송도를 노래한 한시의 역사적 변천

Historical Transformation of the Sino-Korean Poems Commemorating Songdo

Songdo is a treasure-house full of historical gems. The city was the capital of Koryo dynasty, and it was also the place that produced so-called "The three exceptional things" during the Choson period. Songdo is the place that left a deep imprint in the historical memories of numerous poets and writers who often visited the city themselves. The Sino-Korean poems commemorating Songdo during the Koryo period differ significantly from those of the Choson dynasty. While the former sang the city as the contemporary cultural center, the latter reminisced over Songdo as a historical site. This article overviews the multiple complexities of those poems that reflect the lives and history of the city, while also analyzing aspects of changes and characteristics of the poems unique to each period. Since Songdo during the Koryo dynasty was the cultural center of the kingdom, poems commemorating Songdo were very much lively, and reflected dynamic spirits that centered around contemporary events unfolding before their eyes. However, as we enter the Choson period, Songdo’s status was relegated to the capital of the defeated dynasty, a status that only stimulated a sense of impermanence. Therefore, many Choson poets depicted Songdo as the capital of a fallen dynasty, and wrote poems that revealed their feelings of transitoriness and sorrow. There are numerous poems that fall into this characterization. However, some poets digressed from this trend through their efforts to reinterpret the historical significance of the dynastic change or to versify the feeling of transcendence they experienced when they toured in the city. Also, after the mid-Choson period, poets from Songdo expressed their emotional ties to their native place and to their felIow townsmen based on their pride in the cultural heritage of their hometown. In the late Choson period, poets paid particular attention to various aspects of urban life taking place in the city, and rediscovered the hiscorical significance of Songdo. The most representative work in this categoty is the nine poems composed by Yu Deukgong entitled "Exceptional and Unexceptional Things in Songdo (Songdo japjol)." This new trend deserves our future attention and research.