담양 정자문화를 중심으로 본 차문화 고찰

A Study on Tea Ceremony Culture focused on the Pavilion in Damyang County

Korea’s beautiful scenery and distinct four seasons made Korean people enjoy the seasonal changes of mountains, fields, and rivers around them. So, pavilions were very natural building structures for the Koreans who lived in tune with nature. In addition, under the influence of Confucianism in the Joseon Dynasty, Koreans had a philosophy of life, complying with the providence of nature, and naturally they became accustomed to pavilions. Therefore, those pavilions were the structures to emphasize the communion with nature, and not to enjoy rest, feasts, or plays. The scholars’ tea culture in Damyang’s ‘Gasa’ cultural area was studied by examining the pavilions with the mental aspect in this thesis. The ‘Gasa’ cultural area in Damyang was closely related with tea culture in terms of space and learning. From the ‘Gasa’ cultural area, we came to know that nature was not only a place to create learning and art but also a space for tea culture. In these pavilions, such scholars as Im Eokryong, Jeong Chul, Song Soon, Koh Kyeongmyong, Kim Inhu, and Yang Sanbo interchanged their knowledge, trained young students, and sublimated their ideals in art. The tea culture space where they lived their idyllic lives by enjoying tea and reciting poems was one in which they came to learn how to live together in nature, and in which they sublimated their life in art. That is, they practiced 'Yueoye, the life enjoying art' in the Confucianists' philosophy of art. This space was also a place for disciplining their minds and for taking pleasure in acting in a truthful way. The pavilions in Korea were very unique in that they tried to show metaphysical philosophy even though they were artificially constructed for the purpose of enjoying beautiful scenery. They reflected the Koreans' simple-mindedness of loving nature. They complied with nature, enjoyed tea culture in nature, and sublimated their life in art. Unlike them, modern people are deeply absorbed in materialism and thus, they have their own distorted viewpoints of culture. In this situation, modern people should recover their metaphysical composure, which is obtained from mental training in nature. Tea life consisting of keeping their composure and drinking tea as a means of mental training, is a needed way of living in the time of 'Bupgochangshin', which means 'creating a new thing based on an old thing'.