Research about the diffusion of Japanese swordsmanship to Korea has recently been developing in Japan; however, as far as this author can see, there are no studies that address the interpretation of its meaning and impact on the terms Wae-geom (倭劒) and Wae-geom-sa (倭劒士) in Korean classical literature.
In this study, the term Wae-geom was examined by looking for examples of its use in History of Goryeo and Veritable Records of the Joseon Dynasty. The usage of the term Wae-geom in the Korean martial arts book titled Muye chebo pǒnyǒk sokchip, which was published in 1610, is already well known by scholars; therefore, this author clarified the usage of Wea-geon from the establishment of the Goryeo dynasty to 1610 in the book Veritable Records of the Joseon Dynasty. The term Wae-geon-sa was examined through The Comprehensive Publication of Korean Literary Collections in Classical Chinese. This research mainly used Kourai-shi Nihon-den, published by Iwanami, the Database of Veritable Records of the Joseon Dynasty, provided by the National Institute of Korean History, the Korean Classic Comprehensive Database, provided by the Institute for the Translation of Korean Classics, as resources and referred to the book Veritable Records of the Joseon Dynasty, which was edited by the National Institute of Korean History.
The results of this study are as follows:
1. The term Wea-geom was found in the book History of Goryeo; therefore, the term was used before the Joseon Dynasty.
2. Japanese swords were expressed as Wea-geom, Wea-do (倭刀), and Wea-hwan-do (倭環刀) during the period from the establishment of Goryeo dynasty to 1610 in the book Veritable Records of the Joseon Dynasty.
3. The term Wea-geom had a double meaning as a Japanese sword and Japanese swordsmanship.
4. The term Wea-geom-sa was only found in the story titled “Geom-gaeg-gi-mun" (劒客記聞) in the book Jeo-seo (自著) written by Yu Han-jun (1732-1811). The fact that the term Wea-geom-sa was used as a motif in Korean literary novels of the swordsmanship biography (劒俠傳) genre in the Korean Peninsula means that Japanese swordsmanship had spread to the Korean Peninsula and suggests that this practice may have influenced not only the development of martial arts such as Korean swordsmanship but also Korean literature as a spiritual culture.
