Kim Seong-Dong (November 8th, 1947 – Septemper 25th, 2022) was a Korean author.
1. Life
Kim Seong-Dong was born in Boryeong, South Chungcheong Province, a son of a communist organizer. After a violent bloodbath that cost the lives of his father and uncles from both sides of his family, Kim grew up stigmatized for his family's communist ties but was able to continue his education in Seoul with the financial support of his relatives. As a senior at Sorabol High School, Kim joined a Buddhist monastic order to become a disciple of the Zen master Jihyo, taking the name Jeonggak (正覺). Kim made his literary debut in 1975 when his short story "Moktakjo" (목탁조 The Sound of Moktak) was published in Jugan Jonggyo, upon which he was accused of defaming the order and duly excommunicated. He then returned to the secular world and began working for several magazines and publishing houses.
His writing career took off with the publication in 1978 of the novella Mandara (만다라 Mandala), which won the Korean Literature New Writer's Award and was made into a film by Im Kwon-taek in 1981. Kim's best-known works include the short story collections Pianui sae (피안의 새 Bird of Enlightenment) and Omaksari jip han chae (오막살이 집 한 채 A Lonely Hut), and the novels Jip (집 House), Gil (길 The Way), and the epic Guksu (국수 Hand of the Nation). Mandala has been translated into German, Bulgarian, Spanish, French, and English.
2. Writing
Mandala, as the title suggests, deals with Buddhist themes. A depiction of the ten years Kim spent as a Buddhist monk and his eventual return to the secular world, the text addresses the conflict between individual enlightenment and redemption of humankind as a whole. Ultimately, the author comes to the paradoxical conclusion that 'finding the pure land is impossible in complete separation from the realm of the impure'. Kim's training as a Buddhist monk is also reflected in "Sallan" (산란 Mountain Orchid), "Deung" (등 The Lamp), and "Hasan" (하산 Descending the Mountain), stories that meditate on the arduous life of Buddhist ascetics as they struggle to accomplish a 'return to the original Buddha-nature.'
Kim's works from 1979 onwards dealing with the brutal legacy of the Korean War also rely on his personal experiences. In the trilogy of "Eomma wa gaeguri" (엄마와 개구리 My Mother and the Frog), "Byeol" (별 The Star), and "Janwol" (잔월 The Waning Moon), the recurrent motif of 'Mother's inexplicable stomach pains' is linked to the traumatic impact of the war and national division on ordinary individuals. From 1991 to 2018, Kim devoted himself to serializing Guksu, an epic saga following the exploits of "guksu" (Baduk term referring to a master of the game) from various walks of life against the turbulent historical epoch from 1882 to 1894.
