Chunwon and Autobiography of the Stone Pillow Period

SHIN, YONG-CHUL

From March 1944 to September 1948, Chunwon Kwangsoo Lee spent his later years farming in Gyunggi-do Yangjoo-goon Jingun-myun (currently known as Namyangju-shi Jingun-eup) Sareung-li. This paper examines the life and literature of Yi, who lived like a wayfarer. The period of interest in this paper includes three phases with major changes: the last stage of Japanese occupation when the defeat of Japanese had become certain, three years after the independence (August 15, 1945~August 15, 1948), and establishment of the government of the Republic of Korea. Soon after this period, the Korean War broke out, and Chunwon was abducted to North Korea. Thus, this period in 1940s is an important time in his life. Chunwon bought a piece of land and cows to take up farming with Park Jeong-ho, a young man who was fond of Chunwon, so that he could keep away from the worldly cares. Here he celebrated the liberation of the nation with three children. However, he was in agony as well as in joy, because of the remorse for cooperating with the Japanese government for the past few years. He decided to live a quiet life and focus on reading and observe the world, free from all ideas. During this period, he used a rock he picked up from a stream as a pillow. On the stone pillow, he would think about Jacob from the Old Testament and hear a sigh from a tired cow. He considered the fate of cows as his, which symbolizes the remorse for his past activities. In September 1946, he was invited to join Kwang Dong Middle school, established in Bongsun-sa Temple, as a Korean and English teacher. The principal of the school, Un-Heur, who is also a Buddhist monk and Chunwon’s third cousin, organized the appointment for Chunwon. Working as a teacher in the school would not only mean getting a job but also joining the Buddhist monastery and practicing asceticism, while shunning the world. He came back to Sareung in 1947 and wrote a biography of Dosan An Changho, an independence fighter he respected. In 1948, he wrote an essay, the stone Pillow. In addition, he authored a short story, Dream, based on a story of Jo Shin in the History of Three Korean Kingdoms. Dream was received well by the readers. Chunwon moved back to his house in Seoul in September 1948, due to ill health. In Sareung, Chunwon realized his dream of living a quiet and peaceful rural life, which he was not able to do in his hometown. There, he slept on a rock pillow, agonizing over his past, and listened to a cow’s sigh. It was the time for self-reflection and rumination. His life in Seoul afterwards faded out, like a “dead bird” buried in the woods in Gwang Reung. His ill health, arrest by the Special Investigation Committee for Anti-National Activities, and the war took everything away from him.

Citation status

KCI Citation Counts (3)
열림/닫힘 버튼
REFERENCES (29)
열림/닫힘 버튼
* 2021년 이후 발행 논문의 참고문헌은 현재 구축 중입니다.

[other] 이광수 / 1945 / 소개기 / 매일신보, 1945.7.1.~1945.7.6

[book] 이광수 / 1979 / 이광수전집 / 우신사

[book] Yi Kwang-su / 2014 / Kashil & Best Essays by Yi Kwang-su / Archway

[book] Yi Kwang-su / 2016 / The Best Short stories of Yi Kwang-su / Dorrance

[other] 광동 중 / 1991 / 산림고등학교 / 광동, 제2호, 1970, 제5호 1991

[other] 광동학원 / 2007 / 광동60년사

[book] 김윤식 / 1986 / 이광수와 그의 시대 / 한길사

[book] 김현 / 1985 / 이광수 / 문학과 지성사

[other] 남양주문화원 / 2000 / 우리 고장 남양주

[other] 남양주시사편찬위원회 / 2000 / 남양주시사, 1, 역사

[other] 민경조 / 2005 / 춘원 이광수와 남양주 사릉 / 남양주문화원

[book] 신용철 / 2002 / 운허 스님의 크신 발자취 / 동국역경원

[book] 신용철 / 2013 / 운허 스님의 큰 길 교육에서 빛나는 발자취 / 도서출판 밝은 빛

[book] 월운 / 1989 / 운허선사어문집 / 동국역경원

[book] 월운 / 1993 / 제 25교구 본사 봉선사 / 불천

[book] 이정화 / 1955 / 그리운 아버님 춘원 / 우신사

[book] 이지 / 1972 / 초담집(初潭集) / 중화서국

[book] 하나노 세츠코 / 2016 / 이광수 일본을 만나다 / 푸른역사

[journal] 김용직 / 2008 / 춘원 이광수와 민족의식 / 춘원연구학보 (1) : 123~157

[journal] 김용직 / 2010 / 춘원과 봉선사 / 춘원연구학회 뉴스레터 (6) : 9~15

[book] 송민호 / 1993 / 춘원과 그 주변,안암의 언덕에서 / 국학자료원 : 261~324

[journal] 신용철 / 2013 / 남양주시의 사릉과 ,이광수의 단종애사 / 경기인 (140) : 100~105

[journal] 신용철 / 2007 / 돌베개시기 춘원 이광수의 발자취 / 문예비전 (46) : 20~45

[journal] 신용철 / 2009 / 춘원 이광수와 운허 스님 / 춘원연구학보 (2) : 165~226

[journal] 신용철 / 춘원과 왕숙천변의 돌베개시기 / 경기인 (141) : 110~115

[other] 유민호 / 2014 / 아버지는 자신이 나서지 않으면 남들이 해를 입을 것이라 믿어 / 월간중앙, 2014.12 : 244~251

[journal] 이완주 / 1992 / 내가 모셨던 운허 스님 / 운허선사어문집 : 414~420

[journal] 이완주 / 1991 / 모교에 돌아와서 / 광동 (5) : 8~10

[journal] 임옥인 / 1970 / 그 맑은 물속을 / 광동 (창간) : 12~13

KJC Korea
Journal Central

Statistics

Tools

Sharing

Issue List

Citation status