조선후기 야사적 기록의 사명당 형상과 그 의미

초록

This study aims to elucidate how the figure of Saimdang Yujeong (惟政) was constructed and transmitted in unofficial historical writings (yasa) of the late Joseon period, and to clarify its cultural-historical and memory-historical implications. In the Veritable Records of the Joseon Dynasty (Joseon wangjo sillok), descriptions of Saimdang’s wartime activities, his leadership of the monastic army (僧軍), and the outcomes of his diplomatic mission to Japan remain limited and fragmentary. In contrast, a wide range of privately compiled sources—such as Yi Sugwang’s Jibong yuseol, Yu Mongin’s Eou yadam, Jo Gyeongnam’s Nanjung japnok, and Jeong Gyeongun’s Godae ilnok—capture his words, deeds, and exploits in much fuller detail. This disparity suggests that yasa as a genre served as a flexible discursive space that supplemented the silences of official history and recorded the emotional climate and popular memories shaped by wartime society. Notably, these unofficial narratives employ diverse strategies to portray Saimdang as a military commander, a wise diplomat, an eminent monk embodying the Dharma, and even a heroic rescuer of captives. Jo Gyeongnam’s eyewitness records provide concrete examples of his monastic army operations and diplomatic negotiations, whereas the more anecdotal style of Jibong yuseol demonstrates the power of legendary transmission to heroize Saimdang regardless of strict factual accuracy. Furthermore, traces of him preserved in later temple traditions and in the poetry and prose of literati reveal that late Joseon society came to reevaluate him as both a symbolic leader of the Buddhist community and an emblem of national recovery in times of crisis. Such modes of representation are closely tied to late Joseon historical consciousness, in which moral edification and symbolic value often took precedence over factual documentation. By comparing and analyzing these layers of yasa production, this article argues that the shaping of Saimdang’s image was not merely a heroic narrative but a complex product formed at the intersection of late Joseon memory politics and the intellectual horizon of privately compiled histories. Although yasa frequently contain fictional or exaggerated elements, they also embody emotional realities, popular expectations, and religious meanings that official historiography could not capture. The yasa-based representations of Saimdang contributed to restoring the social legitimacy of Buddhism and constructing a symbolic framework for national reconstruction, thereby positioning him at the center of alternative historical narratives crafted by late Joseon unofficial historiography. This analysis offers valuable insights into the complexity of late Joseon historical writing culture and the mechanisms through which Buddhist heroic narratives were produced.

키워드