come from the desire for the equal human relationship on the basis of faith.
In a view of the higher class, to deal with Hyeop and friendship is rebellious, subversive, and threatening. The desire for the new relationship on a basis of faith is a subject of the works dealing with Hyeop in the late Joseon.