The purpose of this study is to show how the history and literature align in Gwanam Hong Gyeong-mo’s works and take a glimpse into the prominence his literature achieved. To this day, the spotlight has been on Hong Gyeong-mo (1774-1851), for being a...
The purpose of this study is to show how the history and literature align in Gwanam Hong Gyeong-mo’s works and take a glimpse into the prominence his literature achieved. To this day, the spotlight has been on Hong Gyeong-mo (1774-1851), for being a leading literary figure for the Soron faction in the late Joseon Dynasty. Countless research has been conducted on his various works from cultural and historical standpoints, spanning from literature, history, epigraphy, calligraphy, and poetry. He has always been sought after by cross-disciplinary studies beyond his academics. In the paper, how history and literature tends to align in Hong Gyeong-mo’s works and what were the contributing factors to this academic tendency.
Moreover, it aims to investigate the background into the rise of historiography, domestic and foreign, and the foundation for the alignment of history and literature in Hong Gyeong-mo’s works and follow the development of his thoughts as a private historian. It further explores the characteristics and significances of his notable works, ‘the Haeakgi’, ‘The Sauidangji’, ‘The Jungjeongnamhanji’, and ‘The Ohjusiji,’ deriving impact the alignment of history and literature on the literature of the late Joseon. Such tendency was formed in the era when similar historical pieces, such as “The Six Classics Are All History” by Zhang Xuecheng’s (1738-1801) from Qing Dynasty were gaining momentum. Influenced by Confucianist notion of history of King Jeongjo and the Soron writers, Hong Gyeong-mo strived to absorb the positive aspects of history in his writing. He further supported the objectivity and practicality of poetry, believing that the poetic works could be a part of history which could be passed down from generations to generations. He sought to bear witness by describing his experiences or objects he had encountered, maintaining his position as a chronicler, and worked to accumulate his records, trying to construct a history where the present is connected to the future. So, Hong Gyeong-mo complied his lifelong works and literary achievements into a collection under the name of ‘Unofficial History ‘and anticipated that the history could align with literature, from the past, present to the future, through poetry. His understandings as a private historian derived from the school of thoughts his family belonged to for generations. Unlike his grandfather, Hong Yang-ho who established himself as a historian of an official capacity, Hong Gyeong-mo, however proved that one’s private accounts can support the historical accounts as the official records. What is also noteworthy is that he named the collection of his literary works “History,” while giving himself the responsibilities as a private historian. Earlier works by Lee Yoon-young and Yoo Man-ju set the precedent for this tendency to view private records as history. It could also be observed in Jung Won-young who viewed private journals as the history.
Hong Gyeong-mo had been a government official for forty years, leaving the records of his journeys into different regions in Korea and of his envoy years in China. Among them, Geumgangsan Mountain Travelogue ‘the Haeakgi’ is a work that shows the overall history of Geumgangsan Mountain. Hong Kyung-mo recorded objective facts relating to the Geumgangsan and showed in this book that he deviated from subjective thoughts or external objects and self. Furthermore, he combined the chronological order and descriptive style of writing in his works and recorded unofficial accounts and stories as miscellaneous, maintaining his stance as a chronicler. ‘The Sauidangji’ is a record of the Sauidang, which has been passed down from generation to generation in Hong Family of Pungsan and can be seen as the records of the family’s thoughts and beliefs. It also proves to be historical source materials by examining Sauidang’s origins and history or past precedents or examples. It shows the alignment of history and literature in that the work attempted to categorize seven detailed items in composition with the selection of a record format describing the entire history rather than a general record document format.‘The Jungjeongnamhanji’is a chronology of townships in Gwangju, Gyeonggi-do that has not been studied so far, and it is noted that it shows the characteristics of a local history, focusing on Seongsa (the history of a capital, a country, and a city), Sayeo (the rest of history), and Ilsa (the facts that are not revealed in the world). It contains several descriptive passages related to the Manchu Invasion of Korea as well as the relevant people, folk tales, and unofficial stories. Looking at these aspects, ‘The Jungjeongnamhanji’ is analyzed as a work linked to history and literature rather than simply interpreting it as a local history. 'The Ohjusiji' accentuates his tendency to align literature and history and it is a unique work in that it has 90 pieces of poetry and serves as a local history. It is noteworthy that all origins and history of the remote areas (currently Gangdong-gun, Pyeongan-do), mountains and scenic spots, people, folk customs, and lifestyles are depicted in these poems. It is a meaningful work because it has expanded the boundaries between literature and history by using the target places, people, and events as the subjects of poetry. Also, aligning the poetry and history strengthened the significance of aligning history with literature through his works.
This paper, by closely examining the aspects of Hong Kyung-mo's various works, concludes that he has taken on a role of a private historian, making historical statements using poetry and creating several works using historical perspectives. Hong Gyeong-mo summoned Confucius's "Spring and Autumn Annals" and Sima Qian's "Records of the Grand Historian" to expand the horizons for historical narrative and the areas of historical-literature. He attempted logical reasoning that could objectively demonstrate everything subject to topics or materials of the work, and this attempt was aimed at proving the original shape, the origin, and original idea of the object, which was hidden in the rhetoric or form. All of Hong Kyung-mo's literary works are unofficial historic records that support the official history, and they are the result of realizing the significance of aligning literature and history, meaning that personal accounts could also be the historical accounts.