Jeong Ji-yong

Jeong Ji-yong, often romanized in literature as Cheong Chi-yong (정지용; 20 June 1902 – c. 1950), was a Korean poet and translator of English poetry who "opened a new horizon of poetic possibilities through chiselled expression, tempered sentiments, and precise visual imagery" according to the scholar of Korean poetry, Brother Anthony.

Cheong Chi-yong was born in Hagye-ri, Okcheon, Chungcheongbuk-do, on June 20, 1902.

He attended Whimoon High School and graduated from Japan's Doshisha University with a major in English Literature.

While studying at Whimoon High School, he published the literary magazine Bulletin (Yoram) with contemporaries like Park Palyang.

The first stage, which took place around 1925 to 1933, is characterized by the poet’s sensual imagist work, which often focused on the sea.

In 1926, he began to concentrate exclusively on composing poetry and his piece "Cafe France”"(Kape peurangseu) was published in Hakjo magazine.

Later in life, Jung was active as an associate of Pak Yong-chol's Poetry (Simunhak) magazine, and taught at Whimoon High School.

After Liberation, he taught at Ewha Womans University, edited the Kyunghyang Daily News, and was a member of the Central Executive Committee of the Korean Writers Federation (Joseon Munhakga dongmaeng).

Beginning with his 1933 poem Phoenix (Bulsajo) and ending in 1935, the poet composed religious poetry influenced by his Catholic faith; this second period served as a transition period between his early sensous poetry and his later more traditional poetry.

After his 1934 poem "A Different Heaven" (Dareun haneul) and "Yet Another Sun" (Tto hanaui dareun Taeyang), Jung discarded the religious tendency of his earlier work.

After nearly four years of absence from writing, he arrived at a mentality that sought to overcome the pains of reality, as seen in "Ongnyu Village", "Mountain Peak" (Bong), and "Guseong Village".

Poetry

Prose

After his "Ongnyu Village" (Ongnyudong) and "Guseong Village" (Guseongdong) in 1941, his poetry evinced predominance of Eastern thinking in its aesthetic.

In 1950, at the onset of the Korean War, he was detained by the Government Preservation Department, and then transferred to Pyongyang Prison, where he is believed to have died.

Cheong Chi-yong is considered among the most important poets to emerge from the modernist movement in Korea, in fact he has been described as "the first modern Korean poet."

In 2007, he was listed by the Korean Poets' Association among the ten most important modern Korean poets.

His poetry can be divided into three stages.

On 17 June 2019, on Jeong Ji-yong’s 117th birthday, he was honored with a Google Doodle.