Jeong Ji-yong

Cheong Chi-yong
Born 1902
Died c. 1950
Language Korean
Nationality South Korean
Ethnicity Korean
Citizenship South Korean
Alma mater Toshishya University
Jeong Ji-yong
Hangul 정지용
Hanja 鄭芝溶
Revised Romanization Cheong Chi-yong
McCune–Reischauer Chǒng Chi-yong

Jeong Ji-yong, often romanized in literature as Cheong Chi-yong (정지용) (1902–c. 1950), was a Korean poet and translator of English poetry[1] who "opened a new horizon of poetic possibilities through chiselled expression, tempered sentiments, and precise visual imagery" according to the scholar of Korean poetry, Brother Anthony.[2]

Life

Cheong Chi-yong was born in Okcheon, Chungcheongbuk-do, on May 15, 1902. He attended Whimoon High School and graduated from Japan's Toshishya University with a major in English Literature. While studying at Whimoon High School, he published the literary magazine Bulletin (Yoram) with contemporaries like Park Palyang. In 1926, he began to concentrate exclusively on composing poetry and his piece “Cafe France” (Kape peurangseu) was published in Hakjo magazine. Later in life, Jung was active as an associate of Poetry (Simunhak) magazine, and taught at Whimoon High School. After Liberation, he taught at Ewha Womans University, edited the Kyunghyang Daily News, and was a member of the Central Executive Committee of the Korean Writers Federation (Joseon Munhakga dongmaeng). In 1950, at the onset of the Korean War, he was detained by the Government Preservation Department, and then transferred to Pyongyang Prison, where he is believed to have died.[3]

Work

Cheong Chi-yong is considered among the most important poets to emerge from the modernist movement in Korea, in fact he has been described as "the first modern Korean poet."[4] His poetry can be divided into three stages. The first stage, which took place around 1925 to 1933, is characterized by the poet’s sensual imagist work, which often focused on the sea.[4] Beginning with his 1933 poem Phoenix (Bulsajo) and ending in 1935, the poet composed religious poetry influenced by his Catholic faith; this second period served as a transition period between his early sensous poetry and his later more traditional poetry. After his “Ongnyu Village” (Ongnyudong) and “Guseong Village” (Guseongdong) in 1941, his poetry evinced predominance of Eastern thinking in its aesthetic. After his 1934 poem “A Different Heaven” (Dareun haneul) and “Yet Another Sun” (Tto hanaui dareun taeyang), Jung discarded the religious tendency of his earlier work. After nearly four years of absence from writing, he arrived at a mentality that sought to overcome the pains of reality, as seen in "Ongnyu Village, “Mountain Peak” (Bong), and "Guseong Village."[3]

Works in Translation

Works in Korean (partial)

Poetry

Prose

Secondary material

References

  1. ↑ Source-attribution|"Cheong Chi-yong" LTI Korea Datasheet available at LTI Korea Library or online at: http://klti.or.kr/ke_04_03_011.do#
  2. ↑ 20th-century Korean Poetry
  3. 1 2 Source-attribution|"Seo Jeongju" LTI Korea Datasheet available at LTI Korea Library or online at: http://klti.or.kr/ke_04_03_011.do#
  4. 1 2 Lee, Kyung-ho (1996). "Chong Ji-Yong". Who's Who in Korean Literature. Seoul: Hollym. pp. 86–7. ISBN 1-56591-066-4.
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