知足堂 朴明榑의 삶과 시세계

Life and Poetic World of Jijokdang Park Myeong-Bu

朴明榑는 조선왕조에서 가장 혹독한 전란기를 살다 간 관료문인 학자이다. 그는 약관의 나이에 출사하여 청년기에 임진년과 정유년의 倭亂을 직접 체험하였고, 장년기에는 붕당정치로 점철된 광해연간의 혼란한 정국을 겪어냈으며, 노년에는 병자년의 胡亂을 맞아 남한산성에서의 치욕을 감내해야만 했다. 박명부는 영창대군 옥사에 연루된 桐溪 鄭蘊(1569~1641)을 구명하려다 廢錮되었던 10년의 시기를 제한다면 일생을 환로에 있었던 관료지식인이었다. 그는 조선이 직면한 국내외의 혼란과 굴욕을 함께 한 관료문인의 전형적인 삶을 살았던 것이다. 따라서 박명부의 삶은 현달하지는 않지만 약관의 출사 이후 지속된 官歷으로 특징지을 수 있다. 그의 한시 또한 이러한 삶의 여정이 녹아 든 관료문인으로서의 정감을 표현한 것이 주를 이루었다. 그 내용을 세분하자면 전란의 체험과 우국의 심정을 표출했거나, 오랜 타향생활에서 느끼는 客心과 鄕愁, 그리고 혼란한 현실에서 벗어나 自適하고자 했던 염원이 담긴 작품들이 다수였다. 그러나 박명부는 탁월한 문장력으로 칭송받았음에도, 문학인으로서의 활동은 소극적이었고, 한시에서도 인생과 시대에 대한 치열한 고뇌가 절절하게 드러나지 않았다. 이는 박명부가 어려서부터 科試에 치중하여 관료지식인으로 성장하였고 게다가 두 번의 전란기를 견뎌낸 官人이었다는 것에서 그 요인을 찾을 수 있다. 곧 그는 전문적인 시인이 아니었을 뿐만 아니라, 그 당대가 사대부의 교양물인 한시를 읊으며 逍遙自適할 수 있는 시기가 아니었던 것이다. 박명부의 삶과 문학에 대한 연구는 그가 직면했던 바로 이러한 처지와 상황을 이해하는 데서 시작되어야 할 것이다.

Park Myeong-bu was a bureaucratic litterateur and scholar who lived through the most horrible vortex of war of Chosun Dynasty. He began his official career at the age of 20, went through two Japanese invasions in the year of Imjin and Jeongyu first-hand, lived through the turmoil of the political world during the reign of King Gwanghaegun dominated by the cliquish politics in the prime of the life, and had to endure the disgrace of Namhan Mountain Fortress during the Manchurian invasion in 1636 in his old age. He served the government throughout his entire life as a bureaucratic intellect except for the ten years when he was forced out of the government service for his attempt to save Donggye Jeong On(1569-1641) involved in the imprisonment of Prince Yeongchang. In a word, he lived a typical life of a bureaucratic litterateur who shared Chosun s turmoil and humiliation home and abroad. Thus his life can be characterized by his ongoing official career since 20 even though he was not well-known much. His Chinese poems mostly expressed what he felt as a bureaucratic litterateur going on such a life journey. In his Chinese poems, he would express his war experiences and intense patriotism, his nostalgia after leaving his home many years ago, and his emotions and sentiment in everyday life. Although he was highly praised for his remarkable writing skills, his activities as a man of letters were extremely passive and his Chinese poems did not reveal his fierce agony over life and the times ardently, which can be attributed to the fact that he was brought up as a bureaucratic intellect that focused on the state examination when young and had to go through two major wars as a government official. Not only was he far from a professional poet, but also the period was not easy and peaceful enough for people to recite Chinese poems, which were part of educational reading for illustrious officials, and enjoy a leisurely life. Any researches on his life and literature should start by understanding those contexts and situations he had to face.