Kim Chae-guk ( ko, 김재국), also known as Jae Kuk Kim, was a late 19th-century Korean writer and teacher.
According to the British diplomat
William George Aston
William George Aston (9 April 1841 – 22 November 1911) was an Anglo-Irish diplomat, author and scholar-expert in the language and history of Japan and Korea.
Early life
Aston was born near Derry, Ireland.Ricorso Aston, bio notes/ref> He dis ...
Kim Chae-guk was already his Korean teacher during the period the British Embassy was briefly located in Jong Dong in 1885.
Kunstkamera preservation
After being forced to leave Korea, Aston continued Korean language studies with Kim in Tokyo in 1885–1887.
In his role as a teacher, Kim composed a number of stories for Aston to use as practice.
[Kornicki, Peter]
"Aston Cambridge and Korea,"
Cambridge University, Department of East Asian Studies, 2008. Many years later, Aston donated these manuscript versions of Korean folk tales to the
Asiatic Museum
The Asiatic Museum (Азиатский музей) in Saint Petersburg was one of the first museums of Asian art in Europe. Its existence spanned 112 years from 1818 to 1930 when it was incorporated into the Institute of Oriental Manuscripts of the ...
(
Kunstkamera
The Kunstkamera (russian: Кунсткамера) or Kunstkammer (German for "Culture Room" (literally) or "Art Chamber", typically used for a " cabinet of curiosities") is a public museum located on the Universitetskaya Embankment in Saint Pete ...
) in
Saint Petersburg
Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...
.
At some time before the
Russian Revolution
The Russian Revolution was a period of Political revolution (Trotskyism), political and social revolution that took place in the former Russian Empire which began during the First World War. This period saw Russia abolish its monarchy and ad ...
, a number of Aston's Korean books and manuscripts, including work by Kim, were added to the museum's collection of Korean material. This part of Aston's personal collection is now preserved in the
Academy of Sciences
An academy of sciences is a type of learned society or academy (as special scientific institution) dedicated to sciences that may or may not be state funded. Some state funded academies are tuned into national or royal (in case of the Unite ...
in Saint Petersburg. The remainder of Aston's substantial collection of Japanese, Chinese and Korean books was acquired by
Cambridge University Library
Cambridge University Library is the main research library of the University of Cambridge. It is the largest of the over 100 libraries within the university. The Library is a major scholarly resource for the members of the University of Cambri ...
after his death.
Corean Tales
Kim's collection of ''Corean Tales'' (Russian Ким Чегук ''Корейские новеллы'' 2004) contains 60 short stories.
The posthumously published work has one edition published in Russian. The book is held by four libraries worldwide.
WorldCat Identities
김재국
/ref>
Notes
Korean writers
19th-century Korean writers
{{Korea-writer-stub