In lieu of an abstract, here is a brief excerpt of the content:

88 CHAPTER 5 Chŏng Inbo Introduction and Translation by Seung-Ah Lee Introduction Chŏng Inbo (1893–1950?) was born in Seoul and was known by the pen name Tamwŏn, athough he often went by his artistic pen name, Widang. In 1910, when Chŏng was seven, Korea was annexed by Japan. That same year, he began to study under Yi Kŏnbang (1861–1939), a renowned Confucian scholar who specialized in Wang Yangming learning. Chŏng then visited Kando1 in 1911. He moved there with his mother in 1912, but stayed only a short time because a season of disastrous harvests forced him to return to Korea. Going abroad to Shanghai to study in 1912, he led an impoverished life at a small inn where many other young Korean scholars had gone to escape colonial rule in Korea. Among them was Sin Kyusik (1880–1922), the founder of Tongjesa, a mutual aid society that gathered together these young scholars in exile in Shanghai. The society’s main goal was the independence of Korea. Hong Myŏnghŭi (1880–1968),2 Mun Ilp’yŏng (1888– 1939),3 and Sin Ch’aeho (1880–1936)4 were some of the more recognizable members of this society. Upon receiving news from Korea in September 1913 that both his mother and wife had died, Chŏng returned to Korea. From 1913 to 1922, Chŏng avoided involvement in public activities. He retreated from the world and studied in Chinch’ŏn and Mokch’ŏn, both in Ch’ungch’ŏng Province, until 1923, when he moved back to Seoul and began teaching classical Chinese, Korean history, and Korean literature at the Yonhŭi School.5 He also served as an editorial writer for the East Asia Daily (Tonga ilbo). After Korea’s liberation, he became dean at Kukhak College,6 and also held a position as the chair of the Board of Inspection in the government of the Republic of Korea before resigning because of conflict with President Syngman Rhee. In 1950, shortly after the outbreak of the Korean War (1950–1953), Chŏng was abducted to North Korea, where he is said to have been killed in a U.S. bombing raid. Chŏng Inbo | Introduction 89 Chŏng Inbo was one of the most prominent scholars of the colonial period and was particularly active in writing essays on Korean history and literature in the 1930s before withdrawing from public life in the face of Japanese demands for assimilation late in the decade. Korean historians of the time are typically described as belonging to three groups. One, represented by the Chindan Hakhoe (a scholarly society formed in 1934), took an empirical approach to the study of history, focusing on examining and validating the historical facts presented in primary sources. A second, known for the study of socio-economic history and led by such men as Paek Namun (1894–1979),7 followed a Marxist line of interpretation that sought to refute what they viewed as stagnant Japanese interpretations of Korean history. The third, of which Chŏng is considered representative, was comprised of nationalist historians. Regarding this group, the Korean historian Ch’ŏn Kwanu explains: The 1930s was the time when the nationalist perspective of Korean history was dominant. The Manchurian Incident (1931–1932) put an end to all independent movement activities that had continued in Korea and abroad since the March First Movement (1919), and the direction of the movement shifted to an intense search for a way to preserve and promote national spirit....Discussions on Korean studies became very active at this time. Sin Ch’aeho’s narrative of ancient Korean history, which was written before Sin’s imprisonment but published while he was in prison, had a heavy influence on Korean history. Chŏng Inbo was a representative figure of this group of historians who tried to preserve and promote the national spirit.8 Chŏng Inbo’s collected works were published in six volumes by Yonsei University in 1983.9 The first volume is comprised of his poetry (sijo)10 and criticism on both Korean and Chinese literature. The second volume includes essays on Korean history written in a mixed script of vernacular Korean and Chinese characters in addition to epigraphs and poems in classical Chinese. In this volume, Chŏng discusses historical figures and his interpretation of Wang Yangming Learning. The third and fourth volumes contain the essays on Korean history that were serialized in the East Asia...

Share