A Study on Yongseo Yun, won-geo’s Literature

Abstract

이 논문은 용서 윤원거(1601~1672)의 문학을 통해 17세기 광해군의 혼정과 인조반정, 정묘호란과 병자호란의참상을 직접 경험한 기호사림학자의 삶과 문학적 성취를 밝히는 것을 목적으로 한다. 윤원거는 충남 노성지방을중심으로 활동했던 인물이다. 부친 윤전이 병자호란 때 강화도에서 순국하자 고향으로 내려와 평생의 지기였던 사촌 윤순거 윤선거와 의기투합하여 노성 파평윤씨가의 학문적 기틀을 마련하였다. 문중에 종회와 종약 종학당의창을 세우고, 마을에 버려진 보인당을 수습하여 후학을 양성하는데 주력하였다. 윤원거는 조야(朝野)에 이름이 알려져 죽을 때 까지 징사(徵士)로서 조정의 부름을 받았으나 나아가지 않고 안빈낙도의 삶을 추구하였다. 세상의 부귀공명이 아니라 분수를 편안히 여기고 만족함을 아는 자득의 삶을 즐거움으로 여겼다. 윤원거는 기호사림학자들과 학문 활동을 통해 교유하였으며 문중에서는 종약의 가르침을 자질(子姪)에게 권면하고 종회를 열어 노성 파평윤씨가를 실질적으로 이끌었다. 또한 종회에서 시회를 열어 형제들과 친목을 다지고 화합하였으며, 형제들과의 만남과 이별의 감회를 시문학에 풀어 놓았다. 윤원거의 문학은 10대 후반에서 30 대 초반에 창작된 작품들이 주를 이룬다. 이는 여타 문인들과 차별되는 특징이다. 윤원거는 지봉 이수광이 순천부사로 재임 시절 외손녀인 권씨부인과 결혼하였다. 이때 순천과 서울을 오가며 마주한 산수경관의 풍취, 나그네의시름과 감회, 흥치를 시로 형상화 하였다. 윤원거는 문학은 젊은 초학자의 기행에 대한 감회와 현실인식, 대응자세 등 문학의 실상을 파악할 수 있다. 특히 병자호란의 참상이 지식인들, 특히 기호사림학자들의 삶의 방식과 학문활동, 내면의식에 어떻게 작용했는지 고찰할 수 있어 주목할 만한 가치가 있다.The purpose of this research was to explore the life and literary achievements of Yongseo Yoon Won-geo (Yongseo is Yoon’s pen name) through his literary world. Yoon, as a scholar of the Kiho School of the Joseon Dynasty, experienced firsthand the chaotic politics of Gwanghae-gun (the fifteenth king of the dynasty), King Injo’s restoration, and the first and second Manchu invasion of Joseon. Yoon’s sphere of scholarly influence was centered around the Nosung area of Chungcheongnam-do. Following the martyrdom of his father Yoon Chun on Ganghwa Island during the second Manchu invasion of Joseon, Yoon came down to his hometown, shared mutual understanding and collaborated with his lifelong friends Jongge Yoon Soon-geo and Yoon Sun-geo, and established the academic foundations of the Papyeong Yoon clan in Nosung, Chungcheongnam-do, He established the tradition of holding clan meetings, the clan’s conventions and rules, a village school for the clan members, and a food relief organization. He also turned an abandoned village school into a functioning academic space to train students. Yoon’s reputation was well recognized within and without the government and he was frequently called upon by the royal court until his death, but he declined such appointments and pursued a life of being content amid poverty and taking pleasure in acting in an honest way. He found pleasure in accepting his place in life, instead of seeking wealth, rank, and fame, and finding self-complacency. Yoon maintained social intercourse with Confucian scholars of the Kiho School. He encouraged his descendants to learn and follow the long-standing conventions and rules of the Yoon clan, and led the Papyeong Yoon clan in Nosung, Chungcheongnam-do by presiding over the clan’s regular meetings. At such gatherings, he held poem composing events to promote rapport among siblings. He would express his feelings and thoughts through poetry about the meetings and farewells with siblings. Most of Yoon’s literary works were written in his late teens and early thirties. This is what tells him apart from other writers. He married Miss Kwon, a granddaughter of Jibong Lee Soo-kwang, when he was serving as the chief of Suncheon prefecture. He expressed in poems the elegance of the mountains and rivers, and the sorrows and memories that he felt traveling between Suncheon and Seoul. Yoon’s literature is a window into the truth of his literary world: how the budding writer felt and perceived the reality he faced while traveling, and how he coped with the reality. In particular, his literature deserves attention since it helps to explore how the horrors of the second Manchu invasion of Joseon affected the lifestyle, scholarly activities, and inner consciousness of the intellectuals in general and the Confucian scholars of the Kiho School in particular during that time.