Kim Manjoong used the cloud imagery in his poetry and essays to make concrete his yearning for someone and something. The cloud in Kuwoonmong is very similar to that of his poetry. However there also exist distinctively different imagery of cloud. The...
Kim Manjoong used the cloud imagery in his poetry and essays to make concrete his yearning for someone and something. The cloud in Kuwoonmong is very similar to that of his poetry. However there also exist distinctively different imagery of cloud. The cloud in Kuwoonmong symbolizes non-beings that come into being through longing and thinking, while the cloud in the poetry represents the longing for the already existing world. This reveals a very meaningful difference between his poetry and Kuwoonmong. The process of creating Kuwoonmong involves the elements that didn't exist in the process of creating his poetry.
I would argue that the rhetoric of clouds in Kumkangkeoung left strong impact on Kuwoonmong. So to understand theme of Kuwoonmong, we have to consider the teaching of Kumkangkeoung. The cloud images of Kumkangkeoung represent the misled and fantastic thought. As the cloud covers the light of the moon, the misled thought covers the sincere being.
In conclusion, the 'cloud' in the title of 'Kuwoonmong' means the misled thought and the fictitious world which was made by thought.