「여용국전(女容國傳)」 연구

Yeoyong Guk Jeon(女容國傳) is a novel that anthropomorphosized a woman`s toiletries and face. The story follows Empress Hyojang(曉粧) who became negligent about her grooming and as a consequence the kingdom of her face was attacked by dirt, lice, and tooth plaque such that it was on the verge of total destruction, at which point several subjects-cosmetics, toiletries, cleansing water-volunteered to battle the enemies, eventually to defeat them and restore the kingdom. Peace teerly to the enemy, fought against enemies, gained a victory, and at last restored public order and peace. Extant variant copies of Yeoyong Guk Jeon were written in classical Chinese, mixed script of Chinese and Korean, and a completely vernacular version, all of which total six copies, with two copies of each type. Excluding slight differences in word choice and descriptive details, these versions of Yeoyong Guk Jeon are essentially the same. The use of simple and memorable narrative structures and characters, a clearly conveyed subject, measured application of everyday materials-all of this required few adaptations from the original. However, one of the main divisions follows from the omission of the `distribution of rewards`(論功行賞) as well as some of the details of the narrative structure which produced a disctinction between the different versions. The writing of Yeoyong Guk Jeon and the existence of difference versions provide evidence regarding the development of cosmetics and rise in literary interest. The position of women towards cosmetics and rise in literary interest. The position of women towards cosmetics and the integrity of the body is a reversal of the usual interior and exterior which serves as a basis for understanding the attitudes of statesmen in charge of governing the kingdom, satirizing and instructing the necessity for earnestly conducting one`s duties properly. As a result, there were versions in classical Chinese and vernacular Korean intended to be ready by upper class men and lower class women alike.