명대 기녀의 인생 자도가(自悼歌) - 마수진사(馬守眞詞)의 정서 구조와 미학적 자의식 -

초록

This paper examines the ci poetry of Ma Shouzhen (1548-1604), a prominent courtesan artist active in Jinling during the Ming dynasty, focusing on the emotional structure and aesthetic self-consciousness embodied in her nine extant ci poetry. While previous studies have primarily emphasized her achievements in painting or her relationships with male literati, this study argues that Ma’s ci constitutes an introspective lyrical practice through which she reflects upon her life and preserves her artistic subjectivity under social constraint. Through close textual analysis, the paper demonstrates that Ma Shouzhen’s ci unfolds along a progressive emotional sequence－romantic illusion, the awakening to separation, and an awareness of temporal transience. Emotions in her poetry are not expressed through direct lamentation but appear as lingering traces and afterimages mediated by natural imagery. Love emerges and dissipates like a dream, separation is acknowledged without collapsing into despair, and emotional experience persists in the form of resonance rather than fixed meaning. By conceptualizing Ma Shouzhen’s ci as a form of “self-elegy,” this study highlights her lyrical practice as an autobiographical structure that transforms personal loss into aesthetic form. In doing so, it repositions her ci beyond the conventional framework of courtesan literature and underscores its significance within Ming women’s lyric poetry.

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