Yi Sang-hwa was a Korean nationalist poet active in the resistance to Japanese rule.
Life
Yi Sang-hwa, who sometimes published under the names Muryang, Sanghwa, and Baega, was born May 22, 1901, in Daegu. He graduated from Jungdong High School in Seoul. He then went to Japan, where he studied French literature. In 1923 he returned to Korea and taught English and French in a Daegu high school. According to Choe Chong-dae, "His reputation grew as a young promising poet after composing the poem entitled 'Does springcome to these stripped lands?' in 1926, which was published in the 70th edition Magazine of Kaebyuk, the contents of which led to the magazine being suspended by the authorities. Yi worked as a teacher for the Kyonam School and as a Director of the Daegu Choson Ilbo. Yi participated in the Samil Independence Movement of March 1, 1919 in Daegu, which sought to restore Korean sovereignty. In 1921, wishing to study in France, Yi went to Japan to study French language and literature, but ended up returning to Korea in 1923 after the Great Kanto earthquake. In the early twenties he joined the White Tide circle along with Hong Sayong, Park Jonghwa, Park Yeonghui, Kim Gijin, and others, and began his career in poetry with the publication of the poems “Joy of the Corrupt Age”, “Double Death”, and “Toward my bedchamber” in the journal Torch. The poet went on to create the literature study group PASKYULA with Kim Gijin and others, and in August 1925 he helped the Korea Artists Proletariat Federation. The next year he became managing editor of the KAPF journal Literary Arts Movement. In 1937 he went to Mangyeong to see his elder brother, General Lee Sangjeong, but was arrested by the Japanese upon his return to Korea and jailed for four months. After his release, he taught at the Gyonam School in Daegu for a time before devoting himself to reading and study in order to produce an English translation of The tale of Chunhyang. Yi died of cancer on April 25, 1943.
Work
The Korean Literature Translation Institute summarizes Yi's contributions to poetry as:
Legacy
A monument was erected in memory of the poet in Daegu's Dalseong Park in 1948 and his collected poems were published in 1951. Yi's neglected house was restored and opened in 2005, with memorabilia pertaining to the poet and the resistance.
