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Kim Si-sŭp
Kim Si-sŭp (Korean: 김시습; Hanja: 金時習; 1435–1493) was a Korean scholar and author. BackgroundKim Si-sŭp hailed from the Gangneung Kim clan. His family was from the yangban class and Kim himself was born in Seoul. Throughout his life, Kim maintained a special bond with the Gangwon area and compiled a book of poetry called Tangyugwandongnok which was based on family history and experiences he had in the area. Kim was an extremely gifted child and had picked up reading ability at eight months of age. At five years of age, he was able to read and comprehend The Great Learning and the Doctrine of the Mean. Kim was a devout Buddhist and at twenty-one years of age, to protest King Sejo's usurpation of the throne from his nephew Danjong of Joseon (eventually murdering him), he decided to skip government service and become a Buddhist monk. WorksKim wrote the first novel in Classical chinese in Korea, titled Geumo Sinhwa (금오신화; 金鰲新話), as well as other books such as Siphyeondamyohae, Tangyugwanseorok, and Tangyuhonamnok. Geumo Sinhwa (New stories from Mount Geumo) was likely composed at Yongjang Temple during the reign of King Sejong[1] and became an instant classic. Although Geumosinhwa was influenced by a Chinese novel titled Jiandeng Xinhua (New stories while trimming the lampwick) by Qu You, it would become nativized. Another characteristic lies in his own writing. He did not prefer only Confucianism and tried to deal with Buddhism. It appeared in several books of his that the king and subjects should respect the whole nation regardless of a person's status and origin. It was believed his thought was much advanced compared to the era in which he lived and remained one of the earliest ideas concerning democracy on the Korean peninsula.[2] When he died there was a government effort to find and preserve all of his works, which number around 30 volumes. Below is an example of his poetry:
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