이 논문은 고려의 망국과 함께 은거한 두문동의 인물들에 대한 이야기가 조선 후기에 와서 재조명된 경과를 살피고, 읍지에 수록되거나 한시의 소재로 활용되었을 때의 수용 양상을 검토한 것이다. 그 결과 두문동 72현은 1740년 영조의 개성 방문을 통해 재발견되었음을 확인할 수 있었는데, 이는 고려 충신의 자취를 찾겠다는 국왕의 의도와 관련된 것으로 해석된다. 이에 따라 국왕이 12명의 신하와 함께 두문동의 충신들을 기리는 시를 읊고 비석을 세우며 제사를 지내게 하는 등의 일이 이루어졌는데, 이는 두문동 사건이 전국적으로 확산되는 계기가 되었을 것으로 보인다. 한편 문헌, 특히 읍지에서의 수용의 경우에는 전승되던 설화 가운데 두문동의 인물들이 살해당했다는 등의 요소는 약화된 채, 일화로 정착되는 양상을 발견할 수 있었다. 요컨대 조선의 입장에서 수용할 만한 충신의 형상으로 한정된 일화가 남게 된다는 것이다. 한시를 비롯한 문학 작품에서는 은거를 통해 충절의 이미지를 강조한 특징을 발견할 수 있다. 조선 왕조의 이주 정책에 반발했다거나 조선에서 특별히 베푼 과거에 응하지 않았다거나 하는 대목조차 거론하지 않거나 약화시켰다. 비극적인 상황을 묘사한 사례도 찾을 수 있지만, 이 경우에도 망국이라는 상황 자체의 비극성에 초점을 맞추고 있어서 두문동 인물들의 자결이나 살해와 같은 요소는 다루지 않았다. 두문동 72현 일화의 수용이나 전승을 보다 입체적으로 살피기 위해서는 앞으로 더욱 거시적인 관점의 연구가 필요하다고 할 수 있는데, 이를 위해서는 관련 가문들의 노력이나 일제강점기 이후의 두문동에 대한 관심 또는 인식의 변화까지를 고려해야 할 것이다.

In this paper, I observed the progress of rediscovering the story of Tumun-dong(杜門洞) 72 Loyalists and investigated the feature of accepting that story as a subject matters in the late Joseon dynasty. Tumun-dong 72 loyalists were said to be patriots for Koryo dynasty, and they were retired to hermitage in the remote mountain against new dynasty Joseon in the time of Koryo’s ruin. Their stories were reilluminated by King Youngjo of Joseon. He visited Gaesung, the capital of Koryo, in 1740, and heard the case of Tumun-dong 72 loyalists. And then he visited their retirement site, recited a poem for praising the loyalties with his 12 young subjects. Though it is possibile that this affair was an intentional or precalculated conduct, it is certain that the event by King Youngjo was a beginning of spreading the story in wide areas. Meanwhile, in Gaesung, tales about Tumun-dong 72 loyalists were handed down in the form of oral literature before 1740. It could be presumed that tales handed down in Gaesung area had been some different versions. But some of them had been excluded or denied by the editors of town chronicles, and probably intentionally. So anecdotes published in town chronicles are characterized as a loyalist story admitted in Joseon dynasty, because the excluded motif in these case were tragic death forced by meritorious retainers at the founding of Joseon dynasty. In the case of poems, anecdotes about Tumun-dong 72 loyalists were described as a symbol of peaceful retirement or noble fidelity. In some poems 72 loyalists were compared with Baiyi(伯夷) and Shuqi(叔齊), symbolical recluses and loyalties in premodern east asian culture, but in those works their death had not been mentioned. So tragic factors expressed some versions handed down in Gaesung area were not expressed in those poems.

In this paper, I observed the progress of rediscovering the story of Tumun-dong(杜門洞) 72 Loyalists and investigated the feature of accepting that story as a subject matters in the late Joseon dynasty. Tumun-dong 72 loyalists were said to be patriots for Koryo dynasty, and they were retired to hermitage in the remote mountain against new dynasty Joseon in the time of Koryo’s ruin. Their stories were reilluminated by King Youngjo of Joseon. He visited Gaesung, the capital of Koryo, in 1740, and heard the case of Tumun-dong 72 loyalists. And then he visited their retirement site, recited a poem for praising the loyalties with his 12 young subjects. Though it is possibile that this affair was an intentional or precalculated conduct, it is certain that the event by King Youngjo was a beginning of spreading the story in wide areas. Meanwhile, in Gaesung, tales about Tumun-dong 72 loyalists were handed down in the form of oral literature before 1740. It could be presumed that tales handed down in Gaesung area had been some different versions. But some of them had been excluded or denied by the editors of town chronicles, and probably intentionally. So anecdotes published in town chronicles are characterized as a loyalist story admitted in Joseon dynasty, because the excluded motif in these case were tragic death forced by meritorious retainers at the founding of Joseon dynasty. In the case of poems, anecdotes about Tumun-dong 72 loyalists were described as a symbol of peaceful retirement or noble fidelity. In some poems 72 loyalists were compared with Baiyi(伯夷) and Shuqi(叔齊), symbolical recluses and loyalties in premodern east asian culture, but in those works their death had not been mentioned. So tragic factors expressed some versions handed down in Gaesung area were not expressed in those poems.

Tumun-dong 72 loyalists, loyalty, retirement, King Youngjo, anecdote