What is the reason why novelistic Sijo, converted from traditional one, were almost wholly limited to ‘Romance of the Three Kingdoms(三國志演義)’? What made Guan Yu and Zhuge Liang the principal poetic subjects, though many characters are in the book? Why ...
What is the reason why novelistic Sijo, converted from traditional one, were almost wholly limited to ‘Romance of the Three Kingdoms(三國志演義)’? What made Guan Yu and Zhuge Liang the principal poetic subjects, though many characters are in the book? Why did poetic narrators consistently reflect their emotions such as praise, eulogy, sorriness and sadness only in the two?, which are questions the author has had since encountering with novelistic Sijo works. The foregoing questions are expected to be solved by the following answers: countermeasures against changes in the memory of characters in ‘History of Three States’(三國志), i.e., the foundation of memorials, and the formation and propagation collective memory. The following tentative conclusions have been made after a long discussion: First, since the late 17th century when ‘Theory of Esteem China’, originated from ‘Notion of Confucian-Cultural Succession’, began to be formed, historical figures, who would be out in force to maintain Sino-centric order, had been called again and reinterpreted in contemporary time and space. In that process Guan Yu and Zhuge Liang had personified loyalty and fidelity to the reestablishment of authenticity. The heroization is caught on various literary works that conspicuously contain the glimpses of actions to realize ‘Justice in Esteem China’ and individual consciousness, which was to achieve the immediate goal ‘Korean Intellectuals’ Views on Ming’ by summoning historical figures to contemporary times. Second, it is unavoidable that a gap is formed between a historical fact and a reenacted past, on the premise that historical facts are memorized pasts. Such a gap may be formed due to contemporary needs for the reenactment of pasts; what is important is that some past events may sink into oblivion or may be brought into relief as the contemporary need arises. Less-than-fond memories of Guan Yu and Zhuge Liang, e.g., Guan Yu’s historical faults or Zhuge Liang’s impure scholarly tendency, had to fall into shade in order for them to be the symbol of loyalty and fidelity. Third, relics visualize and embody indistinct memories. Thus, they are highly effective to reenact pasts in contemporary times and to make the targets of celebration mysterious and sacred. The nation-wide memorial events regarding Guan Yu and Zhuge Liang, such as indiscriminate setup of memorial shrines, sacrificial rites officiated by kings and regular commemorative ceremonies, might take on numerous, great and omnidirectional roles in giving posterity encouragement to have a high opinion of the two.