Advanced Science and Technology Letters
Vol.115 (Education 2015), pp.169-173
http://dx.doi.org/10.14257/astl.2015.115.34
Taoist Imagination within Modern Korean Poetry
JuCheol Shin
Dept. of Korean Education, Hankuk University of Foreign Studies
108 Imunro, Dongdaemun-Gu, Seoul 02-450, KOREA
[email protected]
Abstract. Taoism have had extensive impact through classics to modern and
contemporary Korean literature. It is easy to find the works of literature that
reflect the view of the world or the image of Taoism. The first discussions are
consist of reviewing the poems that were based on the notion of “being the
one”(無爲自然) as a principle of life, taking examples of the work of Bak Seok
and Park Mokwol to advance the discussion. The second discussions are
centered around the poets of Jeong Jiyong and Park Jechun to see the works of
literature that reflect the notion of “being the one”(物我一體) as a principle of
convergence. Taoism in modern poetry of Korea is still considering as one of
the key principles of their life.
Keywords: Korean literature, Taoism, principle of life, principle of
convergence, imagination
1
Preface
This paper discusses Taoism reflected in modern poetry of Korea. 1 Along with
Confucianism, Taoism has formed the basis for livelihood and thoughts of China and
its neighboring countries over the past 2,000 years. Different from Confucianism,
which is quite practical, Taoism has as its distinctive feature a mysterious and
metaphysical theory about the real world. The philosophy of Lao tzu and Chung tzu,
the founders of Taoism, was well reflected in their writing of 『Tao-te-Ching』 2 and
『Zhuangzi』 with the former preaching on social and political reform. 『Zhuangzi』
focused on preserving individual livelihood and nature and paid attention to free and
easy wandering. The key of Taoism is the alignment of human beings and the nature;
in other words, interaction of humans and the universe, cyclical nature of time and
rhythm of the universe.
Taoism was first introduced in Korea in 624 during the Ancient Kingdom of
Koguryo, when Emperor Gaozu of Tang dispatched delegation to send the Statue of
1
Taoism and Taoist religion are often confused or considered as the same things but in this
report, Taoism indicates a philosophy led by ‘Tao-te-Ching’ or ‘Zhungzi’ and Taoist religion
indicates a traditional religion of China and the discussion in this report is based on the
perspectives of Taoism.
2
Lao-tzu was considered to be written by multiple authors around 3rd century BC.
ISSN: 2287-1233 ASTL
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Advanced Science and Technology Letters
Vol.115 (Education 2015)
Heavenly Existence and preach 〈Tao-te-Ching〉 to Koguryo. Since then, Taoism has
spread widely in Korea as a religion as it was understood as a religion similar to Zen.
But Taoism did not form religious groups as Buddhism or modern Christianity did
and was just reflected as a part of traditional religions and expressed in works of
literature. Taoistic imagination has often been expressed as a symbol or allegory. For
example, Tao being flexible like water and giving life to others is considered as
source of life and mother of everything. This viewpoint and attitude toward life is
expressed in modern Korean poetry, and this paper is aimed to shed light on how it
was expressed and what the meaning of it was.
2
Nature of inactivity, as source of life
One of the key rules of Taoism is the nature of inactivity. Inactivity means ‘doing the
way of nature’ without forcing or doing activity. The nature of inactivity means living
one's own way and doing nothing forcefully and indicates a humble life of living by
the rule of nature just as children do. Bak Seok, a Korean poet who moved to
Manchuria during the last period of Japan’s occupation of Korea wrote a poem as
follows.
Putting the seed of a watermelon or pumpkin into mouth,
Being lazy, idle and childish
But this again is the feeling of being bright, quite and deeply profound
In this mind, full of wisdom from ancient times lies long lasting compassion
Through the mind you see cloud of huge mountain and water of the Yellow River
-Parts of 「Watermelon seed, pumpkin seed」
It is common for Chinese to crack open and eat seeds of water melon and pumpkin.
Some might think it does not make sense to make all that effort to open so many tiny
seeds. To Bak Seok, it also looked ‘lazy and childish.’ But the poet considered the act
as ‘full of wisdom from the ancient times laying long lasting compassion’ and thus
read it as ‘a mind of bight, quite and deeply profound.’ He even learned the way of
referent own in trivial activities and the minds of the Chinese people in their daily
lives. He even joined them by ‘learning their mindset’ and he himself ‘cracked open
the cleaned watermelon and pumpkin seeds with front teeth.’ 3
As seen in the above, the poet Bak Seok depicted the people he met in Manchuria
as reaching up to the level of Taoism in modest and humble way of life and realized
the traditional thoughts of Lao-tzu and Chuang-tzu. The poet did not assess or
evaluate the people with knowledge. Rather, he sought the ‘mind’ as source of life
that was ‘unseeable as it is so quiet. According to the thoughts of Lao-tzu and
Chuang-tzu, a person who learns Tao and lives a humble and free life is considered to
be an ideal human being. From this point of view, the ‘childish, lazy and idle mind’ is
3
Shin Jucheol, Values Perused in Poems Written by Bak Seok during His Stay in Manchuria,
International Language & Literature 45th Edition, International Association of Language and
Literature, 2009, p.269.
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Advanced Science and Technology Letters
Vol.115 (Education 2015)
actually bright, quiet and deeply profound mind.‘ ’Laze and idle’ mind becomes ‘long
lasting and deeply profound mind. 4
In Taoism, attitude towards and treatment of others matter much. Getting rid of any
self-centered bias or desire, Taoism values the attitude of understanding the key point
or the other’s mind from the other’s perspectives as it is the short cut to get to the core
nature. Lao-tzu said “Empty the mind to the extreme and stick to the absolute
cleanness. Around the time everything is created, I observe the endless circulation
from there.” 5 And here, it indicates the status of ‘emptiness (虛’) and ‘stillness(靜)’.
Being pure itself with no personal intervention at all can only be achieved by
complete observation. And this is the only way to get to the secretive inner nature of
things by getting to the essence of it.
So far, this paper has reviewed how the ‘nature of inactivity’ is reflected in modern
poetry of Korea. The nature of inactivity in Taoism means following the way of
referent own to develop referent own nature and living a humble and free life rather
than doing nothing. The poet quoted above also showed this attitude towards life.
3
Assimilation of All Things as a Principle of Convergence
Taoism is monistic as it is against separating subjectivity and objectivity and does not
pursue otherness. Chuang-tzu’s thought of ‘Oneness of Heaven and Earth’ and ‘Being
the One’ all means ‘All the things in the universe become the one.’ Chuang-tzu said,
“There is where great virtue is generated and where the highest rule is formed,
everything is originated from the one.” 6 And “All things are the same when being
seen in the same view.” 7 So, “following the way of life and not being bound by other
things.” 8 is the way to overcome differences between myself and the otherness or
other things and get to the higher tier by being converged into the nature. In this sense,
poets who depict the process of becoming the one between myself and the nature and
ultimately pursuing the convergence with all things in the universe are the ones
inspired by Taoism. Among modern Korean poetry, we take a look here at the work
of Jeong Jiyong.
Open the door and comes!
The remote mountain right up to my forehead
Entering rainy season
Early morning
4
Kim Younghee, Bak Seok’s Experience in Northern land and Taoistic Imagination, Theory
and Critics of Korean Literature 33th Volume, Association of Korean Literature Theory and
Critics, 2006, pp.227-228.
5
致虛極 守靜篤 萬物竝作 吾以觀復 -Tai-the-Ching, Chapter 16.
6
聖有所生 王有所成 皆原于一 –Zhuangzi ‘Other Writing-Heaven and Earth.’
7
自其同者視之 萬物皆一也 -Zhuangzi ‘Inner Chapters-德充符.’
8
應于化而解于物也 -Zhuangzi ‘Other Writing-Heaven and Earth.’
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Looking at the snow-covered mountain root
Meeting with cool and glowing forehead
With ice cracking and new wing blowing
Fresh fragrance comes from white cloth strings
The life that rises from the ground
Feels unfamiliar just like a dream
Green sprout grows up
Fish begin to wriggle
With unexpected snow comes right before flower blooming season
I wish to take off light clothes and feel the coldness again.
-Jeong Jiyong, 「Spring snow」
This poem integrates all different images of the human, the nature, winter and
spring, snow and flower, mountain foot and forehead, ice and wind into the power of
life in spring season. In early spring morning, hoping to end the long winter, the
poetic narrator opens the door and sees the mountain covered with snow that fell over
night. “Open the door and comes!/ The remote mountain right up to my forehead”
shows how the narrator himself was surprised. Feeling the coldness with his forehead,
the narrator is not separated from ‘snow-covered mountain’ even if they stood apart.
Rather, they were becoming the one with no separation between myself and otherness.
From the surface, the poem might look like describing the last cold snap in early
spring time; however, “the ice cracking and new wind blowing” and “the life that
rises from the ground” indicate that the poet is singing about the generation of spring.
Spring snow is the medium to show the changes from cold winter to new spring. In
the 『Book of Changes』, one of the oldest and most popular philosophical texts in
China that has been exerting tremendous influence on the neighboring nations, there
lies the following sentence.
One Yin and one Yang, that is Tao. 9
The end of one is the start of another and that is done by the sky. 10
Tao is the principle of creation and changes so when Yin comes one time, Yang
comes next time. When this principle is amplified, it is understood that every new
beginning comes from the end of some other beginning. Lao-tzu said “Chi comes
from Tao, the absolute essence, and Chi is separated into Yin and Yang. The
harmonious combination of Yin and Yang creates an integrated being and everything
comes from this integrated being.” 11 Tao is the source of everything. 12 Tao creates
9
一陰一陽之謂道 -The book of changes ‘繫辭 上 ․ 五’.
終則有始天行也 -The book of changes ‘蠱’.
11
道生一 一生二 二生三 三生萬物 -Tao-te-Ching, Chapter 2.
12
Lao-tze also said “Tao breeds everything but owns nothings and does not show off when
everything is done by itself. Tao just lets things grow and does not govern them.” indicating
10
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Advanced Science and Technology Letters
Vol.115 (Education 2015)
all things in the world and exists in everything as selfness. Considering these aspects
of Taoism, the contradictory sentence, “With unexpected snow comes right before
flower blooming season/ I wish to take off light clothes and feel the coldness again”,
has significant symbolic meaning in that spring snow is not just snow but the medium
to let humans (forehead) meet with the nature (mountain root); and this was
welcoming the coming spring. In this sense, 「Spring Snow」 symbolizes the self and
the nature becoming the one and the convergence of humans and all things in the
universe.
4
Conclusion
So far, this paper has reviewed how Taoism is reflected in modern poetry of Korea
and what it stands for. Since Taoism was first introduced in Korea around the 7th
century, it has been widespread among the public and had profound impact on the
philosophical basis of Koreans. Thus, it is easy to find the works of literature that
reflect the view of the world or the image of Taoism from classics to modern
literature.
The second chapter of this paper reviewed the poems that were based on the notion
of “being the one” as a principle of life, taking examples of the work of Bak Seok.
Bak Seok depicted the life of the Chinese people who lived a plain and humble life
with no artificial.
In chapter 3, the discussion is centered around the poets of Jeong Jiyong to see the
works of literature that reflect the notion of “being the one” as a principle of
convergence. Jeong Jiyong showed the principle of the universe and the nature that
continues the cycle of creation, extinction and changes.
These discussions show that Taoism that was introduced to Korea had extensive
impact through classics to modern and contemporary literature.
Reference
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2.
3.
4.
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6.
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『Tao-te-Ching』, 『Zhuangzi』, 『The Book of Changes』
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M. Weber, Translated by Lee Sangryuel, Confucianism and Taoism, Moonye, 1990.
M. Kartenmark, Translated by Jan Woncheul, Lao-tzu and Taoism, Kachi, 1993.
Gal Youngjin and others, Taoism and Chinese Culture, Moonye, 1993.
The Association to Study Taoism In Korea, Spread of Taoism in Korea, Asian Culture, 1989.
酒井忠夫 and others, Translated by Choi Junsik, What is Taoism, Minumsa, 1990.
張立文, Translated by Kweon Ho, Taoism, Dongmunseon, 1995.
that Tao is not the existence that intervenes in everything. 生而不有 爲而不持 長而不宰 Tao-te-Ching, Chapter 51.
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