이규보가 본 꼭두각시 놀음 = Yi Kyu-bo's comments on the puppet play

다국어 초록 (Multilingual Abstract)

Lack of records prevents a detailed study of the history of Korean drama. The puppet play, one of the representative Korean folk dramas, was originated from Koguryo￣ but little is known about it until late Yi dynasty when Pak Ch'omji puppet play became very popular. fortunately I found two poems of Li Kyu-bo (1168-1241), the famous poet, which describe and interpret the puppet play of late Koryo￣ period. What he said in these poems was that looking at the puppets as real as humman beings, the social life seemed to be a kind of such plays, and any endeavour to obtain a higher position was meaningless. In the history of Korean drama, the Koryo￣ period has been explained as the age of court dramas. But I think the undercurrent of the folk dramas, including such a puppet play performed in the street by an itinerant troupe of the low class, was more important.