Kim Siseup, one of the Six Surviving Ministers (生六臣 sangyuksin) from the early Joseon period (朝鮮 1392-1910), contemplated back and forth the merits Three Teachings (儒佛道 shortened form for referring to Confucianism, Buddhism, and Taoism together) and left behind many excellent works. A representative author of early-Joseon Outsider literature (外邦人 文學 oebangin munhak), he not only wrote the best jeongi soseol (傳奇小說 fiction of remarkable things) in Hanmun (漢文Chinese characters) Geumo Sinhwa (金鰲新話 New Stories from Gold Turtle Mountain), but also left behind outstanding Hansi (漢詩 Chinese character poetry). His posthumous anthology Maewoldangjip (梅月堂集 Collection of Maewoldang) in 23 chapters of 6 volumes is currently being passed down.
1. Life
Kim Siseup’s family name was from Gangneung (江陵) county and his courtesy name was Yeolgyeong (悅卿). His pen names were Maewoldang (梅月堂) and Dongbong (東峰), and his posthumous Buddhist name was Seoljam (雪岑). Born into a military official’s household, Kim Siseup learned to write from his grandfather when he was 3 years old, and he was well known as a child prodigy for his ability to write Hansi. However, when he was 21 years old, he heard the news that Prince Suyang (the future King Sejo) had driven King Danjong (端宗 r. 1452-1455) off the throne and taken it for himself; and Kim Siseup lost his faith in the Confucian ideology and its truths. He shaved his own head and became a Buddhist monk. His Buddhist name became Seoljam (雪岑).
After becoming a Buddhist monk, Kim wandered the whole country, living as an outsider (方外人). In his 30s, he set up a dwelling on Mt. Geumo near Gyeongju’s Mt. Nam and created the Geumo sinhwa. Then, he went up to Seoul to live as a Buddhist monk on the back of Mt. Surak and ended up leaving the monastic life to get married in his late 40s. Kim taught young local scholars while wandering the whole country, and he wrote poems for people wherever he went. In his later years, he took residence at the Muryang Temple in Buyeo county and there, died from an illness. Though he had first espoused Confucianism’s royal politics, he turned to Buddhism when reality ran askew the Confucian ideology and wrote a commentary on Buddhist scriptures like Siphyeondam yohae (十玄談要解) and Jodong owi yohae (曹洞五位要解). But ultimately, he was not able to settle on even Buddhism. Kim’s life itself was a continued wandering, and it was the result of the untenability between reality and the Confucianism of which he dreamt.
There was a continued conflict between his Confucian ideology and reality, and he expressed criticism against this reality, the life he had hoped from his Confucian ideology. A poem Asaeng (我生 My Life), which he wrote in his later years, provides a good picture of this conflict:
“Born into this pitiful human life, why wasn’t I able to do my human duty / I pursued fame and wealth when I was young, I tripped and fell when I became old / It is shameful when I stop to think about it, I should have realized sooner / Because I cannot undo my past when I regret them, I pound my chest as a mill unable to sleep / Moreover unable to fulfill my duties, what else shall I want and desire / I am a sinner alive, I will be an impoverished spirit dead / Ambitions had risen again, they’ve only added to suffering / On my tombstone a hundred years from now, write an old man who died in a dream / If by chance somebody understands me, they will know my heart a thousand years later.”
As Kim’s Confucian ideology and the political situation he dreamt of became awry, he severed himself from this conflict to assume the sojourner’s life. Therefore, because he was unable to complete the pursuit of Confucianism for filial piety and royal duty, he thought of himself as “mongsano (夢死老 an old man who died living inside a dream).” This shows that those who chase after wealth, honor, success, and fame (富貴功名 bu gwi gong myeong) were difficult to understand. Kim was the typical sojourner who carried his life with conflict and agony for the entirety of his whole life.
2. Writing
Kim Siseup left behind many works of poetry and fiction worthy of attention, showing sojourner literature at its best, stories that welled up from one’s own experiences of the sojourner’s life. First, one of the best-known works in ancient narrative literary history was Kim’s Geumo sinhwa. Presently, only 5 anecdotes are extant. In the version published during the Joseon period, it was recorded in the “seo gapjip hu (書甲集後 wrote [it] after the first volume).” Kim seems to have structured the work with 5 anecdotes with 4 chapters each to make 20 anecdotes for the main body of the work and added an anecdote of appendix to make a total of 21 anecdotes. It looks as though Kim had in mind Jiandeng xinhua (剪燈新話) by Qu You (瞿佑, 1341-1372) of the Ming (明) dynasty when writing Geumo sinhwa. However, referred to as the best of jeongi soseol, it was a much more distinguished fiction than Jiandeng xinhua.
Geumo sinhwa included the 5 anecdotes Yi Saeng gyujangjeon (李生窺墻傳 Student Yi Peers over the Wall), Manboksa jeopogi (萬福寺摴蒱記 Old Bachelor Yang Plays a Jeopo Game with a Buddha of Thousand Blessing Temple), Chwiyu bubyeokjeonggi (醉遊浮碧亭記 Student Hong Plays at Floating Emerald Tower), Nam yeombuju ji (南炎浮州志 Student Bak Visits the Underworld or Hell), and Yonggung buyeonnok (龍宮赴宴錄 Student Han Visits the Dragon Palace). Presently, the woodblock-printed book of Geumo sinhwa, which looks to have been published by Yun Chunyeon (尹春年, 1514-1567) during King Myeongjong (明宗 r. 1545-1567), is housed in Dalian Library in China. In the woodblock-printed book, two pieces of poetry by Kim, that related it to the creation of Geumo sinhwa, were included underneath the note “seo gapjip hu.” This shows that the original work was not made up of only 5 anecdotes of gapjip (甲集 such as first volume), but most likely included others such as “euljip (乙集 second volume),” “byeongjip (丙集 third volume),” and “jeongjip” (丁集 fourth volume).”
Yi Saeng gyujangjeon is a romance fictions tory that drew a picture of the love between Student Yi and Ms. Choe. Manboksa jeopogi was the story of Student Yang who won a game of jeopo against a Buddha of Thousand Blessing Temple and got married with a maiden ghost who died three years ago. Chwiyu bubyeokjeonggi was the story of how a man and a woman confirmed their love by writing poetry about the ancient history of Korea from separate space-time dimensions. Nam yeombuju ji was a story about how Student Bak traveled to the Underworld [or Hell] called Nam yeombuju in a dream to receive the crown. It aimed to be an ideological novel. Yonggung buyeonnok was the story of how Student Han of the Goryeo period was invited to a party at the Dragon King’s palace.
Kim Anro (金安老, 1481∼1537) recorded the following in regards to Geumo sinhwa: “Kim Siseup went up to Mt. Geumo to write the work. He hid it in a stone chamber and said, ‘There will be someone who knows of me in future generations.’ It was a very strange story into which he alluded to his thoughts with satire in imitation of Jiandeng xinhua.” Thusly, Kim Siseup used the satire technique to express himself through the work. Produced at the final destination of sojourning, Geumo sinhwa was deeply related to his personal history.
For instance, Geumo sinhwa did not directly draw an opposition or conflict between the world of reality and the world of unreality, setting them as the background and plotting the main character who ultimately turned their back on the world of reality. This ending was an expression of Kim’s loneliness. Though a meeting of wholeness was shared between characters whose hearts and minds were aligned, the ending of the fiction was one in which there was ultimately no reconciliation with the world. It was Kim’s answer to his life, which cohered to discord with the world and a lifelong criticism of reality. In it, we can catch a glimpse of Kim’s wretched solitude in Geumo sinhwa’s narrative, where he thoroughly turned his back on the world of reality.
In addition, Kim aimed towards love for the people and people-orientedness in his works. He showed his ideological views in works such as “Taegeukseol (太極說 Taiji Theories),” “Gwisinseol (鬼神說 Theory of Ghostly and Godly Existence),” “Idanbyeon (異端辨 Sifting Heterodoxical Doctrines),” and “Aeminui (愛民義 apathy of the people),” generally providing his perception of reality and the rationale for its criticism. In particular, he displayed in “Aeminui” the people-centered ideology, which makes up the basic grounds for Confucianism exactly as it was. Early on, Kim said, “Since my heart and my view of the world are in conflict, excluding poetry, nothing brings me joy.” He proposed the creation of Hansi as an important objective of life. Though, his Hansi was characteristic to the world of sojourner poetry. For the most part, he created Hansi whose directions revealed the spirit of love for the people, through which he sent a limitless affection and sympathy for the people’s lives, their circumstances.
Among his Hansi, Yeongsanga go (詠山家苦 Hardship of Yeongsan’s Family) and Ohoga (嗚呼歌 Song of Alas), Gi nongbueo (記農夫語 Record of a Farmer’s Words) and Takmok (啄木 A Woodpecker) were among his representative works. Yeongsanga go was a series of seven-syllable quatrain (七言絶句); mainly a recitation from several sides of the hardships of people who lived deep in the mountains pursued by the exploitations of bureaucrats who hoped that their suffering would end. In Ohoga, he concluded that the wretchedness of the people’s lives was caused by the decadence and hedonism of the sadaebu (士大夫 the literati) ruling class, that their consequence was the collapse of independently-run farms. The fall of this independent working class was due to the ruling class, and the author anguished over it without having found a plan to overcome this reality. Kim’s active period was in the latter half of the 15th century; the Joseon dynasty had already experienced several political upheavals, over issuing meritorious subject lands (功臣田 gongsinjeon) to the ruling class, and the ruling class expanded the consolidation of lands on these grounds. Around the same time, Joseon society began to blossom societal corruptions; and due to this, the circumstance of independent farmers became that much more difficult, and they took the first step on the path to collapse. Gi nongbueo was a distinguished work that captured the circumstances of this occasion. In addition, in Takmok, he portrayed his wants with a woodpecker who would discipline and rule the worms of the human world. His longing for the elimination of those worm-like existences exploited the people was in truth not possible to satisfy in reality. He saw firsthand the lives of people in each place around the whole country and captured his vivid experiences of this into poetry. Kim’s wanting the extermination of the worm-like existences who made the lives of the people miserable clearly showed his spirit of love for the people. The fact that these works clearly captured Kim’s people-centered ideology and criticism of reality tell that the sojourner’s life and literature were premised on the criticism of reality.
Just counting Kim Siseup’s Hansi included in Maewoldangjip, which was published under King Seonjo’s orders, his works number as many as 2,200 titles. There are also 68 in Sok Dongmunseon (續東文選Sequel of Dongmunseon), which was compiled by Sin Yonggae (申用漑, 1463-1519) in 1518. Those among early-Joseon writers who have more than 50 titles of Hansi in Sok Dongmunseon are just three, Seo Geojeong (徐居正, 1420-1488), Kim Jongjik (金宗直, 1431-1492), and Kim Siseup. Kim Siseup, in a straightforward and honest display, expressed his inner conflict with the rage he felt over the harsh realities of the people and his affections for them. His Hansi were not bound to the Hansi form and were filled with candid truths that cut straight to the heart. Moreover, Kim lived a life of the sojourner and reflected that worldview onto fiction, marking a milestone in the history of Korean classical fiction. His works are wonderful examples of early-Joseon sadaebu literature as well as models of sojourner literature. In particular, Nam yeombuju ji was later succeeded by Im Je (林悌, 1549-1587) in Suseongji (愁城志), and its legacy continued in cheongun soseol (天君小說 fiction which is personified human mind) such as Cheongunjeon (天君傳) by Kim Wuong (金宇顒, 1540-1603).
Reference
Im, Hyeongtaek, “Maewoldang ui Munhak ui Seonggyeok: Bangoein Munhak ui Segye wa Hyeonsiljuui Jeongsin [Characteristics of Literature of Maewoldang: Works of Outsider Literature and Spirit of Realism],” Daedong Munhwa Yeongu 13, Daedong Munhwa Yeonguwon, Sungkyunkwan University, 1979.
Im, Hyeongtaek, “Joseon Jeongi Munin Yuhyeong gwa Bangoein Munhak [Types of Writers in the Early Joseon Dynasty and Outsider Literature],” Hanguk Munhak Yeongu Immun [Introduction to the Study of Korean Literature], Jisik Saneopsa, 1982.
Im, Hyeongtaek, Hanguk Munhaksa ui Sigak [Perspective of Korean Literature History], Changjak gwa Bipyeong, 1984.
Pak, Huibyeong, Hanguk Jeongi Soseol ui Mihak [The Aesthetics of Korean Jeongi Soseol], Dolbegae, 1997.
Sim, Gyeongho, Kim Siseup Pyeongjeon [Critical Biography of Kim Siseup], Dolbegae, 2003.
Minjok Munhaksa Yeonguso, comp., Sae Minjok Munhaksa Gangui [New Lecture of Korean Literary History] vol. 1, Changjak gwa Bipyeong, 2009.
