Literature of Korea

Geography, Korea is romantically called the Land of the Morning Calm because of
its misty mornings. Howeer, due to the perennial troubles between the two Koreas,
a more appropriate modern name for it is Land of the !ro"en Calm.
#orth and $outh Korea formed single country for hundreds of years, from the %&''s
until this century. !etween %(%' and %()* Korea was occupied by +apan. ,he war
ended with +apan-s defeat in %()*. .fter this, the Country is diided into two, with
troops from the /nited $tates.
,he country is almost completely coered by north0south mountain ranges
separated by narrow alleys. ,he 1alu 2ier form part of the border with $oiet
Manchuria.
Facts and Figures:
.rea3 ((, 45' s6. "m
7opulation3 )), '*8, '''
Capital3 $eoul
9ther Ma:or City3 7usan
9;cial Language3 Korean
Main 2eligions3 !uddhism, Christianity
Currency3 <on
Goernment3 Multi0party republic
Brief History of Korea
Korea was founded in 4&&& !C by a mighty hero named ,angun. 2ecorded history
began independent "ingdom at 7yongyang. Chinese rule lasted until the 5
th
century
.= when three independent "ingdoms arose in Korea.
Korea became a united nation for the >rst time under <ang Kien, a Korean patriot,
who led a reolution in (%? and destroyed the $illa rule in (&*. <ang named the
country Koryu from which its present name was deried. His descendants ruled until
%&(4. .fter a brief inasion by the Mongols,Korea was ruledby the 1i =ynasty
@%&(40%(%'A which established the capital at $eoul, introduced Chinese ways, and
proclaimed Confucianism as the state religion. ,he >rst century of the 1i era was
Korea-s Golden .ge of ciiliBation. Koreans inented printing, a phonetic alphabet,
fostered literature and scholarships, and granted education to the masses.
The Koreans
,he Koreans belong to the yellow race. .lthough they loo" li"e the Chinese and
+apanese, they hae their own language @KoreanA, literature, and customs. Cn the
Communist #orth, no other religion is allowed. !ut the $outh is mostly !uddhist
@&5DA and Christian @&4DA.
,he #orth Koreans are taller, hus"ier, and lighter0compleEioned due to their Mongol
blood. ,he $outh Koreans hae Malay miEture and are smaller and dar"er.
Korean Literature
Korean ciiliBation dates in legend more than ), ''' years bac" to ,angun, mythical
founder of Korea. ,hus it is one of the oldest in the world. ,he historical name of
Korea is +oseon, Land of the Morning Calm. ,he +apanese called it the ,reasure
Land of the <est and, until %??4, the outside world "new it as the Hermit
Kingdom. 9nly three dynasties ruled the country @88(.=0%(%'A before it became a
+apanese protectorate and later a republic. ,hese were the $illa, the Koryu, and the
1i dynasties.
,hree Most 9utstanding Cultural .chieements of Korea
%. ,he Hangul .lphabetF0a simpli>ed alphabet that eEcluded the use of Chinese
characters.
4. Koryo Celadon0a "ind of porcelain made during the Koryu dynasty
&. !ronBe Moable ,ypes0by which boo"s are printed
F.docates of the Hangul thought that its use would receie many obsolete words.
,hese words were to enhance the charm of Korean literature.
Cn the >fteenth century, &'' years before the encyclopedia moement originated in
Grance, Korean scholars compiled an encyclopedia in %%4 olumes.
=uring the Koryu period, the ,ripi"a, or !uddhist sutra, was published. ,his was a
form of prayer to eEpel Mongol inaders. $iEteen years passed before the more than
?, ''' wooden plates which ma"e up the ,ripi"a could be completed.
Harly Korean literature owes a great debt to China in terms of the writing style. ,he
literary language is written in Chinese ideographs, een after the inention of the
Korean phonetic alphabet until the end of the 1i dynasty.
Literature in Korea falls into three categories3 wor"s in han-gul, those written in idu,
and those written in classical Chinese. ,he most general categories, howeer, are
lyric poems, prose, oral literature, and literature in classical Chinese.
Lyric poems originally were meant to be sung rather than read. ,he oldest are the
hyangga, poems composed in idu. $hi:o is historically the longest enduring and the
most widely used representatie form of Koean poetry. 9ne of the greatest masters
of the shi:o is 1un $on0do.
.nother form is "asa. Kasa borrowed the form of Chinese lyric and prose poetry. .t
the end of the %)
th
century and the new establishment of the new capital in $eoul, a
$mall group of poetic songs called a"chang were written to celebrate the beginning
of the new dynasty.
Cn the >eld of drama, Korea boasts of their mas" play called sandae. HEamples of
this are Haseo, a play with seen acts and Hahoo, one with >e acts. .ny form of
dramatic entertainment is called p-ansonri. ,he most famous p-ansori is Ch-unhyang
chon.
Koreas Prominent Figures
%. Han 1ong0un @%?5(0%())A0 2eformist mon", patriot signatory to the %(%(
=eclaration of Cndependence, Han 1ong-un-s name is synonymous with
resistance to oppression. ,he central symbol in his poems, the beloed @nimA,
can be interpreted in terms of nation, ideal or loer.
,HH IH# M.$,H2-$ $H2M9#
C heard the Ien master say,
$uJer not the pain of being bound by loe-s shac"lesK
brea" the bonds of loeK your heart will "now :oy.
,he Ien master is ery foolishL
His words belie the truth3 to be bound by the bonds of loe
may be painful, but to brea" the bonds of loe
is more painful than dying.
,o be bound tightly in loe-s seritude is to be freed.
Cn seritude the great liberation is attained.
My loe, C thought the loe bonds by which you bind me
might be wea", so C doubled the bond strands
by which C loe you.
4. 1un $on0do @%*?50%88%A0great Korean poet, master of the si:o
Song of Five Friends
1ou as" how many friends C haeM <ater and stone, bamboo and pine.
,he moon rising oer the eastern hill is a :oyful comrade.
!esides these >e companions, what other pleasure should C as"M
C-m told clouds are nice, that is, their colorK but often they grow dar".
C-m told winds are pleasing, that is, their sound, but they fade to silenceK
$o C say only water is faithful and neerending.
<hy do Nowers fade and die so soon after that glorious bloomM
<hy does green grass curl to yellow after sending its spears so highM
Could it be that only stone stands strong against the elementsM
Loo" at this, it isn-t a tree, and it isnOt a grass eitherK
How can it stand so erect when its insides are emptyM
!amboo, C praise you in all seasons, standing green no matter what
Cn summer fragile Nowers bloomK in autumn they lose their leaes.
!ut Mr. 7ine, see how he disdains winter-s frost and snowP
$ee him thrust himself to heaen and down to earth-s eternal spring.
,hough you-re small, you glide so high, blessing eeryone with lightK
<hat other Name can beam so brightly in the blac"ness of our nightM
Moon, you watch but "eep silentK isn-t that what a good friend doesM
&. 1un ,u0so0 a well0regarded Korean calligrapher and painter. He was the great0
grandson of famed poet 1un $Qndo @C*?50%85%A, the leading si:o poet of the
ChosQn =ynasty. Ct is un"nown how many si:o 1un ,usQ wrote, for only this
one has suried.
Untouched
/ntouched at the edge of the path,
a :ewel coered with mud.
How many hae passed it by,
seeing nothing but its surfaceM
$tay there, gem, loo" li"e dirt
till someone sees with a loing eye.
%. <hat is the best interpretation of the >rst lineM
4. <hat the :ewel in the poem symboliBesM
a. an eEpensie stone
b. a gift or a talent
c. an important person
d. both ! and C
&. <hat is the theme of the poemM
a. .ppreciation of someone-s importance
b. 7recious stone should be appreciated
c. . gem or a :ewel is an eEpensie stone
d. .ll of the aboe
). <hat are the images shown in the poemM
a. . precious stone compared to an important thing
b. . talentRpotential that is not shown
c. .n important thing that is neglected or ignored
d. .ll of the aboe
*. <hat element was used by the author in poemM
a. 2hyme
b. 2hythm
c. $ymbolism
d. #one of the aboe
). Lee Kwang0$u0considered the forerunner of modern Korean literature. He
leads a group of Korean poets who stress feeling and beauty in poetry instead
of interest in communistic ideologies and class struggles.
*. 1i $ang0Hwa @%(''0%()&A0a member of a group of poets who founded the
literary :ournal 7ae"cho @<hite ,ideA.
`Does spring come to this land no more our own, to these stripped
felds?
Bathed in the sun I walk as if in a dream along a lane that cuts across paddy
felds like parted hair to where the blue sky and the green feld meet.
Mute heaven and silent felds, I do not feel I have come here alone; tell me if
I am driven by you or by some hidden force
Creation Myth
Cn Korea, there are few creation myths that start from the beginning, the ery
beginning. Cn a few oral traditions, a primal chaos eEists until, uneEpectedly, a crac"
appears, separating earth from s"y. !ut these myths, those that surie, are not the
colorful intricate histories of the ,heogeny or the Hnuma Hlish. Korea-s most
treasured myth is that of its own creation from an eEisting earth and the humans
already liing upon it. ,his is the myth of ,angun.
,he story goes that a Heaenly 7rince, Hwangun loo"ed down at earth and
desired to possess it and rule oer man"ind. His father, the 2uler of Heaen, Hwanin
"new that his son would bring happiness to human beings and, loo"ing at the earth,
chose Mount ,aeba" as a suitable place for his son to go to earth. Hwangun arries
beneath a sandalwood tree where he creates a holy city. He brings with him three
heaenly seals, somewhat mysterious in nature, and &''' loyal sub:ects from
heaen, which are possibly spirits. Cn addition, Hwangun brought three ministers,
the Harl of <ind, the Master of 2ain, and the Master of Clouds. =iJerent accounts of
the myth tell that Hwangun either taught or too" charge of &8' areas of
responsibility, li"e agriculture and medicine. ,he story moes now to a bear and a
tiger, both desiring to become human beings. $et the tas" of shunning sunlight and
eating only the food gien to them by Hwangun @some mugwort and twenty cloes
of garlicA, the bear succeeds in earning Hwangun-s approal while the tiger fails to
fast, Neeing into the forest. ,he bear becomes a beautiful woman, /ngyo @bear
womanA and becomes the wife of Hwangun. ,heir son is ,angun, the King of
$andalwood. ,angun becomes the >rst "ing of Korea, calling his country choson and
ruling for %*'' years. .fter this time he retreats to ,aeba"0san to become a
mountain god.
Sio is a Korean poetic form. !ucolic, metaphysical and cosmological themes are
often eEplored. ,he three lines aerage %)0%8 syllables, for a total of ))0)8. $i:o
may be narratie or thematic and introduces a situation in line %, deelopment in
line 4, and twist and conclusion in line &. ,he >rst half of the >nal line employs a
twist3 a surprise of meaning, sound, or other deice. $i:o is often more lyrical and
personal than other Hast .sian poetic forms, and the >nal line can ta"e a profound
turn. 1et, ,he conclusion of si:o is seldom epigrammatic or witty. . witty close to a
sentence would hae been foreign to the genius of styliBed Korean diction in the
great si:o periods.
Contem!orary Sio
L9SH
!y3 Han 1ong0un
=eeper than spring waters,
higher than autumn mountains,
brighter than the moon,
harder than a stone.
.s"ed about loe,
this is what C-ll say.
"ncient Sio
I will break the back of this long, midwinter night,
!olding it double, cold beneath my spring "uilt,
#hat I may draw out the night, should my love return.
H#ang $in%i @%*44T%*8*A . famous female Korean si:o poet who was also a
"isaeng, a professional entertainer.
,he kasa is properly placed in the category of erse, but its content is not limited to
the eEpression of indiidual sentiment. Ct often includes moral admonitions, and the
sub:ects regarding Uthe weariness of traelU and Ugrief.U ,he kasa form is a simple
erse form, with a UtwinU set of feet of three to four syllables each, which are
repeated four times.