Kim Il-yeop or Kim Iryŏp, (; 28 April 1896 – 28 May 1971) was a

Korean Korean may refer to: People and culture * Koreans, ethnic group originating in the Korean Peninsula * Korean cuisine * Korean culture * Korean language **Korean alphabet, known as Hangul or Chosŏn'gŭl **Korean dialects and the Jeju language ** ...

writer, journalist, feminist activist, and

Buddhist nun Buddhism ( , ), also known as Buddha Dharma and Dharmavinaya (), is an Indian religion or philosophical tradition based on teachings attributed to the Buddha. It originated in northern India as a -movement in the 5th century BCE, and gra ...

. Her given name was Kim Wonju (). Her

courtesy Courtesy (from the word ''courteis'', from the 12th century) is gentle politeness and courtly manners. In the Middle Ages in Europe, the behaviour expected of the nobility was compiled in courtesy books. History The apex of European courtly cul ...

and

dharma name A Dharma name or Dhamma name is a new name acquired during both lay and monastic Buddhist initiation rituals in Mahayana Buddhism and monastic ordination in Theravada Buddhism (where it is more proper to call it Dhamma or Sangha name). The nam ...

was Iryeop ().Buddhist nun Iryŏp (Il-yeop)
/ref>

Life

Kim Iryeop was born to a Methodist pastor and his wife in a northern part of the

Korean Empire The Korean Empire () was a Korean monarchical state proclaimed in October 1897 by Emperor Gojong of the Joseon dynasty. The empire stood until Japan's annexation of Korea in August 1910. During the Korean Empire, Emperor Gojong oversaw the Gwa ...

and became a modern literary,

Buddhist Buddhism ( , ), also known as Buddha Dharma and Dharmavinaya (), is an Indian religion or philosophical tradition based on teachings attributed to the Buddha. It originated in northern India as a -movement in the 5th century BCE, and ...

and

feminist Feminism is a range of socio-political movements and ideologies that aim to define and establish the political, economic, personal, and social equality of the sexes. Feminism incorporates the position that society prioritizes the male po ...

thinker and

activist Activism (or Advocacy) consists of efforts to promote, impede, direct or intervene in social, political, economic or environmental reform with the desire to make changes in society toward a perceived greater good. Forms of activism range fro ...

. Having completed her primary education after the death of her parents, she moved to

Seoul Seoul (; ; ), officially known as the Seoul Special City, is the capital and largest metropolis of South Korea.Before 1972, Seoul was the ''de jure'' capital of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea) as stated iArticle 103 ...

to attend Ehwa Hakdang (1913-1915), which later became

Ewha Girls' High School Ewha Girls' High School ( ko, 이화여자고등학교) is a private girls high school located in Jeong-dong, Jung-gu, Seoul, South Korea. Although managed by the same foundation, it is not to be confused with the coeducational Ewha Womans Unive ...

. In 1915 she moved on to Ewha Hakdang (now

Ewha Womans University Ewha Womans University () is a private women's university in Seoul founded in 1886 by Mary F. Scranton under Emperor Gojong. It was the first university founded in South Korea. Currently, Ewha is one of the world's largest female educational ins ...

). She completed her education at Ewha in 1918 and married a professor of Yeonheui Junior College. In 1919, Iryeop went to

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

to continue her studies and returned to Korea in 1920. Upon returning, she launched a journal, ''New Woman'' (), which is credited to be the first women's journal in Korea that was published by women for the promotion of women's issues. Iryeop influenced the Korean literary society of her time by writing about activities that reflected trends in the women's liberation movement and this was her impetus for her founding ''New Woman''. Over the years, a great number of her critical essays, poems and short novels about women's liberation struggling against the oppressive traditions of the period of

Korea under Japanese rule Between 1910 and 1945, Korea was ruled as a part of the Empire of Japan. Joseon Korea had come into the Japanese sphere of influence with the Japan–Korea Treaty of 1876; a complex coalition of the Meiji government, military, and business offic ...

were published in such Korean-language daily newspapers as ''

The Dong-a Ilbo The ''Dong-A Ilbo'' (, literally ''East Asia Daily'') is a newspaper of record in Korea since 1920 with a daily circulation of more than 1.2 million and opinion leaders as its main readers. ''The Dong-A Ilbo'' is the parent company of Dong-A M ...

'' and ''

The Chosun Ilbo ''The Chosun Ilbo'' (, ) is a daily newspaper in South Korea and the oldest daily newspaper in the country. With a daily circulation of more than 1,800,000, the ''Chosun Ilbo'' has been audited annually since the Audit Bureau of Circulations w ...

'', as well as in literary magazines including ''Kaebyeok'' and ''Chosun Mundan'' (Korea Literary World). Iryeop ordained as a

in 1933 and moved into

Sudeoksa Sudeoksa is a head temple of the Jogye Order of Korean Buddhism. It is located on the southern slopes of Deoksungsan in Deoksan-myeon, Yesan County, South Chungcheong Province, South Korea. Sudeoksa was one of very few temples not destroyed durin ...

in 1935, where she lived until she died.

Works

Books

* ''Reflections of a Zen Buddhist Nun'' (어느 수도인의 회상, 1960) * ''Having Burned Away My Youth'' (청춘을 불사르고, 1962) * ''In Between Happiness and Misfortune'' (행복과 불행의 갈피에서)

Novels

* 《Revelation(啓示)》(계시, 1920) * 《I go: An agape and a sob story》(나는 가오: 애연애화, 1920) * 《A girl's death》(어느 소녀의 사, 1920) * 《Hye-Won》(혜원, 1921) * 《Death of Chaste love》(순애의 죽음, 1926) * 《Self-awareness》(자각, 1926) * 《Love》(사랑, 1926) * 《Dress-up》(단장, 1927)

Essays

* 《Let youth last forever》(청춘을 영원하게, 1977) * 《When the flowers fall, My eyes get cold》(꽃이 지면 눈이 시려라, 1985) * 《Left behind attachment》(두고간 정, 1990) * 《What have you become to me》(당신은 나에게 무엇이 되었삽기에, 1997)

English translation

Jin Y. Park, trans.
Reflections of a Zen Buddhist Nun: Essays by Zen Master Kim Iryop
' (Honolulu, HI: University of Hawaii Press, 2014).

References

Sources

*Jin Y. Park,
Gendered Response to Modernity: Kim Iryeop and Buddhism.
Korea Journal, Spring 2005. *Jin Y. Park,
''Women and Buddhist philosophy: Engaging Zen master Kim Iryŏp.''
Honolulu: University of Hawaiʻi Press, 2017.

External links

Revisiting the women who changed Korea with their pens

Buddhist nun Il-yeop - at ''The Korea Times''

* ttp://100.daum.net/encyclopedia/view.do?docid=b03g1874a Kim Il-yeop
Kim Il-yeop:Navercast
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kim, Il-yeop 1896 births 1971 deaths Korean scholars of Buddhism Korean Buddhist nuns Korean writers Korean women poets Korean educators Korean scholars Korean revolutionaries 20th-century Korean women Free love advocates Korean journalists South Korean feminists Free sex activists Korean independence activists 20th-century Korean poets 20th-century women writers 20th-century Buddhist nuns 20th-century journalists