| 摘要: | The purpose of this thesis is to analyze the original author of The Story of Chunhyang. To do so, this thesis will first analyze some different versions of The Story of Chunhyang. We will first find out some main themes from the earliest version. After finding the themes, we will confirm whether Seong Iseong’s story contains these elements. In the beginning, I selected 3 versions. First, the earliest version, ManHuaBon-Song of Chunhyang. Second, the version that contains the most information, NamwonGosa. Last, the one that completes Yeoleochunhyangsoojeolga. Also, I will prove that the root of Guemjunmiju is Jo dosa’s Cheonghyangjiju, which may prove that Jo Gyeong-nam is the author of The Story of Chunhyang. However, at the same time, there is another critical factor.
In The Story of Chunhyang, it talks about Seong Iseong, and Jo Gyeong-nam is the teacher of Seong Iseong, and Seong Iseong is the son of a Namwon local governor. Seong Iseong grew up and became a Honam a royal secret inspector. When Jo Gyeong-nam was small, there was a Honam a royal secret inspector named Nojin. The reason why Jo Gyeong-nam became an author is because these two Honam a royal secret inspector gave him the important motif of a Honam a royal secret inspector, a major element in The Story of Chunhyang, which provided him with the framework of his story.
Jo Gyeong-nam introduced Jo dosa’s “Cheonghyangjiju” in his own works. Therefore, because Jo Gyeong-nam really understood Jo dosa’s poem, he was able to integrate it into his own work.
Jo Gyeong-nam is the scribe of a Namwon local governor, but because Jo dosa’s “Cheonghyangjiju” was presented to the king in the capital, which is very far from him, there was no way he would’ve been able to know what it was and transcribed it perfectly. Because he was only a scribe, why would he know about something that happened with a king so fast? Many people also don’t know who the Jo dosa is. Also, if the cultures of Jo Gyeong-nam and the Jo dosa were so different, how could he have perfectly understood the poem?
The following examples counter why Jo Gyeong-nam is the author of The Story of Chunhyang.
First of all, Jo Gyeong-nam was a very good scribe. For 57 years, he wrote down NanJungJabRok and SokJabRok, which is why he is a respected scribe. However, in The Story of Chunhyang, there was a hierarchy in the society, and two people went from a lower class to a higher class. The man’s change in social status was understandable, because he was already high in social rank, but the woman’s change in social status was not as well accepted, because she used to be a servant. Also, Jo Gyeong-nam never wrote about rising in social class in his two works of NanJungJabRok and SokJabRok.
Another example is there was a king named JungJong in the Jooseon era, a Chinese person named QiuJun’s short-story called “Creation of WuLunQuanBei-JI” was already in Korea, and in the short-story, it referenced the poem “Binchimmiju”, just like how The Story of Chunhyang referenced “Guemjunmiju”. Both poems criticize people of high social status in Korea. Jo Gyeong-nam probably wrote ‘Guemjunmiju’. But maybe someone already wrote Guemjunmiju when Binchimmiju first came and realized the meaning before Jo Gyeong-nam. This is why it’s not a valid argument to prove he definitely is the author of The Story of Chunhyang.
Furthermore, Jo Gyeong-nam writes his version of The Story of Chunhyang based on Nojin, the Honam a royal secret inspector of his time, and Chunhyang(prostitute). Jo Gyeong-nam is not the only person that has ever had this combination occur to him and to write it down.
Lastly, if Jo Gyeong-nam is truly the author of The Story of Chunhyang, he shouldn’t use the name “The Story of Chunhyang” because he is the teacher of Seong Iseong, and he wrote about his students, so why is the name of the story, The Story of Chunhyang. Because the story is comprised of two elements, Honam, a royal secret inspector, and Chunhyang, some authors may write more about one than the other, emphasizing one more. Because Jo Gyeong-nam wrote about his student, a Honam, shouldn’t his title be something about his student or a Honam?
In conclusion, the important motif of The Story of Chunhyang is common in the Joseon era, comprising of a Honam, a royal secret inspector, Chunhyang, and a poem like Guemjunmiju. Therefore, we can not say for sure which one person wrote The Story of Chunhyang first. I concluded that the original author of the original The Story of Chunhyang is an unknown, but great author. Of course, Jo Gyeong-nam could be possible a possible author, but he can’t be the only author, because The Story of Chunhyang nowadays has been influenced by many “original” authors. Altogether, we can not say Jo Gyeong-nam is the only original author, but he is a real example of one of the original authors that we are sure existed. Therefore, he can lead us to more evidence to find out who the original author is. |
