선초 악장(樂章)에 형상화된 원경왕후(元敬王后)의 면모와 그 의미 (The Aspects and Meaning of Queen Wongyeong(元敬) Expressed in Akjang(樂章) Poems in the Early Joseon Dynasty)

서지정보

· 발행기관 : 국어문학회
· 수록지 정보 : 국어문학 / 87권 / 33 ~ 72페이지
· 저자명 : 김승우

초록

본고에서는 태종의 정비(正妃)이자 세종의 모후(母后)인 원경왕후 민씨가 선초 악장에 형상화된 양상을 살피고 그 의미를 구명하는 데 목적을 두었다.
원경왕후는 태종이 왕위에 오르는 데 핵심적인 역할을 담당했지만, 태종이 등극한 이후 그의 삶은 결코 순탄치 않았다. 왕후는 태종이 후궁을 맞이해 들이는 과정에서 심각한 갈등을 빚었으며, 태종이 왕후의 동생들을 불충의 죄로 징치하려 하자 극렬히 반발했다가 폐비의 위기에까지 몰리기도 하였다. 세종대에 들어서도 왕후의 집안에 씌워진 역모 혐의는 해소되지 못했을 뿐더러 복권을 위한 움직임도 뚜렷이 없었다. 부왕대의 일에 대해 함부로 언급을 하기가 어려운 데다가, 양녕대군을 옹호했던 원경왕후와 여흥민씨 가문을 복권한다는 것은 세종의 지위에도 심각한 위협이 될 여지가 다분했다.
세종이 등극 후 30년 가까이 지난 시점에서야 원경왕후에 관한 모종의 조치를 취했던 것도 이러한 난점들이 있었기 때문으로 파악된다. 그 조치란 논란의 여지가 없는 창업기의 사적을 특화하여 원경왕후의 위상을 강화 및 공식화하는 것이며, 그 방법을 실현하기 위한 재료로 택한 것은 규례성과 불가역성이 매우 강한 악장 갈래였다. 이러한 세종의 의도는 시기상으로도 적절한 계기를 맞게 된다. 재위 후반기에 이르러 세종은 왕조 창업의 역사를 대단위 악장으로 제작하려는 시책을 펼쳤거니와, 여기에 왕후의 사적을 포함시키는 방안이 적절히 고려될 수 있었던 것이다.
그 결과로 나온 작품이 바로 세종이 친제한 <보태평>의 ‘정명’과 세종

영어초록

The purpose of this study is to examine the aspects and meanings of Queen Wongyeong, King Taejong’s concubine and King Sejong’s mother, expressed in akjang(樂章) poems in the early Joseon Dynasty.
Queen Wongyeong played a key role in helping King Taejong overcome the political crisis, but her life was not easy after King Taejong ascended to the throne. She had a serious conflict with King Taejong in the process of taking in concubines, and when he tried to punish her younger siblings for treason, she fiercely opposed this and was driven to the risk of being dethroned. Even during the reign of King Sejong, not only were the charges of treason against the queen’s family not resolved, but there was no clear movement for reinstatement. It was difficult to carelessly comment on his father’s decision, and reinstating Queen Wongyeong and her family members, who had supported Prince Yangnyeong, was likely to pose a serious threat to King Sejong’s status.
It is for this reason that King Sejong took some action regarding Queen Wongyeong only after nearly 30 years had passed since his ascension to the throne. He tried to strengthen and formalize the status of Queen Wongyeong by specializing in uncontroversial historical facts from the founding period, and to realize this, he chose the akjang genre, which has very strong regularity and irreversibility. King Sejong’s such intention came at an appropriate time. In the latter half of his reign, King Sejong implemented a plan to compose large-scale works on the history of the founding of the dynasty, and the option of including his mother’s historical records could be properly considered.
The resulting works are ‘Jeongmyeong’ of Botaepyeong, written by King Sejong himself, and chapters 108-109 of Yongbieocheonga, which he ordered his subjects to write. King Sejong focused on clearly imprinting his mother’s position. Above all, it is necessary to keep in mind that Queen Wongyeong’s achievements were treated individually. In both works, she was separated from King Taejong and set as the main character of an individual chapter, and her actual achievements were expressed in the contents of the chapter. In addition, it should be noted that her achievements are concrete. Rather than expressing typical praise in conventional phrases, Queen Wongyeong’s character, achievements, and significance were attempted to be vividly revealed through novel expressions.
King Sejong’s intention to perpetuate Queen Wongyeong’s status through the composition of akjang poems was realized. Botaepyeong was adopted as the Jongmyojeryeak and became nationally recognized, and Yongbieocheonga had been repeatedly mentioned by later kings in the context of reflecting on the history of the founding of the dynasty. akjang poems depicting Queen Wongyeong are a clue to renewing our awareness of the female hero figure in Korean literature, because they show that women left a clear mark in the history of the founding of the dynasty and that their role was also decisive.

참고자료

· 없음