earticle

영어

General Ulji Mundeok(乙支文德) is one of Koguryeo figures who are most frequently mentioned in Korean history. He is a war hero whom Korean peoples are so much proud of. However, one may be surprised to find out that the historical materials about him are relatively scanty. This paper will try to collect and classify literary works of ancient and modern times about him, and to see how his posterity has perceived him and literally shaped him.
Ulji's prominent achievement as a military commander and the history of the fierce Koguryeo-Sui War gave his next generations so much strong impression. The Koguryeo forces under his command scored a great victory at the battle of Salsu River(薩水) in now Northern Korean area by annihilating most of three hundred thousand-strong Chinese Sui troops, and succeeded in defending the country. His distinguished war services were recorded in history and became
continuously the subjects of literary works. The first historical descriptions about Ulji remain in Kim Bu-sik's History of Three Kingdoms(Samguk Sagi, 三國史記), in which Ulji's brave disposition and brilliant competency were briefly explained.
But literary men of next generations who had been to places related with the Great Victory of Salsu River wrote poems(懷古漢詩) praising Ulji and yearning for his bravery with the sense of national self-confidence. They also wrote many chinese-style epics called ‘Yeongsa Akbu’(詠史樂府) which were focused on describing and praising Ulji's personal character and on criticizing Sui dynasty which invaded unsuccessfully Koguryeo, and then brought upon itself the eventual fall of its Empire. In the late Yi dynasty, Hong Ryang-ho(洪良浩) wrote Story of Famous Generals
in the East(海東名將傳), in which he told about Ulji and brought his birthplace to light at the first time in the history. Till then the story of Ulji's home town had never been mentioned by previous writers. In his book, Hong said the objective of the book was to make it clear that both civil and military affairs are equally important to the nation and that each of the both must be attached
importance in line with whether it was the time of peace or war. He also warned the lack of spirit of military preparedness by pointing out that political leaders in the country always must be reminded the importance of national defense.
Shin Chae-ho(申采浩), one of the most prominent historians under Japanese Rule, extolled the war hero in his book titled The Life of Ulji Mundeok(乙支德傳) published in 1908. By saying, "We are calling for the future hero by writing the past hero". Shin made clear that he himself was waiting heroes like Ulji who have the ability of getting through the national crisis. Also in Japanese
colonial days another courageous scholar named Kwon Deok-kyu(權㥁奎) who had studied Korean history and Korean language published a book titled Ulji Mundeok(1948), in which he depicted the war hero more concretely than anyone in the past by "recomposing" the hero with various kinds of materials including the legend on his birthplace and his growth period. At the end of this work the author said that Ulji was a soldier, a scholar, a poet, a politician, and a great
man, and praised that he reached the level of the Almighty. The author seemed to write the book to raise the morale and pride of Korean young men which had been severely damaged by the Japanese colonial rule.
In the 21 Century among Korean people there is a growing interest on history once again. In 2005, a novel titled Salsu River by Kim Jin-myung(김진명) was published. In his work the author recomposed the society of Koguryeo Kingdom with Ulji Mundeok as the central figure, and revived the unique social atmosphere of the country. Koguryeo was described in the novel as a land where marshal arts were respected and where the Taoist way of life was prevailing, and where Tankun, the legendary father of Korean nation, was worshiped, and where people were maintaining various kinds of exchanges with another tribes like Malgals/Mohes(靺鞨). In the preface of the book, the author said. "I'd like to ask people whether to read Romance of The Three Kingdoms (Sanguozhi of China, 三國志) in this summer of the year 2005 just with the
Northeast Asian Project(東北工程) of Chinese Government being proceeded or to read Ulji Mundeok in my novel." The Project, a history study program provided in 2002 by Beijing, is trying to incorporate Koguryeo into its own history by claiming that it was a subordinate state which later fell under the jurisdiction of the Chinese dynasties. The Chinese scheme to usurp the Koguryeo history naturally inflamed Korean people and led them to begin to re-evaluate
its close relationship with China.
We can see now that, as explained already, Ulji Mundeok has been continually revived in Korean literary works. If through the study of Koguryeo leaders like Ulji we can find out that Koguryeo peoples' spirit of wild and tough vitality, scrupulousness, resourcefulness, and activeness runs in the blood of Korean nation, then we can take the opportunity to have a fresh look into Korean people's national identity.

한국어

고구려의 인물 중 한국인이 자주 거론하는 인물은 ‘乙支文德’ 장군이다. 그러나 그에 대한 역사자료는 의외로 빈약하다. 이에 본고는 을지문덕에 대한 역대 문학자료를 수집 정리하여, 후대인들이 을지문덕을 어떻게 문학적으로 수용하고 전승해 왔는지를 살펴보았다. 역사기록인 󰡔三國史記󰡕에는 을지문덕의 성품과 전술능력만이 짤막히 묘사되어 있다. 이러한 소략한 역사기록과는 달리 문학방면에서는 수많은 문인들이 을지문덕에 대해 다양한 형태로 작품을 남기었다. 薩水大捷의 장소에 가면 懷古漢詩를 쓰거나 詠史樂府를 써서 을지문덕에 대한 묘사와 찬미를 하였고, 고구려 침공으로 멸망을 자초했던 수나라에 대해 신랄한 비판을 했다. 조선후기 洪良浩는 <海東名將傳>속에 ‘을지문덕’을 수록하여 그의 출생지를 밝히고, 조선후기 尙武精神의 부족을 비판했다. 일제강점기에 申采浩는 <乙支文德>이라는 우리 고대사의 영웅을 기리며, 민족적 위기의 시기에 그와 같은 영웅을 기다림을 분명히 밝혔다. 또 비슷한 시기 權㥁奎의 <을지문덕>은 을지문덕의 출신과 생장과정 등을 ‘전설’ 등을 가지고 재구성하였고, 이를 통해 민족적 자긍심을 고양하였다. 그 뒤 21세기엔 중국의 東北工程의 영향으로 고구려에 대한 관심이 다시 높아져, 작가 김진명의 소설 <살수>가 나왔다. 작가는 을지문덕을 중심으로 고구려 사회를 재구하여, 武藝가 숭상되고, 道敎的 색채가 흐르며, 檀君을 섬기고, 이민족과 교류하였던 고구려의 독특한 분위기를 재현하였다. 이상의 검토를 통해 을지문덕은 과거부터 현재까지 끊임없이 우리 한국문학 속에서 되살아나는 중요문학 소재임을 확인할 수 있다. 한국인의 피 속에 을지문덕과 같은 고구려인의 특성과 기질이 함께 흐르고 있음을 인식하게 된다면 우리 민족성에 대한 새로운 인식을 갖는 계기가 될 수 있으리라 생각한다.