The purpose of this dissertation is to trace the characteristics of the philosophy of space and time in Guwunmong of Seopo Kim, Man-Jung, focusing particularly on its writing motive and its historical background, the theory of yin and yang, of numbers...
The purpose of this dissertation is to trace the characteristics of the philosophy of space and time in Guwunmong of Seopo Kim, Man-Jung, focusing particularly on its writing motive and its historical background, the theory of yin and yang, of numbers and directions, of Buddhist Mantra.
So far, many studies on Guwunmong have been tried in various perspectives, and yet any study on the space-time philosophy of the work has been hardly attempted.
Consequently, I tried to read Guwunmong in the new perspective of space-time philosophy by paying attention to the concept of time and space and the systematic combination of Seopo's thought and also attempted to find its literary value discriminating against previous studies chiefly on his thought and a view of his world.
Actually, Guwunmong is evaluated a peculiar Korean old novel in that it accepts both the concept of the theory yin and yang and the five elements and one of Taoistic direction while depicting a Buddhist's cultivation process on the surface, and in that it enhanced the status of old Korean long novels into the higher level. On top of that, Guwunmong produced a more significant originality in religious complexity and in the narrative structure. Therefore, this study will be developed in the following orders.
First, I presented the purpose and scope of this study. And I attempted to show the writing motive of Guwunmong and its historical background. The text version of this study on Guwunmong and its production period, the background of the writer's times will be discussed. The influence of the Confucian society of Seopo's times on his work will be mentioned by considering the situation of mid-and-later Joseon Dynasty.
Second, I looked into the structure and thought background of Guwunmong. Yang So-Yoo, or Seong-Jn, a hero of the work, is an affectionate and romantic man. He has a multi-layered view of the world. He has experienced three stages of life in a dream: living in heavenly world and the secular world, and rebirth into Buddhist realms. In this experience is dissolved the religious value of Confucianism, Buddhism and Taoism which Guwunmong seeks. In this vein, I tried to find an ideal world which Seopo intended to embody through Guwunmong by examining different citied phrases chiefly on Confucianism, Buddhism, Taoism and Shamanism.
Third, I identified the interrelation of the thought and space philosophy in Guwunmong. Here I discoursed the basis of cosmology based on Jujahak(Neo-Confucianism) and the change of space related to dreams and a previous life, and groped for the possibility to liberate from a view of Buddhist world by looking into the doctrine of dreams and Yogacara(唯識思想). In a sense, we can call the space-time philosophy a kind of image philosophy. The Film, "The Forbidden Kingdom," is a production composed of three dimensions of reality - dream - reality. Its original text is The Adventures Of Super Monkey(西遊記), which is a space journey of a dream. Hence, the space-time philosophy in Guwunmong can be the very image philosophy. On the one hand, it seems that we can find a new material of image philosophy in literary works.
Fourth, I stressed the fusion of yin and yang and the five elements, the eight trigrams for divination, Yogacara, the concept of mantra directions, the concept of space and number, etc. in Guwunmong. Seopo arranged eight fairies well according to the principle of the eight trigrams for divination chiefly on Yang So-Yoo, a hero of the work, and combined the theory of the five elements with a mathematical principle as well. He applied the eight trigrams for divination to the disposition of space and direction and also applied the five elements to the order of meeting eight fairies in accordance with the development of the circulation of space and time through the followiing: entry space → cultivation space → attaining enlightenment space(self-fulfilment space).
Fifth, I scrutinized Dharma Master Yukgwan's features, a pivotal protagonist in the work. In terms of mathematical concept, Yuk(6; six) is a negative number, and its direction is the north, and the number also represents wisdom. In Guwunmong is well dissolved Seopo's concept of space and time grounded on the theory of yin&yang and the five elements. This is the important features of Guwunmong discriminating against the other Korean old novels.
On the other hand, the number 9 in Guwunmong is one which stands for the west, and Seo of Seo-Po has the same meaning as 9(nine). The number 8(eight) which symbolizes the east is the same meaning as eight fairies. The harmonious agreement of these two numbers in Guwunmong means the meeting of the west and the east and the unity, and the convergence of the two results in leading to the Western Paradise.
Finally, I emphasized the unifying force of Guwunmong as a popular novel, which springs from revealing the writer's own personality and from accepting the philosophical perception of his times as well.