The purpose of this thesis is to analyze the series of historical poems created in the latter Joseon period after the Manchu War of 1636 and reveal the relationship between the creation of these poems and the discussions of the time.
In Joseon after the Manchu War of 1636, "a desire for revenge" was established as the national discourse in an effort to get revenge against the Qing Empire and cleanse itself from national disgrace. This type of discourse was influential in many aspects of Joseon society. There were also many literary creations which were based on the topic of "revenge." Especially in the case of historical poems, which describe the lives of historical figures, the number of poems describing vengeful people rose rapidly compared to the previous period. Some of these historical figures are Wu Zixu(伍子胥), Ju Jian(句踐), Yu Rang(豫讓), Jing Ke(荊軻). The authors of these poems actively revealed the general desire for revenge against Qing at the time by praising these figures' vengeful acts.
One can say that these historical poems are the chemical fusion of history and literature, especially as seen through the authors' historical points of view about the lives of historical figures. Accordingly, in this thesis, I seek to analyze the differences in the ways these figures were viewed compared to previous periods and discover what meanings these poems had by looking at them in their historical context.