Kim Si-seup

Infobox Korean name
hangul=김시습
hanja=金時習
rr=Kim Si-seup
mr= Kim Si-sŭp
hangulho=매월당
hanjaho=梅月堂
rrho=Maewoldang
mrho=Maewŏltang

Kim Si-seup (1434-1493) was a Korean scholar and author.

Background

Kim Si-seup's ancestors originally came from Gangneung, Gangwon-do, but Kim himself was born in Seoul.

Throughout his life, Kim maintained a special bond with the Gangwon area and compiled a book of poetry called Tangyugwandongrok which was based on the family history and experiences he had in the area. Kim was an extremely gifted child and had picked up reading ability at eight months of age. At five years of age, he was able to read and comphrehend The Great Learning & The Jungyong. Kim was a devout Buddhist and at 21 years of age he decided to skip government service and become a priest.

Works

Kim wrote the first novel in Classical chinese in Korea, titled Geumosinhwa(금오신화;金鰲新話), as well as other books such as Siphyeondamyohae, Tangyugwanseorok, and Tangyuhonamrok. Geumosinhwa (Tales of Geumo) was composed at the Yongjangsa Temple during the reign of King Sejong and became an instant classic. Although Geumosinhwa was influenced by a Chinese novel titled Cheondeungsinhwa, it would become nativized and later have considerable influence on Japanese novels.

Another characteristic lies in his own writing. He did not prefer only confucianism and tried to deal with Buddhism. It appeared in several books of him that the king and subjects should respect whole nation regardless of his or her status and origin. It was believed his thought was much advanced compared to his living era and remained one of the earliest idea concerning democracy in Korean peninsula. [Translated from data of Ministry of culture of Korea http://person.mct.go.kr/person/data/person_view.jsp?cp_seq=100]

ee also

* Korean Literature
* Gangwon

References

External links

* [http://actakoreana.org/prog/?dir=edu&cls=abst]
* [http://eng.gwd.go.kr/cont/sub3/sub03_01_02_03.html]
* [http://www.hellopageskorea.com/insight/discover/cul/insight_discover_literature_body.htm]