문헌에 나타난 고전동요(童謠)의 원리

Abstract

This paper re-examined the children’s song theory in the Book of the Five Elements in Goryeo History, which have been neglected in previous studies of classical children’s song, and the view of children’s songs in the literature. Moreover, given that the name of ‘children’s song’ originated in ancient China, the development of children’s song theory in ancient China was examined historically, focusing on the Twenty-four Histories (Shiji to Mingshi), and compared with the children’s song theory in the Book of the Five Elements in Goryeo History.
 Consequently, it was confirmed that the theory of the occurrence of children’s song through the unreasonable behavior of gold(金) developed in the Book of the Five Elements of the Goryeo History, was influenced by the theory of wicked poetry(詩妖論) in the Book of the Five Elements in the official history books of post-Hanshu period of ancient China. Specific examples of gold’s unreasonable behavior included the monarch’s belligerent behavior in invading boundary area, disregard for the lives of people, lavish decoration of castle, and covetousness for bribes. As a heavenly rebuke and condemnation of the monarch’s misgovernment, the children’s song would appear. And the Book of the Five Elements contained children’s songs according to thesis based on the theory of disaster related to the human behavior, which explains that if the monarch does not recognize the heavenly rebuke and condemnation and reflect, it will cause even greater changes, and if he still does not reflect on his doings, it will destroy him.
 Therefore the children’s songs were interpreted as heavenly rebukes of the monarch’s misgovernment and published in history books to serve as a guide for future monarchs. This is why the theory of children’s song was valid in Korea and China before the modern era. In the Goryeo History of Korea, the idea that logically explained not only the children’s song but also the relationship between monarchs and disasters in terms of the Five Elements, was called the theory of sensation between heaven and man. Also, children’s songs were regarded as false rumor(訛言), when the official history books of China after Hanshu treated children’s songs as wicked and weird, demonstrating the difference in the perspective of children’s songs between Korea and China.
 However, not all children’s songs can be explained by the above theory of the Five Elements. From the earliest times, there were also children’s songs that criticized ministers and administrators and their measures, which could not be the subject of the Five Element theory. These were not covered in the Book of the Five Elements, but were published and passed down in personal biographies. Thus, it was also confirmed that there were two types of children’s songs.