Yun Seondo
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| Yun Seondo | |
|---|---|
| Hangul: | 윤선도 |
| Hanja: | 尹善道 |
| Revised Romanization: | Yun Seon-do |
| McCune-Reischauer: | Yun Sŏn-do |
| Pen name | |
| Hangul: | 고산 also 해옹 |
| Hanja: | 孤山 also 海翁 |
| Revised Romanization: | Gosan also Hae-ong |
| McCune-Reischauer: | Kosan also Hae-ong |
| Courtesy name | |
| Hangul: | 약이 |
| Hanja: | 約而 |
| Revised Romanization: | Yag-i |
| McCune-Reischauer: | Yag-i |
Yun Seondo (1587 - 1671) was a noted Korean poet of the Joseon Dynasty. He was born in Seoul, in what is now South Korea. 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 in the history of Korean literature. His most famous composition is The Fisherman's Calendar a cycle of forty seasonal sijo. In both Chinese 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 Asian water colors: sets of four paintings, one for each season of the year.
Yun Seondo wove both traditions into The Fisherman's Calendar. It is the longest and most ambitious sijo cycle attempted during the classical period.
Note: With minor alterations, much of the material on this page is taken from TheWORDshop's "The Fisherman's Calendar." [1]
