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This article aims to examine a North Korean children’s literary work General Ax written by Ri Wǒn U, who was one of the most influential writers in North Korean literary educational field. I argue that this literary work is the cultural origin of North Korean socialistic patriotism and Juche ideology, demonstrating historically how the indigenous legend of revolutionary ideology has perpetuated hostile martyrdom of North Korea. The General Ax published in 1954 directly after cessation of the Korean War, and extracted from an ancient hero’s legend in Imjinwaeran in 1592 to the Korean War. Ri Wŏn U’s seminal work, The General Ax shows originally how North Korean socio-political body of Juche ideology has established the reincarnation and immortality of North Korean people culturally and institutionally. Most children’s literary works after The General Ax reveal collective trauma accumulated as a result of continuous foreign invasions, and show its dominant influence to institutional education system through their dissemination under the Party’s policy. Therefore, the General Ax can be actually defined as a typical symbol of North Korean hostility outwards and is the best symbol of North Korean people’s imperishability inwards, as well as an undying symbol of victimhood in many international wars throughout the history of the Korean peninsula. In the long run, I argue that the collective socialistic patriotism from General Ax eventually has come down to the current monolithic illusionary culture of North Korea against world peace.

In Lee Tae-jun’s short story Sunset, the classical characteristic that is a special characteristic of this story is clearly revealed. It can be seen from the background such as the museum and temple that the main character Maeheon visited in his trip to Gyeongju. While feeling the sorrow of aging helplessly, the main character realizes that there is something that does not change even over time, which is beauty. As the main character realizes that there is something not only from this world but also from antiquity that have such beauty, he thinks that it is something such as the beauty of a young woman seen without any evil intent. He feels such thing from Taoak, a woman he occasionally met during his travel. At the moment she left his side, however, he ends up looking at beautiful sunset and accepts the emptiness of life felt from it. Meanwhile, our unique history or ancient culture is revealed in various places in Sunset. Through such element as if carelessly sliding by, the writer is symbolically revealing the sorrow of Korean people living in a bleak period of the late Japanese colonial period. In addition, rich and skillful command of vocabulary or designation, conversation and sensible expression can be seen in his literary work, which also tells the writer’s superior creative technique. In short, it can be said that Lee Tae-jun’s autobiographical and classical novel Sunset is a piece of beautiful painting on the subject of life.

이 글은 성리학의 귀신론에 함의된 여러 가지 철학적 문제들을 조선시대 대표적인 성리학자인 화담 서경덕(徐敬德)의 철학을 통해서 이해하고자 한다. 화담을 선택한 이유는 그가 조선 성리학의 심화의 첫 출발로 생각되어 왔고, 귀신론에 대한 뚜렷한 저술도 있기 때문이다. 또한 화담의 철학은 유기론(唯氣論), 자연철학(natural philosophy) 등으로 해석되며, 그의 철학 체계가 기를 중심으로 이루어져 있다는 사실때문에, 기에 대한 해석에 의존하고 있는 귀신개념을 살펴보는데 중요한 계기를 줄 것이다. 그러나 더욱 중요한 이유는 화담이 제시한 귀신론은 귀신을 조화의 흔적에 불과한 것이라고 한 현상적 기의 해석을 벗어나, 기의 불멸을 제창한 형이상학적 기론에 입각하고 있다는 사실에 있다. 이 때문에 그가 해석한 귀신은 영혼불멸의 교의로 빠지지 않으면서도, 기의 완전한 소멸로 인해 겪게 되는 인간 존재의 영원성에 대한 불신과 회의에 대한 이론적 해결을 제시하고 있다고 볼 수 있다. 그런데 이러한 화담의 귀신론은 조선의 성리학에서 정통 성리학의 교의와 불일치한다는 평가를 받고 있다. 이러한 평가의 근저에 놓인 서로 상이한 두 우주론을 비교하면서 검토했다. 결론적으로 화담의 귀신론은 주자성리학의 자연학과 인간학의 통합적 구도라는 원론적 구상에 충실한 귀신―사생론을 발전시킨 것이며, 그 모습은 동아시아의 유구한 귀신―사생에 대한 전통적 인식을 계승한 것이라 해석할 수 있다.

This article aims to understand the philosophical problems implied in the theory of the Spiritual beings with the Hwadam Sô Kyông-dôk's philosophy, who is one of the representative philosophers in Yi Dynasty. The reason to select Hwadam is that he has been considered the first step to the theoretical deepening of the Neo-Confucianism in Yi Dynasty. Also Because Hwadam's philosophy can be interpreted as a natural philosophy, and his philosophical viewpoint is centered around the concept of Ki, significant opportunity may be offered to the study on the theory of the Spiritual beings. But more important thing is that Hwadam may be beyond the phenomenological interpretation of Ki, that is, the Spiritual beings is only the traces of creation, and instead takes on the ground of metaphysical theory of Ki, which is that the Ki can not perish at all. Therefore the Spiritual beings interpreted by him does not only falls in the doctrine of immortality of man's soul, but also in the distrust and doubt about the eternity of man's soul, which is attributed to the perfect perishing of Ki, rater than he presents the theoretical solutions. However Hwadam's theory of the Spiritual beings has been considered as the disharmony with the orthodox Neo-Confucianism in Yi Dynasty. This article deals with the meaning of different cosmology under such considerations. Consequently Hwadam's theory of the Spiritual beings can be interpreted to develop the theory of the Spiritual beings and the theory of Life-Death, which is really the integrated construction of physics and humanities in Neo-Confucianism, and also to succeed the traditional notion or knowledge, which has been continued long in existence from time memorial in East Asia.