Korean literature
The most representative akchang is Yongbi och'on ka (1445–47; Songs of Flying Dragons), a cycle compiled in praise of the founding of the Yi dynasty.
As hangul was created, akjang was developed as a way to note musical scores using the Korean script.
[citation needed] The most important myths are those concerning the Sun and the Moon, the founding of Korea by Tangun, and the lives of the ancient kings.
The folktales include stories about animals; ogres, goblins, and other supernatural beings; kindness rewarded and evil punished; and cleverness and stupidity.
The compilations made in the Koryo period preserved the stories of prehistoric times, of the Three Kingdoms, and of the Silla dynasty and have remained the basic sources for such material.
The literary miscellany consists of random jottings by the yangban on four broad topics: history, biography, autobiography, and poetic criticism.
Like fiction, these jottings were considered to be outside of the realm of officially sanctioned Chinese prose (e.g., memorials, eulogies, and records), but they provided the yangban with an outlet for personal expression.
Thus, their portrayal of the customs, manners, and spirit of the times in which they were composed make these writings an essential part of Korean prose.
Although based on older traditional songs, it was composed in its present form in the 1870s by the pansori writer, and characterized by human stereotypes of ordinary people of the time.
In spite of the highly developed literary activity from early in Korean history, song lyrics were not recorded until the invention of Hangul (han'gul).
These orally transmitted texts are categorized as ballads and are classified according to singer (male or female), subject matter (prayer, labour, leisure), and regional singing style (capital area, western, and southern).
The songs of many living performers, some of whom have been designated as "intangible national treasures" by the South Korean government, are still being recorded.
They deal with personified animals, elaborate tricks, the participation of the gods in human affairs, and the origin of the universe.
An example of a folktale orally passed is the Gyeonmyo jaengju which is about a journey a cat and a dog take to retrieve a lost marble out of gratitude toward their master.
The characters—Pak Ch'omji, governor of P'yongam, Kkoktukaksi, Buddhist monk, and Hong Tongji—dance and sing, enacting familiar tales that expose the malfeasance of the ruling classes.
(see also puppetry) The final type of folk literature is found in the texts of p'ansori of the Yi dynasty.
These texts were first recorded in the 19th century as verse, but the written forms were later expanded into p'ansori fiction, widely read among the common people.
This compilation was the first piece of Korean text to depart from a long history reliant on Chinese characters and be recorded in Hangul, the first and official alphabet of Korea.
There are several underlying themes in addition to the establishment of the Joseon dynasty which are of significant importance to understanding the events that provoked the creation of these poems: linear events that took place in China, the apotheosis of virtuous kings proceeding the fall of the Goryeo dynasty, and Confucian political and philosophical ideologies of the era in rejection to Buddhism.
Each of the poems included in the work convey deep-seated feelings of nationalism and a proud proclamation of cultural independence from the Mongol Empire.
This period was to a large extent influenced by the 1894 Gabo Reforms which introduced Western-style schools and newspapers emerged.
Sinchesi abandoned the fixed metaphor found in classical Korean poetry, influenced by the French vers libre.
[2] The first printed work of fiction in Korean was John Bunyan's Pilgrim's Progress (천로역정; Cheonno-yeokjeong), translated by James Scarth Gale (1893).
Christian religion found its way into Korea, culminating in the first complete edition of the Bible in Korean published in 1910.
Modern literature is often linked with the development of hangul, which helped increase working class literacy rates.
The magazine was followed in 1920 by GaeByeok (개벽), and Pyeho (폐허 廢墟 The Ruins, Hwang Song-u and Yom Sang-sop); in 1921 Changmichon (장미촌); in 1922 Baekcho (백조 White Tide, Yi Sang-hwa and Hyon Chin-gon); and in 1923 Geumsong (금성 Gold Star, of Yi Chang-hui and Yang Chu-dong).
The literary magazines which appeared during the 1920s and 1930s laid the basis for the future development of modern Korean literature.
Almost all of these magazines were ordered to discontinue publication in the 1940s as the Japanese tightened their grip with the spread of their aggressive war to the Pacific and all of Southeast Asia.
Poets included: Han Yong-un, Buddhist reformer and poet: Nimui chimmuk (The Silence of My Beloved, 1925), Chang Man-yong, Chu Yo-han, Hwang Sok-woo (황석우), Kim Myeong-sun, Kim Sowol, Kim Yeong-nang, Pak Tu-jin, Yi Sang, Yi Sang-hwa (이상화; 李相和), Yu Chi-hwan, Yun Dong-ju, and Yi Yuk-sa (이육사, 李陸史; 1904–1944) tortured to death by the Japanese military police.
In the post-war period, a traditionalist movement emerged: going back to the roots of traditional rhythms and folk sentiments.
