Gim Manjung

Gim Manjung
Korean name
Hangul	김만중
Hanja	金萬重
Revised Romanization	Gim Manjung
McCune–Reischauer	Kim Manjung
Pen name
Hangul	서포
Hanja	西浦
Revised Romanization	Seopo
McCune–Reischauer	Sŏp'o
Courtesy name
Hangul	중숙
Hanja	重叔
Revised Romanization	Jungsuk
McCune–Reischauer	Chungsuk

Gim Manjung (1637–1692) was a Korean novelist and politician of the mid-Joseon period. He was eminent Neo-Confucian scholars of the Joseon period.

Life and work[]

A member of the yangban class, Kim passed the state civil service examination and rose through the official ranks to become a royal academic counselor and minister during the reign of King Sukjong. He was exiled twice for involvement in the political factionalism of the time^[1] As a man of letters his most renowned works were the novels Sassi Namjeonggi ("Record of Lady Sa's Trip to the South" 謝氏南征記) and ("The Cloud Dream of the Nine" 九雲夢). The former is a novel about family affairs set in China, but it is also a satirical depiction of the political reality of his day, and in particular a rebuke of King Sukjong. The latter is one of the most prominent novels of traditional Korea. It is said that Kim wrote the Kuunmong during his second exile from political life.^[2] It is an ideal novel dealing with the affairs of life and is centered on the travails of the hero. It has a highly Buddhist overtone, with an emphasis on the transience of worldly glory and pleasure. Heinz Insu Fenkl's new translation of Kuunmong is available from Penguin Classics.

See also[]

• Gim Jangsaeng
• Queen Ingyeong
• Gim Jip
• Gim Ikhun

References[]