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Abstract The rhythm dilemma of “Chinese characters (Wenyu)” and “Korean pronunciation (Fanyin)” has long been existing in Ci-poetry in Goryeo Kingdom and Joseon Kingdom, which was not only the contradiction between Chinese characters as written language and Korean native pronunciation, but also two kinds of conflicting rhythm concepts of Ci-poetry. The holders of “Chinese characters (Wenyu)” believed in sticking to the standard of Chinese rhythm and advocated the harmonic rhythm of Ci-poetry, which was represented by Xu Juzheng and Li Zongzhun in the early Joseon Dynasty, and had a profound influence on the later Korean Ci-poetry theory. However, in the face of phonological differences, there arose another rhythm concept in the middle and late Joseon Dynasty which advocated getting rid of the rhythmic restriction of Ci-poetry, and applying Korean rhythm and music to Ci-poetry to break the shackles of Chinese rhythm. The representative holders of this concept were Shen Qin, Li Hengxiang et alii. These two seemingly conflicting concepts of rhythm had long been coexisting, blended with fuzziness and compatibility. The literati could not fulfill the strict rhythm requirements of Ci-poetry and neither could they abandon the rhythm requirements completely, resulting in an irresolution between keeping and breaking the rhythm.
From the macro perspective, in the middle and later periods, Ci-poetry in the Goryeo Kingdom and the Joseon Kingdom showed an obvious tendency to break the rhythm constraints, with many changes in rhythms from emphasizing “Chinese characters (Wenyu)” to emphasizing “Korean pronunciation (Fanyin)”. In order to overcome the rhythm dilemma, the Korean literati made great efforts in Ci-poetry writing. It became more and more common in mixing the use of ping and ze in poetic sounds as well as the use of rhyming. In terms of sentence patterns and Ci-poetry forms, the poets were brave enough to add and delete, to create new forms and styles. They also combined Korean native music with Ci-poetry, thus creating a distinctive new Ci-poetry. Therefore, the strict rhythm of Ci-poetry became gradually relaxed, showing the estrangement from the rhythm requirements of Chinese Ci-poetry and the consciousness of literati in the Goryeo Kingdom and the Joseon Kingdom in transforming their own Ci-poetry.
Whether or not the breakthrough of literati in the Goryeo Kingdom and the Joseon Kingdom to the rhythm dilemma was complete, what is worth paying more attention to is the Ci-poetry ecology and cultural psychology reflected in this attempt and transformation. With the loss of the music and the poeticization of Ci-poetry, the reference standard of rhythm changed from music to prosody spectrum of Ci-poetry. The collection of Ci-poetry and even the specific Ci-poetry can serve as a reference sample, and Ci-poetry was written according to the prosody spectrum from music. The dissolution of the musicality of Ci-poetry provided a breakthrough point for breaking through the rhythm dilemma. In the pursuit of writing Ci-poetry, the focus of literati in the Goryeo Kingdom and the Joseon Kingdom shifted from form to emotion, and they opposed the restrictions of emotion oppression from rhythm, which was then the general trend of the development of the Korean Chinese literature. More importantly, literati in the Goryeo Kingdom and the Joseon Kingdom changed greatly from self-denial to self-affirmation, hoping to get rid of the inertia of worshiping China and promote their own poetry, and strive to find their own characteristics and position under the shadow of Chinese literature.
Compared with previous studies, this paper analyzes how literati in the Goryeo Kingdom and the Joseon Kingdom viewed and coped with the rhythm dilemma of Ci-poetry from the new perspective of “Chinese characters (Wenyu)” and “Korean pronunciation (Fanyin)”, which not only sorted out and explained the trend of breaking rhythm in the development of Korean Ci-poetry, but also showed the complex psychology of the literati when facing Ci-poetry as a foreign literature and the different Ci-poetry environment in Korea based on the standard position of Ci-poetry in the Goryeo Kingdom and the Joseon Kingdom. All in all, this paper explores the selective acceptance and transformation of Chinese Ci-poetry so to express the local characteristics and self-consciousness of the Ci-poetry in the Goryeo Kingdom and the Joseon Kingdom, and finally to highlight the new vitality and new possibilities of Ci-poetry after its spread to East Asia.
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Published: 05 December 2023
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