The Reception of Sanguozhi tongsu yanyi in Neo-Confucian Chosǒn Society = The Reception of Sanguozhi tongsu yanyi in Neo-Confucian Chosǒn Society

다국어 초록 (Multilingual Abstract)

The four famous novels, known as the Si da qisha, enjoyed huge popularity among Ming (1368-1644) literati. They did not attract equivalent attention from the conservative Choson (1392-1910) ruling class, or yangban, who did not tolerate obscene words and inappropriate content. One of the Si da qishu, Sanguo zhi yanyi was exceptionally widely circulated in Korean literary circles and also yielded various forms of adaptations in classical Chinese and in Korean. This paper examines the changing intellectual climate of Chosǒn through an investigation of the introduction, circulation, and evaluation of the novel.
Since the novel was introduced to Korea in the fifteenth century, the readers at that time had shown an ambivalent attitude； they officially had denounced its literary value but had apparently read so grossly on account of a Chinese man’s remark on their craze of purchasing books in China This double-standard viewpoint changed as they experienced the Japanese invasions in 1592 and 1596 and the power shift in China from the Ming to Qing (1644-1910) Dynasties. They began to esteem Characters’heroic actions and self-sacrifice for the ruler in order to promote loyalty and other virtues. Describing the Shu state as the legitimate descendant of the Han Empire was also harnessed for their claiming Chosǒn as the cultural successor to a Chinese civilization that was conquered by Manchurians. Further discussion is needed for comparison with Japanese reception of the Si da qi shu, where Shui hu zhuan was more welcomedmainly due to their Samurai culture.