`Mun(文)` was very important term in premodern Korea. It symbolized the omnipresent order of the cosmos, and offered the basis for modern concepts such as `mun-myoung(文明; civilisation)` · `mun-hwa(文化; culture)`·`mun-hak(文學; literature)`. In the metamorphosis of `mun`, we can find out the formation of the concept `Korean literature(國文學)`. `Mun-myoung` refers to the richness of resources and techniques, while `mun-hwa` values the intellectual enterprises. `Mun-hwa` asserted the dichotomy of the physical and the mental against pre-established power of `mun-myoung`, and the concept of `literature` appeared under the light of `mun-hwa` in 1910`s. The areas such as art, philosophy, religion are the artifacts of `mun-hwa`. However, `mun-hwa` cannot be realized as the universal concept; it works in a certain boundary, which is national or ethnical one in usual. That`s why the cultural study belongs to ethnology, and why `Korean literature` is a part of nation-making project.