Cho Chi-hun (; December 3, 1920 – May 17, 1968) was a Korean poet, critic, and activist."Cho Jihun" LTI Korea Datasheet available at LTI Korea Library or online at:

Biography

Cho Chi-hun was born on December 3, 1920, in Yeongyang,

Keishōhoku Province , alternatively Keishōhoku Province, Keisho Hoku, or North Keishō Province, was a province of Korea under Japanese rule. Its capital was at Taikyū (Daegu). The province consisted of what is now the South Korean province of North Gyeongsang a ...

Korea, Empire of Japan From 1910 to 1945, Korea was ruled by the Empire of Japan under the name Chōsen (), the Japanese reading of "Joseon". Japan first took Korea into its sphere of influence during the late 1800s. Both Korea (Joseon) and Japan had been under polic ...

. His birthname was Cho Dong-tak. He graduated from Hyehwa College in 1941 with a degree in Liberal Arts. He taught at Odaesan Buddhist College and in 1946, after Korean Liberation, founded the Association of Young Writers (Cheongnyeon munhakga hyeophoe). Cho also served as president of the

Society of Korean Poets The Society of Korean Poets () is a literary organization established in 1957. It is the oldest active poetry organization in South Korea. Every year, the organization awards the Society of Korean Poets Award, and holds the National High School ...

(Hanguk Siin hyeophoe) and from 1947 served as a professor at Korea University. Cho Chi-hun was also the first head of the Korea University National Culture Research Institute. He died on May 17, 1968. Cho Chi-hun's birthplace is preserved in Irwol-myeon in Yeongyang. A memorial to him stands on

Namsan Namsan () is a peak in Jung District, Seoul, South Korea. It was also known as Mongmyeoksan () in the past. It offers some hiking, picnic areas and views of downtown Seoul's skyline. The N Seoul Tower is located at the summit of Namsan. The ...

in Seoul.

Work

Of Cho Chi-hun's writing, the Korea Literature Translation Institute writes:

:Fine classical beauty of Korea expressed in this work evokes within the reader a feeling of peace and tranquility. "The Grief of Phoenix" (Bonghwangsu), while keenly describing several secrets of the architectural beauty of the palace, contrasts those who held sovereign power in the Joseon era with the intellectuals of the colonial period, exposing the pain and tragic feelings of governed classes. These first poems of Cho Jihun, capturing the lyrical expression of Korea's traditional and national consciousness, are contained in 'The Blue Deer Anthology' (Cheongrokjip), a joint collection shared with two others, Pak Tu-jin and
Pak Mog-wol Pak Mok-wol (, 6 January 1916 – 24 March 1978) was an influential Korean poet and academic. Personal life He was born Pak Yeongjong on January 6, 1916, in Moryang Village, Seo-myeon, Gyeongju, North Gyeongsang Province, in present-day South K ...
.

:Directly after Liberation, contemporary Cho Jihun emphasized that only those who guarded a purely poetic aesthetic could be considered poets, and asserted that the protection of individual freedom and the quest for the liberation of human nature was the essence of poetry. This literary purity and nationalistic fervor are proclaimed in the poet's patriotic voice in his anthology, 'Standing Before History' (Yeoksa apeseo). The work criticizes, with a lucid historical consciousness, the political corruption and social irrationality engendered by the national division and internal strife of the day. In particular, "Dabuwoneseo" is one of the finest examples of war poetry that keenly depicts the tragic state of internal strife based on a personal experience.

The Nun's Dance

Cho Chi-hun's early love of Korean tradition is expressed in his poem "The Nun's Dance" (승무(僧舞). The origin of the dance antedates the introduction of Buddhism into Korea and expresses the traditional Korean philosophy of the harmony of heaven and earth. Popularly, however, it is taken to represent the inner conflict of an apostate nun, or the sorrow of a beautiful woman's renunciation of her erotic past, which the poet references. The dancer Han Yong-Suk used to claim that it was her performance which inspired the poet, after he had watched it many times.Lee-Kyong-hee, "Epitome of Korean Folk Dance" in ''Moving History/Dancing Cultures'', Wesleyan University 2001
pp.174-6
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Works in Translation

* ''Brother Enemy'' ()

Works in Korean (partial)

Criticism * A Theory on History of Korean Culture Anthologies * The Blue Deer * Short Lines over Grasses:풀잎 단장(斷章) * Selected Poems of Cho Chi-hun * Stand Before History * Lingering Resonance * Stylish Antique Costumes:고풍의상(古風依裳) Essays * Leaning against the Window * Poetry and Life * Theory of Integrity * Aesthetics of Rocks.

Awards

*Literature Prize of the Free Writers' Association, 1956

References

External links

Yeongyang Jihun Literary House
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cho, Chi-hun 1920 births 1968 deaths South Korean male poets 20th-century South Korean poets 20th-century South Korean male writers