A Name Comes to Mind When Visiting Hometowns

This year, as in previous years, over 30 million Koreans visited their hometowns to celebrate Lunar New Year’s Day, one of the nation’s biggest traditional holidays.

The roads are packed with cars and people are tired after the long, grueling journey home. Yet, they are eager to repeat this annual ritual as they see their parents rush out of the house, barefooted, and stroke their cheeks with rough hands. Also, the memory of their childhood, when they would run after dragonflies at the side of a stream, is kept intact in their hometowns. Whenever people wallow in nostalgia during traditional holidays, they are naturally reminded of a poet.


A Literary Prodigy who was Born in Okcheon

A rill, babbling old tales, meanders toward the eastern end of a large field
A brindled ox is mooing in dusk’s plaintive tones of golden indolence
Could this place ever be forgotten, even in one’s dream?

This is part of the celebrated poem entitled [Nostalgia] written by Jeong Ji-yong. Renowned for linguistic aesthetics, the elaborate descriptions of nature and the richness of poetic phrases, he was a pioneer who set a new example in the history of Korean modern poetry.

Jeong was born on May 15, 1902, in Okcheon, North Chungcheong Province. He grew up in poverty and loneliness after his father, who had run a pharmacy, lost his property due to floods. The boy dreamed of a beautiful, ideal world, which would be different from his frustrating reality. It is believed that he developed his literary imagination during his childhood.

Jeong started his literary activities at age 17 when he was in his first year at Whimoon High School and released a novel in his second year. He was excellent in his studies and he entered Doshisha University in Kyoto, Japan, with a scholarship offered by his high school. While majoring in English literature in the university, he made his debut in the literary circles both in Korea and Japan.


Harbinger of Korea’s Modern Poetry

Jeong made his name as a poet in Korea when he published nine works, including ‘Café France’ in the first issue of the magazine [Hakjo] in June 1926. In Japan, he drew attention as an up-and-coming writer as he released 13 poems and three essays in the magazine [Modern Landscape] during the period of three years.

A year after he graduated from Doshisha University in 1929, Jeong became a member of the poetry magazine ‘Simunhak’ to lead pure lyric poetry in Korea, along with renowned poets such as Kim Young-rang and Park Yong-cheol. He published ten poems, including ‘Hometown’ and ‘Train,’ in three literary magazines in 1932 to leap into literary eminence.

Through ‘A Collection of Jeong Ji-yong’s Poems’ that was published in 1935, he imprinted the brilliance of expression, modernity of themes and the beauty of the Korean language in the minds of readers and sent ‘quiet shock waves’ through the literary world. Kim Ki-rim, a leading literary critic in the 1930s, highly praised Jeong, saying, “Korean modern poetry has begun at last.”

Jeong greatly influenced the next generation of writers by his delicate usage of words and the poetic, sensuous image of his works. While serving as an advisory editor of [Catholic Youth] in 1933, he called attention to the works of genius poet Yi Sang. He also introduced a poets’ group dubbed Cheongrokpa in 1939 through the influential literary magazine [Munjang] Indeed, he marked a milestone in the history of Korean literature.

But his life changed after Korea’s liberation from Japanese colonial rule.


Could his Name ever be Forgotten, even in One’s Dream?

After Korea’s liberation, Jeong bitterly criticized the dark side of society as the editor-in-chief of the Catholic foundation-affiliated Gyeonghyang Newspaper to bring to light the reality and national identity that he could not express in his poems.

His sharp language gave rise to many enemies amid intense ideological conflict and there were misleading reports that he defected to North Korea. As a matter of fact, it is assumed that he was kidnapped by the North Korean People’s Army during the Korean War in 1950 and later died in a prison in Pyongyang. After the war, the poet’s name was considered taboo for a long time due to contrasting views on whether he was abducted or chose to flee to North Korea.

His poems were not read until the 1980s when the local cultural community staged a campaign to restore his legacy. For those 40 years, however, Koreans never forgot the poet who expressed pastoral beauty and abundance with his uniquely poetic dictions. Over time, nostalgia for this great poet became even stronger, with many people missing him, like their hometowns, even in their dreams.