Notes on a Lost Book: Philological Questions and Symbols of the Sui-jŏn

Abstract

This article deals with Sui-jŏn, an almost unknown work not only in the West but also scarcely studied in Korea itself. Written most likely between the 10th and 12th centuries, on the basis of older, unidentifiable sources, the Sui-jŏn appears to have been primarily a collection of fantastic tales. Today it is largely lost, but its partial reconstruction is possible through various fragments reported in later works. Precisely on the basis of these fragments, in the first part this article attempts to reconstruct, as far as possible, what must have been the nature of the book, its author, its genesis, its dating. In the second part, the symbology of some natural elements that appear in the fragments of the work is spoken of. It is a symbolism that belongs, in similar forms, to many cultures of the world, but which in the case of Korea becomes, in its presentation, a real milestone, being present in the oldest Korean work of its kind that came down to us, although partially.