Chang Man-Yong (1914-1975) was a Korean poet.
1. Life
Born in Yonbake, Hwanghae Province, Chang graduated from Gyeongseong High School in 1932. His poems appeared as reader-submitted content in Donggwang magazine in 1931. Chang made his formal literary debut publishing "Bom norae" (봄노래 Spring Song) in Donggwang the following year upon the recommendation of Kim Ŏk. His critically acclaimed first collection of poems, Yang (양 Lamb), was published in 1937.
In 1944 Chang took over managing the family hot spring business, and in 1948 he ran a publishing company in Seoul called Sanhojang. He began working for the Seoul Shinmun in 1954 as an editor, where he presided over the literary magazine for youths, Sinmunye. From 1968 onwards he taught Korean literature at Inha University. His poetry collections include Chukje (축제 Festival), Yunyeonsong (유년송 A Song for Childhood), Bamui seojeong (밤의 서정 Night's Romance), and Jeonyeok jongsori (저녁 종소리 Evening Bells).
2. Writing
Considered a major representative of 1930s Korean modernism, Chang is distinct from other poets in that tradition in his embrace of pastoral lyricism. Nostalgic themes of rural life were used to reflect the difficulty and anguish of the times in which Chang lived; he continued to use these devices to reflect the hardship of life in early South Korea. He is an imagist poet whose work indicates both a desire to transcend reality and to be close to nature.
The vividness of his visual images and the harmony of concept and form reveals Chang's knack for poetic imagery, as evinced in his first collection, Yang. This collection contains thirty poems that are classic examples of modernist poetry. The collections Chukje and Yunyeonsong illustrate the strife and turmoil of the poet in some of the darkest days of Korea. His collections published after the 1945 liberation, Bamui seojeong, Jeonyeok jongsori, and Jeonyeongnol seureojideusi (저녁놀 스러지듯이 As the Sun Sets) depict the poem's appreciation of nature and sober reflections on reality.
