KJC Korea
Journal Central

This paper examines the May Fourth Movement in China, which took place in 1919, and what Lee Kwangsoo did for Korean Provisional Government established in Shanghai. The May Fourth Movement was an anti-Japanese political movement, which fights against Japan’s occupation and invasion of Qingdao. It was also a reform movement against the feudal culture, ideas and system, which had been prevalent in China for thousands of years. Around this time in Korea, an independence movement against Japan’s colonization, the March First Movement, took place. When the March First Movement failed to achieve independence, Korean patriots in Shanghai, China, established Korean Provisional Government. Lee Kwangsoo actively participated in the organization and constitution of the Provisional Government as the representative of Pyoung Ahn Province in the Parliament. Together with the great independent activist An, Changho, Lee set up the Historical Material Compilation Committee and collected the records of historical relationships between Korea and Japan. In particular, he began publication of Independence Newspaper and focused on promoting the Provisional Government and raising people’s will for independence as the director and editor in chief. He was a keen independent activist of the Provisional Government until 1921 when he returned to Korea. In 1918, prior to the March First Movement, he scathingly criticized the harmful effects of traditional Confucianism in Korea in 16 times long articles published in Maeil Newspaper and attempted to initiate a new cultural movement (cultural reform) similar to the May Fourth Movement in China. This shows that Lee Kwangsoo contributed to the independence movement politically and culturally during the time for rapid change in 1919. When Lee came back to Korea in 1921, he worked to improve the skills of Korean people. He tried to enlighten people through the media and teach illiterates, as well as wrote historical novels to raise the national awareness. The turbulent life of Lee, which ended in 1947 while writing the biography of Do-san An, Changho, whom he respected greatly, had already been determined during this period.

This paper tries to examine and trace Lee Kwangsoo’s story before and after his return to the colonial Chosen with his text as a clue. It is also connected with the posture of a so-called mystery novelist by Michael D. Shin. Lee Kwangsoo’s return to the colonial Chosen clearly distinguished the time zone of before and after which corresponded with the space movement. If the previous time was related to the Dongnipsinmoon(독립신문) as semi-organ of the Shanghai Provisional Government, which is also an extension of the March 1 movement, the subsequent time would be directly linked to the 「Minjok Gaejoron(민족개조론)」 which was the target of condemnation and criticism of Chosen society. His return to the colonial Chosen, with his disgrace and stigma far exceeding his expectations, carries not only himself but also the splits of pre/post colonial Chosen. Therefore, his movements before and after his return to the colonial Chosen became a ‘complex’ event involving the public reality of Chosen in private experience and time. This paper examines the aspect of the de-politicization of culture against radicalism in the second and third chapters by pointing out that the transformations before and after his return was placed behind the fear of extinction caused by the Gando Disastrous Accident(간도사변). The shock and the sorrow of the Gando Disastrous Accident were expressed in the poetry and the editorial of Dongnipsinmoon(독립신문). And this incident led to a series of actions, including 「Minjok Gaejoron(민족개조론)」, which was called the Chosen version of Gandhi’s ideas further imprinted the paradox of civilization. In this context, this paper raises the necessity to re-read 「Heosaengjeon(허생전)」 and 「A revolutionary’s wife(혁명가의 아내)」. At the same time, this paper presented in chapter 4 that the conflict between nationalism and socialist camp, which was revealed by the argument with Lee Kiyoung, could be reenacted after liberation.

Yi Kwang-su participated in Publishing Historical Records Committee which belong to Shanghai provisional government in 1919. This experience has not explained enough yet but if we consider it, there would be possibility which the contexts and backgrounds of his 1910s' writings are newly revealed. First of all, the chapter 5 'Korean's cultural capacity' in Collection Ⅱ, the contents are closely related to ethnography which is shared in Shinmunkwan(신문관) group , researching and publishing network community. It is very similar to the contents of 'New Understanding' in Korean-Russian Orthodox Newspaper 10, (『대한인정교보』 10) which Yi edited almost all contents of the paper. It proves that Yi knew the product of researching on Korean ancient history in Shinmunkwan group and approved it. The researchers such as Choi Nam-seon(최남선) said that Koreans had glorious culture in ancient times, and spread it to Japan. Secondly, the Collection says the legislation about private school in Choseon made in 1914 was the way of oppressing nationalistic private school. This mention is interesting because "Visit to the middle Schools(중학교 방문기)" series in Youth(『청춘』) are kind of product for corresponding against this cruel oppression. Introducing nationalistic private schools or describing the class such as Korean or Korean history class taught by Korean teacher has important meaning because the government general of Choseon strictly forbid this kind of classes by making new laws and legislations. Thirdly, we can find the aspects of Yi's double writing in 1910s, which differentiate writing tones and opinions according to the anticipated readers and the characteristics of papers. Comparing the critical mention about the educational goal and contents in Collection and writings such as "To the every educators(「교육가 제씨에게」" or "The Comend on Choseon Students' education"(「조선인 교육에 대한 요구」) shows us this possibility of double writing strategy.

This article is based on the evaluation of the history of North Korean literature on Lee Kwang Soo literature that changed from 'bourgeois rebellion' to 'bourgeois enlightenment'. The purpose of this study is to analyze the difference of literary perception between South and North Korea on Lee Kwang Soo's 4 novels. The change in the evaluation of North Korean literature on Lee Kwang Soo literature is a barometer showing the literacy rigidity and flexibility of North Korean literature. Since the mid-1980s, the evaluation of Lee Kwang Soo literature has changed from the object of exclusion to the object of reinstatement. Since the liberation and division, the criticism of the artist, who was named "the author of bourgeois rebellion," is transformed into a "bourgeois enlightened writer". This shows that we are moving toward restoring objective fairness. In this article, I examined the differences of the two Koreas 'perceptions about the aesthetic characteristics of texts, focusing on North Korean literary historical evaluations of Lee Kwang-Soo's novels. Specifically, we examined the specificity of literary historical viewpoints in North Korea centered on texts such as Heartlessness, Pioneer, The wife of the revolutionary, The soil. In addition, the aesthetic evaluation in South Korea was discussed together. Therefore, it revealed the difference of the microscopic interpretation of Lee Kwang Soo literature works of North and South Korean literature. This work is to identify the difference of literary perception between the two Koreas on the same text. And it corresponds to the work of pre-semanticizing the methods and perspectives of text studying the literature of North and South Korea in the coming peace system on the Korean peninsula. The critical evaluation of the history of North Korean literature is based on the distinctive realism of "subjective reality". South Korean researchers use a variety of evaluation criteria ranging from literary sociological characteristics to popularity, style and aesthetics. When these two perspectives are included together, it is possible to analyze and evaluate stereotyped Lee Kwang Soo literature. The position of North Korean literature in Lee Kwang Soo's long-story novel sets the point of contact with the South Korean literature but still shows the difference of perspective and viewpoint. It is also a part of the reality of the divided system of the South and the North over 70 years. The positive evaluation of the Pioneer and the critical evaluation of The wife of the revolutionary and The soil show that the perception of North Korean literature is different from the multilayered evaluation in South Korean literature. However, it is confirmed that the difference of view between the two Koreas regarding Heartlessness is narrowed a lot. It is presumed that there was a problem that the reduction of the literary outgrowth which occurred while limiting the tradition of modern literature to the class literature within the North Korean literature led to the diminution of the literary tradition. As a result, North Korea's history of literature has been described in a positive direction that records the lessons of literary tradition objectively and fairly.

It is the key to understanding the character of Chunwon Lee Gwang-su and the essence of his whole literature to explain the two following points. And these two points are organically interrelated centering on the essence of Lee Gwang-su’s character and literature. The first is the exact motive and time after he eloped with Heo Young-suk to Beijing, and The second is the relation between his writing during the two-year Asylum in Shanghai and his writing before and after the asylum. This treatise focuses on explaining the former. The former is a matter that can be clarified through scrutinizing the impact of the changes of the international situation after the end of World War I on November 11 in 1918, on the direction and the organization of Korean independence movement as well as Lee Gwang-su’s individual problem who could not but make a life choice for the intermarriage with Heo Young-suk. Lee eloped with Heo to Beijing for the intermarriage but returned to his country and took part in the 2·8 independence movement in Japan and carried out the asylum in Shanghai judging that Korean independence movement came to stand at the crossroads with taking the opportunity of dispatching the representatives to Paris Peace Conference. The latter is to examine the change and the continuity of his writing with the hypothesis that the essence of Lee’s writing before, during and after the asylum is the argument of racial reconstruction. This matter will be dealt with in the next treatise.

The course of Chunwon stepping down from the teacher at Osan School and heading to Shanghai, Vladivostok, Myln, and Chita where overseas independence circles are gathered enabled to confirm companionship with patriots and they realized their roles and principle for their motherland and people. Chunwon eventually took a leading role in awakening the national consciousness through journalism aiming for national education and autonomous independence in these areas. He recognized the realistic limitations of the domination of the West over the East in Shanghai, while simultaneously discovered the possibility of the enthusiastic “Chinese identity” on “the desire of knowledge,” “the distribution of national education,” and “academic independence” on Chinese new knowledge. Starting with his visit to Sinhanchon in Vladisvostok, the pivotal center of overseas independence movement, he encouraged compatriots to be solid and patriotic with his plentiful writings that focus on enlightening the independence spirit and national consciousness in Gwonup Newspaper(勸業新聞) and Daehaninjeonggybo(大韓人正敎報) by the end of his return to Korea from January to August 1914. Cohabiting with Chujeong Leegap in Myln(穆陵), he respected and remembered him as a mentor through his entire life as an authentic patriot. Chunwon faced the frustrating reality that the motherland's lost sovereignty and the inevitable reliance on foreign forces particularly due to lack of cooperation and solidity and dared to prepare for the independence with his solemn will. In addition, he attempted to realize the necessity of compatriot education and fulfill his obligations for the national survival and national management, acting as a pioneer for enhancing the national spirit daring to take his own risk for the sake of the country's independence. As shown above, he left numerous writings that raise national awareness and further claim for autonomous independence regardless of literary genres for national education and enlightenment throughout his life since he started to working in journalism in Yeonhaeju during 1910s. His “patriotic writings” having read so far are inevitably national mental heritages to be regarded as golden rule(金科玉條) in our hearts.

This article analyzed the confinement places and exchanging poems between Heungseon Daewongun(Li Haeung; 興宣大院君, 李昰應) and Heo Yeong(許泳), who were detained in Tianjin(天津) and Baoding(保定) during the Im-O Military Rebellion(壬午軍亂). In 1882(19th year of King Gojong高宗's reign), Heungseon Daewongun came back to power as a result of Im-O Military Rebellion. The Qing government dispatched troops to Hanyang(漢陽) and kidnapped Heungseon Daewongun to force the tribute relation between Qing and Joseon. The Qing government took Heungseon Daewongun to Tianjin and later detained him in Baoding. Heo Yeong, who was a best friend of Heungseon Daewongun, went to Qing to assist Heungseon Daewongun. The confinement place of Tianjin was Beiyang navy Camp(Yingwuchu; 營務處), which is currently located in No.1~5, Chifeng dao(赤峰道), Xiaping Qu(下平區) in Tianjin City. The confinement place of Baoding was Qinghe public office(淸河道署), which is currently located in No.245, Yuhua lu(裕華路), Lianchi Qu(蓮池區) in Baoding City. Current Catholic Church of Baoding(保定市天主敎堂) is placed at the location of previous Qinghe public office. Heungseon Daewongun and Heo Yeong were virtually detained. Making poems and drawing pictures are the things they did most of the time during their confinement days. The contents of poems exchanged between Heungseon Daewongun and Heo Yeong dealt with hardships and sufferings related in their detainment. Heungsoen Daewongun used to complain about his poor destiny and Heo Yeong would encourage him with a hope for a better future.

Huh Young(1835-1889), Chosâ(his pen name), was a Seon-bi(scholar) who practiced research and loyalty all his life. He had established a particular friendship with Kuktaegông(regent Heungseon) while he was studying in Seoul, since then been together with him for nearly 30 years until he died. As a scholar, Chosâ especially expressed his attitude and spirit through Hanshî(Korean Traditional Poem). He had no greed for wealth or honor. Despite his friendship with the regent, he had never intended to take advantage of regent’s power or position for his own good. Chosâ had been loyal to Kuktaegông till the end by remaining a good friend through pure humane communication. He also showed his loyalty to the nation by assisting Kuktaegông. Outside, he was a scholar who shut himself off from ambition to success, honor and wealth, and one who was brave enough to stand up for loyalty and righteousness, and one who had no fear before law and principle. Inside, he was a poet and a writer with soft and abundant sensibility. He always longed for his country during his sojourn in China while assisting Kuktaegông, and his feelings were fully expressed in his poem. He never stopped trying to be hopeful in any hardships without being wavered, and to stay tranquil to worldly affairs. He always thought and behaved positively without being upset or resentment no matter how unfortunate the situation he found himself in. Since Chosâ was keenly aware of his duty as a scholar, he did not seek for honor but lived his means. The loyalty to his friend and to his nation, the nostalgia for his country, and the tranquility under difficult situation are the typical expressions of his Seon-bi spirit.

This paper reviews Hyun Jin-geon's novel in the view on oath. Hyun Jin-geon has used the oath continuously from the beginning of his work as the perspective to discover the hidden truths and the principle of setting characters or developing events. In his novel, the unethical situation in which the oath is not kept is divided into the decline and the decadence of the oath. And the decadence of the oath is divided into the false oath and the double oath. The decline of the oath serves as a function of presenting the crisis, and the decadence of the oath serves as an opportunity for the fall of an unethical character. He tried to find ways to overcome the crisis by presenting an example of ethical human beings who wanted to match the oath with oneself. Hyun Jin-geon explored the swearing man from the his early short stories, looked at the negative reality that made the oath impossible, and criticized the decline and decadence of the oath. He also gave the oath a new meaning of negation about old ideas. He designs an ethical human who will deny oppressive reality and save the corruptive oath in his novel 『The Equator』. He comprehensively searches for human beings who swear through Seok-ho, a character who swears, Myeong-hwa, who asks, Yeong-ae, who vouchs and Yeo-hae, who sacrifices. In particular, Yeo-hae is a character who is sensitive to the performativity of language. He changes to a subject who tries to match with the language he reads. This subject is an ethical human designed by Hyun Jin-geon.

Being excluded from Russian literature as a reactionary writer, Mikhail Artsybashev resurfaced brilliantly in Japan, China, and Korea in the 1920s. Artsybashev’s works were perceived in Japan as a new literature offering a strange coexistence with naturalism, and in China as political literature that inspired revolutionary passion. In Korea, Artsybashev’s works were first read as ‘literary’ and later as ‘political’, and this perception does not show the temporal order, but rather shows how Artsybashev was approached. In the case of Hyun Jin-Geon, the influence on him of Artsybashev is related to the technique of describing reality. Hyun ‘misunderstood’ Artsybashev as a naturalistic writer, and it is difficult to definitively conclude that the ‘miserable beauty’ Hyun thought of as Artsybashev's technique is in fact the preserve of Artsybashev. However, Hyun learned the technique of describing reality by translating and reading Artsybashev who was misunderstood as a naturalistic writer, and this perception appears to have been ‘literally’ reflected in Hyun’s works. In the case of Choi Seo-Hae, the influence of Artsybashev is related to the love. “Yongshinnan” resonates with Artsybashev’s Sanin in that it aims at ‘natural’ human beings without any interference and criticizes traditional sexuality. However, unlike Artsybashev who claimed the superiority of love over revolution, Choi depicts the regrettable defeat of love because he wanted to create a work that would contrast Artsybashev’s novel. In addition, Choi’s works show not only the influence of Artsybashev who criticized the system of marriage and argued for free love, but also the influence of Max Stirner who claimed to be free from all fixed-ideas. Yet, considering the fact that Artsybashev was a representative writer who incarnated Stirner’s ‘insurrection’, Choi may have referred to Artsybashev’s novel to transform Stirner’s idea into literary language. Choi’s “Maewol” embodies ‘insurrection’ by describing Maewol's actions against unjust sexual desires, while focusing on the pain of Park Saeng who does not attain love. “Sunrise” foregrounds a mother who forced her son to marry and, after seeing her son suffering from marriage without affection, regrets later. The mother changes from the incarnation of conventionality to the character of insurrection. Therefore, Choi’s characters suffer from delays or abandonment of love, which shows a hidden proposition. It is Artsybashev’s proposition that sexual passion is innate in humans and, therefore, must be pursued.

Based on the theory of Western Modernism, Choi Myung-ik and Shi Zhecun expressed the emotions of modern men in theirnovels with their own unique styles. Instead of torturing by some ideology, the male characters in thenovels of the two writers aimed to enrich their inner world and explore theirown subjects. Theydescribed the character’s features through three aspects. First, unlike classical literature,they focus on the male’s anxiety and narrate instead of describing the men whoare distressed and sighed because of the difficulty of being an official. Second, the male intellectuals inthe works of the two novelists observe the people around them with aself-wrapped perspective. They desireto communicate with them, but at the same time, they cannot break through theloneliness of self-isolation. Third, the modernity of ChoiMyung-ik and Shi Zhecun’s works is also reflected in the weakness of malecharacters in front of female in the psychological writing of male characters,thus completing the weakening of male characters. In their novels, the malecharacters are no longer sheltered from the patriarchal ethical norms of malecharacters and female characters. Male figures are as helpless as reeds in thewind. Therefore, this paper observes themodern psychological structure of male characters in the novel from theperspective of women and compares the characteristics of male characters fromthree aspects, the irrepressible sense of insecurity, the fractured sense of loneliness and the sense of powerlessness when encountering with women.

In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, Korea and China were forced into a historical turning point by the invasion of the Japanese Empire and Western powers. Foreign invasions and extortion have sent shockwaves through the two countries, but on the other hand, they have made indirect contributions to accelerating the modernization of both societies. Enlightenment literature began to emerge from the dual background of the shock of Western civilization and the exploitation of the country. At that time, The development of modern literature in the modern era was the first time that the young people had studied Western knowledge.It is mainly based on criticism of traditional culture and institutions, and the aim of promoting modern advanced culture is to criticize traditional culture and institutions.ChImonIsts are always standing on education and leading the people's position to create their own work.For them, women who have been tortured and persecuted under feudal systems are the main groups of concern.This means that the women's liberation banner, which they raise, can not be confused with feminism. Women are encouraged to free themselves from the feudal system and to allow women to accept equal education in order to promote the modernization of society. In particular, if you look at enlightened literature from the early 20th century, Lee Kwangsoo's Young Man's Grief and Luo Zarun's Love or Pain, which were published in late 1910, are some of the most representative short stories. Starting from this point in the school, we will look at the works of Lee Kwang-soo's Young Man's Grief and Luojarun's Love or Pain from the perspective of women's enlightenment. These two works, as enlightened novels, clearly demonstrated the tragic fate of male intellectuals, namely how feudal family systems destroy and suppress people's lives in the eyes of the author, and traditional women in them. In Young Man's Grief the author also showed a transitional female figure standing between feudal and modern features, and through these characters the writer showed an evolutionary attitude toward female enlightenment. And Love or Pain shaped the ideal fictional new woman figure of Wu Shu-ying, showing the author's bold and revolutionary attitude toward women's liberation.

In order to pursue a better life, people choose to migrate, migrate as a solution which has made a lot of contribution to human’s development. Therefore, the history of human development can also be regarded as the history of migration. In recent years, migration has been favored by many researchers with its new perspective, so the research results on migration are also increasing. Following this trend, the author discuss the process of resolving the conflict between the two main characters in the city's settlement process by comparing and analyzing the Korean drama <SKY Castle> which contains plots of migration, and the Chinese drama <Tiger Mother and Cat Dad> at the time of migration and settlement. Han Seo-jin and Bi Sheng-Nan, the main characters of dramas between Korea and China, both study hard to raise their status and move to the metropolitan area and settle down in the city with a good man from the provinces, but they are always in conflict to protect what they have worked so hard on, Also, they get into conflict by placing excessive academic burdens on their children to reflect on their accomplishments, and eventually finding out that their greed makes their children hard and sick, they compromise on reality, reflect on their behavior and reflect on their behavior for a comfortable tune. By comparing and analyzing dramas from the perspective of migration between Korea and China, explore the author's creative intentions and cultural world and explore the universality of East Asian culture with the modern meaning that the author intends to convey through the work.