• (The)Study of the Eastern Classic
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• no.59
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• pp.93-120
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• 2015

The purpose of this study is to explore the source of appealing which Gusadang Kim Nakhaeng's writing for ancestral rites is equipped with. Gusadang was one of the Confucianists in Yeongnam during the 18th century and was praised for his scholarly virtue of jihaenghapil and silcheongunghaeng. Although Gusadang's writing for ancestral rites and his teacher Milam Lee Jaeui's letters were even specially named as 'gujemilchal', there has been almost no research on Gusadang's writing for ancestral rites yet. Therefore, this study selects three pieces of Gusadang's writing for ancestral rites which are especially rich in emotional expression for discussion. Chapter 2 titled as 'the Reconstruction of Memory in a Microscopic Perspective' presents the reason why Gusadang's writing for ancestral rites is recognized even as a piece of work equipped with appealing. Writing for ancestral rites begins from the point that there exists memory that can be shared by both the living and the dead. In reconstructing the anecdote with the dead on the stage of ritual writing in detail, the writer's memory plays an important role. Chapter 3 titled as 'the Rhetorical Reconstruction of Elevated Sensitivity' examines rhetorical devices needed for writing for ancestral rites. Proper rhetoric is needed to upgrade the dignity of the ritual writing and arouse sympathy from the readers. Although writing for ancestral rites is supposed to express sadness in terms of its formal characteristics, it should not end up being a mere outlet of emotion. Chapter 4 looks into 'the Descriptive Reconstruction of Lamenting Sentiment'. There should be a clear focus of description to make the gesture of the living towards the being not existing in the world any longer an appealing story. While maintaining a distinct way of description, Gusadang organizes the noble character of the dead, pitiable death, the precious bond in the past, and the longing of those left for the dead systematically. Writing for ancestral rites is a field to mourn over the death and reproduce the sadness of the living through writing. To make the text written in that way get to work as ritual writing properly, it should be appealing necessarily. This study has found the fact that such appealing that gives life to ritual writing is grounded on authenticity.