내방가사에서 나타난 여성의 결혼에 대한 의미

The Meaning of Marriage to Women of Chosŏn Dynasty Reflected on Naebang-kasa

Naebang-kasa, mostly made after Kap-O Reform Movement of 1894, is a form of woman literature created by the women of Yangban, the upper class in Chosŏn Dynasty. They were suppressed by the strict Confucian disciplines under the family system of feudalism. If their husbands were dead, they could not marry again and had to keep alone their boudoirs with perseverance. If they were not able to produce a son, they were rejected from their families. From the age of seven, they couldn't go out of the house freely and restricted in their social activities. They learned from their mothers how to serve their husbands and families because the education of women was prohibited. They were obliged to obey, to depend upon their fathers, and after getting married, to their husbands and sons. So in Naebang-kasa, they tried to purify their suffering and sorrow resulted from women's duties to maintain their chastity and the fame of their family, expressed strongly the women's revolt against this Confucian society. The marriage of daughter means a connection between two families. Her value as human being is far from human happiness. Among the themes presented in six hundreds of Naebang-kasa, women's position as daughter-in-law is treated the most. "Man resides outside of the house and woman keeps inside. He should not talk to his wife the things that happened outside, and she cannot talk to her husband what happened inside." To preserve their home life, women shouldn't reveal their self-consciousness, had to lead their families. That is to say, woman as wife or as a daughter-in-law was only an instrument for maintenance of family. In the purpose of making the feudal system stable, the monogamy of Chosŏn Dynasty is one form of practical application of Chongja-rules, which means that the eldest son is to be inherited. Chosŏn Dynasty adopted it for its social ethic from China, Sung at the period of establishment of Chosŏn. This rule deprived women of the fundamental right as human being. In the late Chosŏn Dynasty, women's role was stressed, not as an independent individual, but as a tool to maintain the feudal system. This study investigates the linguistic expressions in Naebang-kasa concerning these statements mentioned above, and presents the social institutions and the lamentation of women in ancient times.