Park Kyung-ni
Encyclopedia
Park Kyung-ni or Pak Kyong Ni (October 28, 1926 – May 5, 2008) was a prominent South Korea
n novelist. She was born in Tongyeong
, in Gyeongsangnam-do
Province, and later lived in Wonju
in Gangwon-do
Province. Park made her literary debut in 1955, with Gyesan (계산
, Calculations). She is, however, most well-known for her 16-volume story Toji
(토지
, The Land), an epic saga
set on the turbulent history of Korea
during 19th and 20th century. It was later adapted into a movie, a television series and an opera.
“She is a big figure in Korean literature, who we will have little chance to meet in the near future.” Park Kyung-ni died from lung cancer at the age of 81 on May 5, 2008 and many literary men recollected her as a guide for their literary works and life as a writer. She was posthumously awarded the country's top medal by the Culture Ministry of South Korea for her promoting South Korean arts.
, South Gyeongsang Province. Her birth name was Park Geum-i (박금이). Her father, Park Su-yeong (박수영) married her mother at his age of fourteen, who was older than he was by 4 years. The relationship between her parents did not get on well, which deeply affected her life. Her misery started when her father left her mother right away after she was born. Later, she said that she had both sympathy and contempt toward her mother, but hatred against her father. Therefore, she was isolated in the extremely conflicting feelings and befriended books in her imaginative world.
Park married Kim Haeng-do (김행도), a clerk of the Office of Monopoly (전매부) in 1946 one year after her graduation from Jinju Girls' High school (진주고등여학교). However, her suffering did not end with her marriage. Instead, it got worse when her husband was accused of being a communist and went missing during the Korean War
and eventually died in Seodaemun Prison
. Not only that, she lost her 3 years-old baby son in the same year. Park became a widow with her daughter and mother for whom she had to financially support. Park began her career as a professional writer in 1955 after a recommendation by a novelist and poet, Kim Dong-ri (김동리 1913 ~ 1995). Park underwent breast cancer
in 1960s and had to raise her grandson, Wonbo after her son-in-law
and a poet, Kim Chi-Ha
(김지하) was arrested for the accusation of being a communist in 1970s just like her husband. She had even suffered from lung cancer herself until she died.
Her sorrowful personal life surely influenced her works, where she emphasized human dignity.
Park started her career as a writer with the novel, Calculations (계산, Gyesan) and her early work was heavily guided by her unfortunate life. Each narrator in her novels like Time of distrust (불신시대, Bulsin Sidae) and Time of Darkness (암흑시대, Amheuk Sidae) are often a daughter living with her mother who lost her husband and son, which was true with her own life. In her later work, The Daughters of Pharmacist Kim (김약국의 딸들, Kimyakgukui Ttaldeul), she still deals with characters who get over with their difficulties. However, she got more objective point of view in that her fictional setting moved from the Korean war
to everyday life and employed more various writing techniques and topics.
Park showed the importance of human dignity in all her works. She defined human dignity as protecting the noblest thing for oneself. She criticized a tradition, a system, and authority which cause people not to protect their dignity, and also disdained people who lost their dignity because of their desires. Additionally, her works are concerned with human isolation, absolute trust in love.
(The Land) is the most famous of Park, Kyung-ni’s novels. The epic novel was started as a serial publication in the September 1969 issue of "Contemporary Literature" (현대문학, Hyundae Munhak). It took her 25 years to write. It depicts the turbulence at the turn of the 20th century when Korean people were struggling against Japanese imperialism. It has hundreds of characters from across the Korean peninsula and follows them from the late 19th century to the early 20th century through Japan’s colonial rule to the division of the peninsula. "Kim, Gil-sang" (김길상) and "Choi, Seo-hee" (최서희), the main heroes of the novel, like other heroes in Park’s novels, struggle to save their own dignity in the most turbulent period of Korean history. It has significant literary artistry in style, native folk language and diverse character portrayals, depicting Korea’s eventual and sadness-ridden modern history through the love of vast "Mother Earth". It is considered as a masterpiece of contemporary Korean literature. It has been made into a TV series, a movie, and an opera. It has been translated into several languages including English
, French
and Japanese
. It also has been included in the UNESCO Collection of Representative Works
.
Park opened Toji Culture Center on the spot of her original home in Wonju, Gangwon Province, in 1999. She helped and nurture new writers in the center. Park also served as a chairperson of the board of trustees of the Toji Culture Foundation, which was established in 1996. She promoted and preserved young writers’ active literary thoughts by fostering and nurturing their creative attitudes and lifestyles.
South Korea
The Republic of Korea , , is a sovereign state in East Asia, located on the southern portion of the Korean Peninsula. It is neighbored by the People's Republic of China to the west, Japan to the east, North Korea to the north, and the East China Sea and Republic of China to the south...
n novelist. She was born in Tongyeong
Tongyeong
Tongyeong is a coastal city in South Gyeongsang Province, South Korea. In 2010, it had an area of 238.81 ㎢ and a population of 139,869 people. It is divided into 1 eup , 6 myeon and 11 dong . Chungmu city and Tongyeong county were reunited in 1995, creating Tongyeong City as we know it today...
, in Gyeongsangnam-do
Gyeongsangnam-do
Gyeongsangnam-do is a province in the southeast of South Korea. The provincial capital is located at Changwon. It contains the major metropolitan center and port of Busan. Located there is UNESCO World Heritage Site Haeinsa, a Buddhist temple that houses the Tripitaka Koreana and attracts many...
Province, and later lived in Wonju
Wonju
Wonju is the most populous city in Gangwon province, South Korea.Wonju is a city approximately east of Seoul and the capital can be reached within 1hr 30minutes by bus or train. Wonju is home to three major universities which attract many students from Seoul and elsewhere. They provide facilities...
in Gangwon-do
Gangwon-do (South Korea)
Gangwon-do is a province of South Korea, with its capital at Chuncheon. Before the division of Korea in 1945, Gangwon and its North Korean neighbour Kangwŏn formed a single province.-History:...
Province. Park made her literary debut in 1955, with Gyesan (계산
Hangul
Hangul,Pronounced or ; Korean: 한글 Hangeul/Han'gŭl or 조선글 Chosŏn'gŭl/Joseongeul the Korean alphabet, is the native alphabet of the Korean language. It is a separate script from Hanja, the logographic Chinese characters which are also sometimes used to write Korean...
, Calculations). She is, however, most well-known for her 16-volume story Toji
Toji (novel)
The Toji is a Korean saga novel written by Park Kyung-ni from June, 1968 to 1994, consisting of five volumes. The process of a yangban 's collapse and revival is set in the village of Pyeongsa-ri, Hadong county, South Gyeongsang province, Longing in Jiandao, Jinju and Seoul.Korea Literature...
(토지
Hangul
Hangul,Pronounced or ; Korean: 한글 Hangeul/Han'gŭl or 조선글 Chosŏn'gŭl/Joseongeul the Korean alphabet, is the native alphabet of the Korean language. It is a separate script from Hanja, the logographic Chinese characters which are also sometimes used to write Korean...
, The Land), an epic saga
Saga
Sagas, are stories in Old Norse about ancient Scandinavian and Germanic history, etc.Saga may also refer to:Business*Saga DAB radio, a British radio station*Saga Airlines, a Turkish airline*Saga Falabella, a department store chain in Peru...
set on the turbulent history of Korea
History of Korea
The Korean Peninsula was inhabited from the Lower Paleolithic about 400,000-500,000 years ago. Archeological evidence indicates that the presence of modern humans in northeast Asia dates to 39,000 years ago. The earliest known Korean pottery dates to around 8000 BC, and the Neolithic period began...
during 19th and 20th century. It was later adapted into a movie, a television series and an opera.
“She is a big figure in Korean literature, who we will have little chance to meet in the near future.” Park Kyung-ni died from lung cancer at the age of 81 on May 5, 2008 and many literary men recollected her as a guide for their literary works and life as a writer. She was posthumously awarded the country's top medal by the Culture Ministry of South Korea for her promoting South Korean arts.
Biography
Park Kyung-ni was born as the first daughter to a middle class family in 1926 in TongyeongTongyeong
Tongyeong is a coastal city in South Gyeongsang Province, South Korea. In 2010, it had an area of 238.81 ㎢ and a population of 139,869 people. It is divided into 1 eup , 6 myeon and 11 dong . Chungmu city and Tongyeong county were reunited in 1995, creating Tongyeong City as we know it today...
, South Gyeongsang Province. Her birth name was Park Geum-i (박금이). Her father, Park Su-yeong (박수영) married her mother at his age of fourteen, who was older than he was by 4 years. The relationship between her parents did not get on well, which deeply affected her life. Her misery started when her father left her mother right away after she was born. Later, she said that she had both sympathy and contempt toward her mother, but hatred against her father. Therefore, she was isolated in the extremely conflicting feelings and befriended books in her imaginative world.
Park married Kim Haeng-do (김행도), a clerk of the Office of Monopoly (전매부) in 1946 one year after her graduation from Jinju Girls' High school (진주고등여학교). However, her suffering did not end with her marriage. Instead, it got worse when her husband was accused of being a communist and went missing during the Korean War
Korean War
The Korean War was a conventional war between South Korea, supported by the United Nations, and North Korea, supported by the People's Republic of China , with military material aid from the Soviet Union...
and eventually died in Seodaemun Prison
Seodaemun prison
Seodaemun Prison History Hall is a museum and former prison in Seodaemun-gu, Seoul, South Korea. It was constructed beginning in 1907. The prison was opened on October 21, 1908, under the name Gyeongseong Gamok. Its name was changed to Seodaemun Prison in 1923.The prison was used during the...
. Not only that, she lost her 3 years-old baby son in the same year. Park became a widow with her daughter and mother for whom she had to financially support. Park began her career as a professional writer in 1955 after a recommendation by a novelist and poet, Kim Dong-ri (김동리 1913 ~ 1995). Park underwent breast cancer
Breast cancer
Breast cancer is cancer originating from breast tissue, most commonly from the inner lining of milk ducts or the lobules that supply the ducts with milk. Cancers originating from ducts are known as ductal carcinomas; those originating from lobules are known as lobular carcinomas...
in 1960s and had to raise her grandson, Wonbo after her son-in-law
Son-in-Law
Son-in-Law was a British Thoroughbred racehorse and an influential sire, especially for sport horses.The National Horseracing Museum says that Son-in-Law is "probably the best and most distinguished stayer this country has ever known." Described as "one of the principal influences for stamina in...
and a poet, Kim Chi-Ha
Kim Chi-Ha
Kim Ji-ha is a Korean poet and playwright. He was a dissident under the Park regime. After accusing the regime of extracting false confessions with the use of torture, he was tried and sentenced to death, which was commuted to a life sentence and eventual release following a public outcry...
(김지하) was arrested for the accusation of being a communist in 1970s just like her husband. She had even suffered from lung cancer herself until she died.
Works
When Park Kyung-ni debuted, she said "If I had been happy, I would have not begun writing." Park also said later, "I live with my mother and daughter and had to support them financially by myself. I began writing since I had hope to get away from my adversity."Her sorrowful personal life surely influenced her works, where she emphasized human dignity.
Park started her career as a writer with the novel, Calculations (계산, Gyesan) and her early work was heavily guided by her unfortunate life. Each narrator in her novels like Time of distrust (불신시대, Bulsin Sidae) and Time of Darkness (암흑시대, Amheuk Sidae) are often a daughter living with her mother who lost her husband and son, which was true with her own life. In her later work, The Daughters of Pharmacist Kim (김약국의 딸들, Kimyakgukui Ttaldeul), she still deals with characters who get over with their difficulties. However, she got more objective point of view in that her fictional setting moved from the Korean war
Korean War
The Korean War was a conventional war between South Korea, supported by the United Nations, and North Korea, supported by the People's Republic of China , with military material aid from the Soviet Union...
to everyday life and employed more various writing techniques and topics.
Park showed the importance of human dignity in all her works. She defined human dignity as protecting the noblest thing for oneself. She criticized a tradition, a system, and authority which cause people not to protect their dignity, and also disdained people who lost their dignity because of their desires. Additionally, her works are concerned with human isolation, absolute trust in love.
Toji (The Land)
TojiToji (novel)
The Toji is a Korean saga novel written by Park Kyung-ni from June, 1968 to 1994, consisting of five volumes. The process of a yangban 's collapse and revival is set in the village of Pyeongsa-ri, Hadong county, South Gyeongsang province, Longing in Jiandao, Jinju and Seoul.Korea Literature...
(The Land) is the most famous of Park, Kyung-ni’s novels. The epic novel was started as a serial publication in the September 1969 issue of "Contemporary Literature" (현대문학, Hyundae Munhak). It took her 25 years to write. It depicts the turbulence at the turn of the 20th century when Korean people were struggling against Japanese imperialism. It has hundreds of characters from across the Korean peninsula and follows them from the late 19th century to the early 20th century through Japan’s colonial rule to the division of the peninsula. "Kim, Gil-sang" (김길상) and "Choi, Seo-hee" (최서희), the main heroes of the novel, like other heroes in Park’s novels, struggle to save their own dignity in the most turbulent period of Korean history. It has significant literary artistry in style, native folk language and diverse character portrayals, depicting Korea’s eventual and sadness-ridden modern history through the love of vast "Mother Earth". It is considered as a masterpiece of contemporary Korean literature. It has been made into a TV series, a movie, and an opera. It has been translated into several languages including English
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
, French
French language
French is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...
and Japanese
Japanese language
is a language spoken by over 130 million people in Japan and in Japanese emigrant communities. It is a member of the Japonic language family, which has a number of proposed relationships with other languages, none of which has gained wide acceptance among historical linguists .Japanese is an...
. It also has been included in the UNESCO Collection of Representative Works
UNESCO Collection of Representative Works
The UNESCO Collection of Representative Works was a UNESCO translation project that was active for about 57 years, from 1948 to about 2005. The projects purpose was to translate masterpieces of world literature, primarily from a lesser known language into a more international language such as...
.
Legacy
Park Kyung-ni is regarded as one of the most famous and respected writers in South Korea. She opened up a new chapter in Korean literary history with her remarkable epic novel Toji and also produced 20 other high quality novels and 3 poetry collections that had a huge impact on Korean writers and readers.Park opened Toji Culture Center on the spot of her original home in Wonju, Gangwon Province, in 1999. She helped and nurture new writers in the center. Park also served as a chairperson of the board of trustees of the Toji Culture Foundation, which was established in 1996. She promoted and preserved young writers’ active literary thoughts by fostering and nurturing their creative attitudes and lifestyles.
Work list
- 1955 Calculation (계산, Gyesan)
- 1956 Black and Black and White and White (흑흑백백, Heukheuk baekbaek)
- 1957 Period of Distrust (불신시대, Bulsin Sidae)
- 1957 Missions
- 1958 Love Song (연가, Yeonga )
- 1958 Byeokji (벽지)
- 1958 Time of Darkness (암흑시대, Amheuk Sidae)
- 1959 Pyoryudo (표류도)
- 1962 The Daughters of Pharmacist Kim (김약국의 딸들, Kimyakgukui Ttaldeul)
- 1963 Pasi (파시)
- 1965 The Market and War field (시장과 전장, Sijang gwa Jeonjang)
- 1965 Green Zone (Nokjidae, 녹지대)
- 1969-1994 TojiToji (novel)The Toji is a Korean saga novel written by Park Kyung-ni from June, 1968 to 1994, consisting of five volumes. The process of a yangban 's collapse and revival is set in the village of Pyeongsa-ri, Hadong county, South Gyeongsang province, Longing in Jiandao, Jinju and Seoul.Korea Literature...
(토지 The Land) - My Mind is Lake (내 마음은 호수)
- Blue Galaxy (푸른 은하)
Awards
- The Woltan Literature Award (for Land).
- The Inchon Award.
- The Bogwan Order of Cultural MeritOrder of Cultural Merit (Korea)The Order of Cultural Merit is one of the Republic of Korea's Orders of Merit. It is awarded to those who have rendered outstanding meritorious services in the interest of improving the national welfare.-Classes of Cultural Merit:...
(awarded 1992). - Order of Cultural MeritOrder of Cultural Merit (Korea)The Order of Cultural Merit is one of the Republic of Korea's Orders of Merit. It is awarded to those who have rendered outstanding meritorious services in the interest of improving the national welfare.-Classes of Cultural Merit:...
, Geum-gwan Medal (Gold Crown) 금관장 (awarded posthumously).