The Structure and Significance of Kyubang Gasa and Eongandok Included in Yeojaga

This study examines the meaning of kyubang gasa (women’s didactic verse) and eongandok (vernacular letter manuals), as well as their relationship, as featured in Yeojaga, a manuscript presumed to have been compiled in 1906 and currently housed in the Yulgok Memorial Library at Dankook University. Until now, Yeojaga has primarily been discussed in the context of variant studies of Bokseonhwaeumga, with little scholarly attention given to the contents of the letters included in the manuscript or to the relationship between the letters and the didactic verse. In response, this paper investigates the bibliographical features and composition of Yeojaga and analyzes two kyubang gasa pieces—Yeojaga and Balmongga—alongside thirteen vernacular letters in order to explore the significance of their co-presence in a single volume. Yeojaga appears to have been compiled by multiple hands, rather than as a unified manuscript. Despite differences in form, both the verse and the letters share a common function as practical modes of women’s writing. The kyubang gasa operate as didactic songs rooted in Confucian ideals, while the letters functioned as tools for daily communication and as templates for writing practice. The sequence of the letters, variations in handwriting, the presence or absence of folio numbers, and the inclusion of incomplete letters all suggest deliberate editorial choices made by the compiler(s). Although this article remains a preliminary exploration, it provides a meaningful starting point for new perspectives on texts that combine kyubang gasa and eongandok in a single manuscript.