금강산의 팔선녀 -산대의 이념과 미학 (2002)

In honor of royal events, military victories and national guests, it was customary for medieval governments and cities to stage lavish processions including mountain pageants. These processions moved through the cities, displaying and boasting the current social order by offering a grand spectacle to the citizens. The conventional mountain-pageants usually showed Pongnae Mountain that is one of the fabled mountains of legend, where supernatural beings live and miraculous fruits of eternal youth grow. Similarly, Sandae, a mountain-shaped structure used in pageants to represent the Pongnae Mountain, was decorated with many effigies of fanciful animals, trees and sprites. According to legends, it is said that the Pongnae Mountain, lying on huge tortoises, moves around the sea so that it rarely can be found. However, the fabulous mountain could be taken into the royal palace so fairies could present their miraculous fruits to the king. This was only possible, of course, through theatrical representation: specifically through the erection of Sandae and the performance of actors. I have argued that the Sandae pageant represented certain stories from familiar myths or legends, which ideologically united the people of that time. The legends of the Pongnae Mountain were widespread in East Asian countries that shared a common medieval culture. However, in the course of modernization, the conventions of mountain-pageants were changed. According to Kiwan-Byulok(奇玩別錄), the fabled Pongnae mountain was substituted with the Kumgang mountain that really exists in Korea, and supernatural beings of old legends were substituted with Sungjin(性眞)and eight ladies(八仙女) who are the heroes of famous novel in Korea. It can be said that the transformations reflect cultural changes from medieval- to early modern times. In addition to being stages, Sandae could also display disparate, scenic backgrounds. For example, on the stage section of Sandae, tableaux could be created depicting scenes of the sacred world like the Pongnae Mountain; while in the foreground, acrobatic, dance, or dramatic performances might conversely depict scenes from the secular, ordinary world. Sacred mountain and secular ground might be related to each other being performed in the same place. In the course of modernization, the ordinary world on secular ground became more intriguing and meaningful to the audiences than the above world on sacred mountain. The Court theatrical culture had a tendency to admire the above sacred world, meanwhile the folk theatrical culture used to enjoy their ordinary and secular world. Through the Sandae pageant, the Court and folk culture were known to interchange conventional theatrical traditions. Especially the entertainers who were gathered from whole country took important role in the interchange. While Court actors staged elaborate selections from the conventional Court theatre repertoires, the provincial troupes performed vigorous pieces from folklore-influenced repertoires. Both Court- and folk theatrical conventions could inspire the Sandae pageant. From the interchange, the actors in the Seoul area developed a famous popular drama named Sandae-Dogam(山臺都監), which owed its popularity to elements of both theatrical traditions. Being proud of their performances for the Sandae pageant of the Court, these actors called their repertoire Sandae despite the fact that original Sandae pageant could not be performed in the public marketplace due to its extravagant cost. And so, it can be said that the medieval Sandae pageant supplied impetus for the development of early modem popular drama.