Yun Sŏndo (; 1587–1671) was a

Korea Korea is a peninsular region in East Asia consisting of the Korean Peninsula, Jeju Island, and smaller islands. Since the end of World War II in 1945, it has been politically Division of Korea, divided at or near the 38th parallel north, 3 ...

n philosopher, poet, and politician. A

Neo-Confucian Neo-Confucianism (, often shortened to ''lǐxué'' 理學, literally "School of Principle") is a Morality, moral, Ethics, ethical, and metaphysics, metaphysical Chinese philosophy influenced by Confucianism, which originated with Han Yu (768� ...

scholar, he was also known by his

art name An art name (pseudonym or pen name), also known by its native names ''hào'' (in Mandarin Chinese), ''gō'' (in Japanese), ' (in Korean), and ''tên hiệu'' (in Vietnamese), is a professional name used by artists, poets and writers in the Sinosp ...

s Kosan and Haeong.

Life

He was born in

Seoul Seoul, officially Seoul Special Metropolitan City, is the capital city, capital and largest city of South Korea. The broader Seoul Metropolitan Area, encompassing Seoul, Gyeonggi Province and Incheon, emerged as the world's List of cities b ...

Joseon Joseon ( ; ; also romanized as ''Chosun''), officially Great Joseon (), was a dynastic kingdom of Korea that existed for 505 years. It was founded by Taejo of Joseon in July 1392 and replaced by the Korean Empire in October 1897. The kingdom w ...

. He achieved early success as a government official, but his straightforward character made enemies at court and he was banished for imprudent criticism of those in power. Thirteen years later he returned to become tutor to the royal princes but was later banished again. He spent most of his 85 years in his rustic country home, contemplating the nature of life, teaching and writing poetry. Yun is considered the greatest master of the

sijo ''Sijo'' (, ) is a Korean traditional poetic form that emerged during the Goryeo dynasty, flourished during the Joseon dynasty, and is still written today. Bucolic, metaphysical, and cosmological themes are often explored. The three lines ave ...

form in

Korean literature Korean literature is the body of literature produced by Koreans, mostly in the Korean language and sometimes in Classical Chinese. For much of Korea's 1,500 years of literary history, it was written in Hanja. It is commonly divided into classi ...

. His most famous composition is ''The Fisherman's Calendar'' (어부사시사, 1651) a cycle of forty seasonal

. In both

Chinese Chinese may refer to: * Something related to China * Chinese people, people identified with China, through nationality, citizenship, and/or ethnicity **Han Chinese, East Asian ethnic group native to China. **'' Zhonghua minzu'', the supra-ethnic ...

and Korean classical poetry, the fisherman symbolized a wise man who lives simply and naturally. In art, the fisherman appeared almost invariably in one of the most common genres of

Asia Asia ( , ) is the largest continent in the world by both land area and population. It covers an area of more than 44 million square kilometres, about 30% of Earth's total land area and 8% of Earth's total surface area. The continent, which ...

n water colors: sets of four paintings, one for each

season A season is a division of the year based on changes in weather, ecology, and the number of daylight hours in a given region. On Earth, seasons are the result of the axial parallelism of Earth's axial tilt, tilted orbit around the Sun. In temperat ...

of the year. Yun Sŏndo wove both traditions into ''The Fisherman's Calendar''. It is the longest and most ambitious sijo cycle attempted during the classical period of his life. Some lines are given below from a translation of the Autumn section by Gross.

A fisherman's life is idyllic, away from cares of the world... Do not mock the old fisherman, you'll see him in every painting. I look back on the world of men, the farther off the better.

And from ''Five Friends''.

Moon, you watch but keep silent; isn't that what a good friend does?

Works

* Gosan seonsaeng yugo () * Byeoljip () * Yakhwaje () * Cheobangjeonseonchangyak () * Hoechungyak () * Haesuyak () * Bokhaksinbang () * Uyeoksinbang () * Oseonjubang ()

References

External links

The Fisherman's Calendar

General information about ''Yun Seondo''
from Haenam Culture & Tourism
Brief information about ''Yun Seondo'' and sightseeing around ''Haenam-si''
from Haenam Culture & Tourism
Goshan Yun Seondo's memorial museum
{{DEFAULTSORT:Yun, Sŏndo 1587 births 1671 deaths 17th-century Korean philosophers 17th-century Korean poets Joseon scholar-officials Korean male poets Politicians from Seoul

Life

Works

See also

References

External links