Shin Wi (pen name: Jaha, 1769-1845) was one of the greatest poets who wrote their poems in Chinese during the five hundred year period of the Yi Dynasty. He was also an outstanding calligraphist and painter both at home and abroad.
Jaha was a prolif...
Shin Wi (pen name: Jaha, 1769-1845) was one of the greatest poets who wrote their poems in Chinese during the five hundred year period of the Yi Dynasty. He was also an outstanding calligraphist and painter both at home and abroad.
Jaha was a prolific poet who left about four thousand pieces of verse behind him. His representative works are thirty-five piece Verses Commenting upon Korean Poets in which Chinese poems written by Koreans were evaluated in the form of verse, forty piece Soakbu in which Korean sijos were translated into Chinese, fifty piece Sundry Poems which has been favorably compared with Po Chu-i's (772-846) New Yueh-fu, twenty piece Post Chiu-rhyu Poems, an imitation of Wang Shih-chen's (1634-1711)
work in the same title, and twelve piece Gwangeuk Jeolgu, a valuable documents on the dramas and actors of his days.
This author has been involved in Jaha for years, reading through his writings and publishing some successive studies on him. In "A Study of Shin Wi's Soarbu" (Collected Treatises, Busan Women's Univ., Vol. 7, Feb., 1978) my attempt was a study of his writings, and his creativity and origins were treated in "An Analytic Study of Dongin Nonsi Jeolgu" (Suryeon Studies of Korean Language and Literature, Busan Women's Univ., Vol. 6, Dec., 1979). In addition, "A Study of Shin Jaha's Writings" on which this study is also based had already been published in Collected Treatises, Busan Women's Univ., Vol.5, 1977.
These studies were, however, rather superficial since the world of Jaha's writings was too wide and his knowledge of poetry was too deep for this author to cover thoroughly.
"Jaha was much indebted to his master, Su Shih (1036-1101), and also influenced by Hsu Ling (507-583), Wang wei (699-762) and Lu Yu (1125-1210)," remarked Kim
Taek-yeong (1850-1927) in the preface to Collected Poems of Shin Jaha, but Jaha's covered even Shin Ching and the works of Chu Yuan and Sung Yu as well as those who were masters during the periods of Han, Wei and Six Dynasties. Moreover, hewas familiar with the writings of such Chinese Poets as Tu Fu, Wang Wei, Li Po, and Po Chu-of the Tang Period; Su Shih, Huang Ting-chien and Lu Yu of the Sung Period; Yuan Hao-wen of the Chin Period; and Wang Shih-chen of the Ching Period. Thus, it is almost impossible to make a thorough study of Jaha without knowing those Chinese poets who influenced him. Keeping this in mind the present author tried to find out about chiefly Li Po, Tu Fu, Po Chu-i, Yuan Hao-wen and Wang Shih-chen. About the other poets this author is planning to study further in future.
The first part of this paper is concerned with the life of Jaha as a poet. The ideological background of his age is sketched, and his family tree is traced up on the basis of the genealogy of the Pyeongsan Shins. After this his literary life is examined more concretely through YijoSillok (the History of the Yi Dynasty), Jaha's Chronological Record edited by Kim Taek-yeong and sixteen-volume Gyeongsudang Complete Works. His association with contemporary important figures home and abroad is also examined for the better understanding of his literary position at that time.
The second part deals with Jaha's literary origins. It is carefully examined how he was influenced by Chinese poets, begining with Su Shih who gave him the greatest influence and including Tu Fu, Yuan Hao-wen, and Wang Shih-chen. Some other Chinese poets who are thought to have influenced him are also included at the end of this part.
As a conclusion of this study, this author finally evaluates Jaha's literary
characteristics and his influence upon contemporary and subsequent classical poets, locating his standing in the history of Korean literature.