합문은 중국에서 기원한 것으로 甲骨文, 金文, 簡牘文 등에 걸쳐서 폭넓게 분포한다. 갑골문에서는 上下/下上 결합, 右左/左右 결합, 上下/左右 결합 방식의 합문들이 공존하고 있음에 비하여 금문·간독문을 거치면서 점차 상하 합문이 다수를 보이는 방향으로, 또한 合文號도 사라지는 방향의 변화가 나타난다. 이어서 秦·漢代의 간독문에서는 자형 상 공통 요소를 지니는 글자들(예: 大夫, 上下 등)끼리의 합문이 늘어나기도 한다. 한반도의 합문 사례는 특히 신라의 금석문·목간·고문서 등에서 자주 발견된다. 합문 방식은 상하 결합 유형이 절대 다수를 보이면서 합문호의 흔적은 전혀 찾아지지 않음이 특징적이다. 또한 부분적으로 자형 상 공통 요소를 지니는 글자들끼리의 합문 사례도 보이는데, 이러한 양상은 대체로 漢代의 간독문 사례와 유사한 것으로 판단된다. 따라서 신라는 중국의 여러 유형들 중에서 합문호가 없는 상하 방향의 합문 유형을 선택적으로 수용하여 차차 ‘大豆→→太’와 같이 아랫 글자의 전체 혹은 일부를 점(ヽ)의 형태로 지극히 단순화하는 독자적인 유형으로까지 변용·발전시킨 것으로 보아도 좋을 것이다. 한편, 일본 열도의 합문 사례는 주로 목간들에 집중되며, 그 유형은 신라의 예들과 크게 다르지 않은 특징을 보이고 있다. 이상의 고찰을 바탕으로 “중국 대륙으로부터 한반도로의 선택적인 수용과 변용, 그리고 한반도로부터 일본 열도로의 전파”라는 문자문화의 교류 양상을 다시금 확인할 수 있다는 것이 이 글의 결론이 된다

As this paper is a case study on the interaction of Sinographic Culture in ancient East Asia, it focused on the data of Korean, Chinese, and Japanese ‘Ligature’. ‘Ligature’ means a way of writing a Chinese character to combine two or more sequent Chinese characters in the text vertically or horizontally. ‘Ligature’ was originally begun in China. It was found in various written texts throughout the ages such as “oracle bone scripts(甲骨文)” in the Shang Dynasty(=the Yin Dynasty), “bronze scripts(金文)” in the Zhou Dynasty and the warrior states period and “bamboo or wooden slip scripts(簡牘文)” in the Han Dynasty. The various forms of ‘Ligature’ co-existed in “oracle bone scripts”. That is to say that two characters were combined downward, upward, leftward or rightward. It is found that the forms of ‘Ligature’ were changed when reviewed ‘Ligature’ in “bronze scripts” and “bamboo or wooden slips scripts”. Gradually the form of combining two characters downward increased and ligative marking(合文號) got disappeared. In addition, the combination of two characters that have the shape of character in common, increased when investigating “bamboo or wooden slips scripts” in the Qin and Han Dynasty. The examples of ‘Ligature’ that were used in the Korean Peninsula are commonly found in epigraphs, wooden tablets, and ancient manuscripts in the Silla Dynasty. In these examples, the form that two characters combined downward got an absolute majority and it is distinctive that any trace of ligative marking was not found. In addition, partially the combination of two characters that have the shape of character in common, is found in some examples. These examples are regarded as similar cases of the form of ‘Ligature’ found in “bamboo or wooden slips scripts” in the Qin and Han Dynasty. As a result, the development of the ‘Ligature’ in the Silla Dynasty can be summarized as followings: among various forms of Chinese ‘Ligature’, the form that two characters combined downward without a ligative marker(e.g., 水+田→畓) was firstly accepted and then whole or part of the character of the lower part was simplified as a dot (ヽ) (e.g., 大豆→→太). Thus, it can be said that ‘Ligature’ used in the Silla Dynasty developed from simply using a form of Chinese ‘Ligature’ into creating a distinctive type of ‘Ligature’. Meanwhile, the examples of ‘Ligature’ in Japan are mostly found in “wooden tablets(木簡)”. They are not much different from the forms of ‘Ligature’ in the Silla Dynasty. Later some unique forms of ‘Ligature’ that combined a katakana(片仮名) and a Chinese character(e.g., ト+云→) were used but the examples of this form cannot be found many. As examining the data of ‘Ligature’ in ancient East Asia, this paper can reconfirm the fact that China, Korean and Japan carried out Sinograpic cultural exchange. People in the Korean Peninsula played roles of both recipients and messengers. In particular, “they selectively accepted Sinograpic culture of China and transformed them, and then delivered them to people in the Japanese Archipelago”.

Sinographic Ligature, oracle bone scripts(甲骨文), bronze scripts(金文), bamboo or wooden slip scripts(簡牘文), selective acception and transformation in Sinograpic culture of China