Ecological Awareness in Dasan’s Pastoral Poetry and Its Significance : Focusing on Summer Day Rural Miscellany in the Style of Fan and Yang, Twenty-Four Poems

This study examines the ecological awareness embodied in Dasan Jeong Yak-yong’s (1762–1836) late pastoral poetry, focusing on Summer Day Rural Miscellany in the Style of Fan and Yang, Twenty-Four Poems(hereafter Summer Day Rural Miscellany). Written after his release from exile, this cycle of twenty-four poems links the changing summer landscape and the movements of living beings with the daily life of the countryside, capturing in detail the intersections of natural order and human existence. Previous research on Dasan’s pastoral poetry has highlighted either its utopian sentiment or its realistic portrayals of rural life, while studies of his view of nature have been largely confined to philosophical or exegetical approaches. However, less attention has been paid to how ecological awareness is concretely realized within the literary text itself. This study, therefore, investigates the poetic structure and shifting perspectives of Summer Day Rural Miscellanyin order to reveal how Dasan’s ecological thought is expressed and what it signifies in a literary context. Dasan’s gaze unfolds from the interior space of his study to the fields, villages, and ultimately the heavens, forming an expansive trajectory that converges in a philosophy of coexistence between nature and humanity. This ecological vision operates on three levels: (1) an acknowledgment of human livelihood’s dependence on the macro-order of seasonal cycles; (2) a sensitivity that trusts the inherent potential for growth in small life forms such as chicks and cedar sprouts; and (3) an attempt at relational communication through empathy and imagination with nonhuman beings such as sparrows, orioles, and frogs. Ultimately, Summer Day Rural Miscellany refuses to reduce nature to mere aesthetic object or utilitarian resource. Instead, it portrays humanity as an integral part of natural order while affirming the intrinsic value of individual life forms. This analysis thus expands the understanding of Dasan’s pastoral poetry beyond the category of tianjia shi(farmstead poetry) and demonstrates the ecological-philosophical possibilities embedded in his literary world. Further research is needed to trace how his ecological awareness develops and varies across different periods of his oeuvre.