遺逸은 예로부터 學德과 재능을 지녀 朝官이 될 자질을 갖추었으면서도 벼슬하지 않고 재야에 은거하는 자를 일컫는다. 본고에서 다루는 16세기 명종연간 유일은 사화기를 거치면서 지방에 은거하였다가 유일천거에 의해 등용되는 인물로, 각지에서 출사하지 않고 심성수양과 학문연구에 진력하여 백성의 신망이 두텁던 당대 석학들이었다. 명종연간 유일은 다양한 성향을 보이는 16세기 문인 가운데 독특한 문학층을 이룬 부류이다. 이들의 성향은 세 가지로 분류할 수 있는데, 은거했더라도 현실에의 관심을 견지한 ``현실참여형``, 孔子?顔淵의 安貧樂道觀에 의거해 보다 적극적으로 자연과의 융합을 추구한 ``은일자적형``, 마지막으로 자연 속에서 학문에 침잠하여 士로서의 자기정체성을 확립하고 학문탐구에 진력한 ``지적탐구형``이 바로 그것이다. 조식?임훈?김범은 현실참여형에 속하는 인물이다. 이들은 자연 속에서 은자적 삶을 추구하면서도 현실에의 관심을 거두지 않는 士의 처세로 일관하였다. 그들의 시선은 인간에게로 향하고 있었던 것이다. 따라서 은거해 있으면서도 재야지식인으로서의 책무를 외면할 수 없었고, 때문에 時弊에 대해 끊임없는 시정을 요구하고 개선책을 제시하였다. 이러한 현실참여 의식은 그들의 문학작품 속에서 ``자연의 인간화``를 지향하는 미의식으로 표출되고 있다.

Yuils refer to individuals that refuse to hold office and choose a reclusive local life despite their high academic virtues and talents that will guarantee them a court official position. This study examined the yuils during the reign of King Myeongjong in the 16th century that retired to local areas during the Sahwa period and got recommendations and appointments later. They devoted their lives to mind and body cultivation and academic research instead of going into government service, thus enjoying a great degree of trust among the people. The yuils during the reign of King Myeongjong fall into a unique literary group among the literary figures in the 16th century. They can be divided into three groups according to tendencies; the first group of "participation in reality" maintained their interest in reality even after they went into retirement; the second "reclusive and self-satisfactory" group actively sought after harmony with nature, following the ideology of being content amid poverty and taking pleasure in acting in an honest way by Confucius and Yan Yuan; and finally, the group of "intellectual pursuit" established their identity as a scholar and committed themselves to academic exploration, deeply immersed in study in the middle of nature. Jo Shik, Lim Hun and Kim Beom all belong to the group of participation in reality. They maintained their dealings as scholars by continuing to take interest in reality while pursuing a reclusive life in nature. Their eyes were directed toward people. That is why they could not turn their backs on their responsibilities as intellectuals out of office in the middle of their reclusive lives, constantly demanded the correction of evils of the times, and proposed improvement measures. Their consciousness of participation in reality was expressed as aesthetic consciousness toward "humanization of nature" in their literary works.