**Sim Hun** (沈熏; birth name: Sim Dae-seop, birth name in Hanja: 沈大燮; 23 October 1901 – 16 September 1936) was a writer and film figure of the Korean Empire who was active as an independence activist, novelist, poet, journalist, actor, film director, and screenwriter during the [[Japanese rule in Kor
He was born the third of four sons and one daughter in Gwacheon County, Gyeonggi Province, Korean Empire, and used the childhood names Sambo (三保) and Samjun (三俊). Unlike his family, many of whom took a pro-Japanese stance, he took part in the March 1st Movement in 1919, for which he was imprisoned and expelled from school. He later stayed in China for a time, and after returning home he worked as a reporter for the Dong-a Ilbo. In 1927 he went to Japan to study film and made the film Dawn Breaks. While the Dong-a Ilbo was carrying out the V Narod movement, he wrote the long novel The Evergreen, which won a prize, and the following year he suddenly contracted typhoid fever and died.
Life
Sim Hun was born on 23 October 1901 (lunar calendar 12 September) into a landowning family in Habuk-myeon, Gwacheon County, Gyeonggi Province, Korean Empire (present-day Heukseok-dong, Dongjak District, Seoul, Republic of Korea).2 His family was described as "a middle-landowning class from a traditional yangban lineage that conformed to the pro-Japanese currents of the time"; his two elder brothers were , and his first wife was Yi Hae-yeong, the younger sister of (淸豐君 李海昇), who had received a marquis title from Japan. While attending Gyeongseong First Public High School (now ), Sim took part in the in 1919 while in his fourth year. He was arrested for a student demonstration at on 5 March and sentenced to eight months in prison; he was also expelled from school, and he took a path different from that of his family.
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The following year, in 1920, he went to Shanghai, China, and enrolled in the philosophy department of St. John's University. However, he dropped out the following year, in 1921, and went to Hangzhou, where he re-enrolled in the dramatic literature department of Zhejiang University. But he dropped out of this as well in 1922, and organized the Geukmunhoe (Drama Society). During his exile in China, he associated with Sin Chae-ho, Yi Hoe-yeong, and others in Beijing, and passionately called for independence.3
After returning from China in 1924, Sim joined the Dong-a Ilbo as a social affairs reporter, and in 1926 he began serializing Talhoe. After the press activist group Cheolpil Gurakbu was dissolved by the Japanese authorities following a press freedom event (the Cheolpil Gurakbu Incident), Sim was also dismissed from the Dong-a Ilbo. In the same year, when Emperor Sunjong died, he anticipated that an independence movement would break out, as it had during the March 1st Movement, and he published a poem titled "In Lament" in the Sidae Ilbo. Just as Sim had predicted, the June 10th Movement broke out.34
In 1927 he went to Japan to study film, and wrote, adapted, and directed the film Dawn Breaks, which deals with colonial reality, and it was screened at the Danseongsa theater. He later serialized novels such as Dongbang and Bulsajo in the Chosun Ilbo, until the serialization was halted by Japanese orders to stop publication. At that time, When That Day Comes, which is considered Sim's representative work, was published as a poem on the anniversary of the March 1st Movement. It was originally scheduled to be published as a poetry collection, but its publication was refused due to Japanese censorship.3
In 1935, the Dong-a Ilbo carried out the V Narod movement and, on the 15th anniversary of its founding, held a competition for long novels set in rural and fishing villages. Sim stayed in Dangjin, South Chungcheong Province, and wrote the long novel The Evergreen for the competition, using as material the night-school movement and cooperative farming activities of his eldest nephew Sim Jae-yeong; it was selected immediately.35 With the prize money he founded the Sangnok Academy to support the education of rural students. Sim Hun tried to adapt The Evergreen into a film, but his efforts were frustrated by Japanese obstruction; while he was devoting himself to writing with the aim of publishing it as a book, he died of typhoid in 1936. The film The Evergreen, which Sim Hun had hoped to make, was directed by Shin Sang-ok and starred Choi Eun-hee, Heo Jang-kang, and others.
Participation in socialist literary activities
After returning to his hometown, Joseon, in 1922, he was active in the Yeomgunsa, which later merged into the KAPF, and in 1925 he joined the KAPF.6
Legacy
In 1949 the poetry collection When That Day Comes was published, in 1952 the seven-volume Collected Works of Sim Hun was published, and in 1996 the three-volume Complete Works of Sim Hun was published.
The Dongbang ui Aein and Bulsajo, which were serialized in the Chosun Ilbo, were halted by the censorship of the Empire of Japan and remain unfinished works.
On 16 July 2013, Sim Cheon-bo, the eldest grandson of Sim Hun's family, donated 414 family relics, including items related to Sim Hun, to the city of Dangjin. In March 2014, the city of Dangjin completed the Sim Hun Memorial Hall.7
The Sim Hun Sangnok Cultural Festival, first held in 1977 in Dangjin County, Dangjin, South Chungcheong Province, began as a multicultural arts event commemorating Sim Hun and continues today under the Sim Hun Sangnok Cultural Festival Executive Committee, supported by the city of Dangjin in South Chungcheong Province.
To honor Sim Hun's literary achievements, the Sim Hun Literary Award was established in 1997, and since then it has been co-hosted by the Sim Hun Memorial Project Association of Dangjin and the quarterly magazine Asia, which award a winner every year. In 2015, the Sim Hun Literary Grand Prize was established to honor established writers for their literary accomplishments and contributions to development, and literary awards for various fields have been established and are being presented.
Family and relatives
Great-great-grandfather: Sim Neung-yu – posthumously Vice Minister of Personnel
Great-grandfather: Sim Ui-bung (沈宜朋) – Vice Minister of the Royal Household
Great-grandmother: Yeonan Yi – daughter of Seungji Yi Yeong
Great-grandmother: Jeonju Yi – daughter of Yi Hwan-il
Great-grandmother: Tamjin Choe – daughter of Choe Wan
Grandfather: Sim Jeong-taek (沈鼎澤) – clerk
Grandmother: Gwangju Ahn – daughter of Ahn Gi-won, a provincial official
Father: Sim Sang-jeong (沈相涏) – township head
Mother: Haepyeong Yun – daughter of Yun Hyeon-yeong, a clerk
Sister-in-law (first wife): Daegu Seo Seo Nam-sun – daughter of Seo Sang-chun
Sister-in-law (second wife): Jinju Gang Gang Do-won – daughter of Gang Seon-heup
Eldest nephew: Sim Jae-yeong (沈載英) – described in biographical accounts of Sim Hun's writing as the person who led the night-school movement and cooperative farming that inspired The Evergreen,8 but according to the local Dangjin newspaper Dangjin Sidae, the vice chairman of the Sim Hun Memorial Hall operating committee, Yun Seong, argued that the lives of Sim Jae-yeong and Park Dong-hyeok differ, suggesting that Sim Hun's eldest nephew Sim Jae-yeong may not have been the model.9
According to the biographical facts about Sim Hun in the edition of The Evergreen published by Moonji Publishing, Sim Hun was said to be very handsome, cheerful in character, and spoke without any hesitation. He formed literary friendships with children's literature writer Bang Jeong-hwan and novelist Hyeon Jin-geon, among others, and artistic friendships with film directors Yun Bong-chun and Na Un-gyu, among others.
He was a classmate at Gyeongseong Public High School of independence activist and politician Yi Beom-seok, independence activist and politician Pak Hon-yong, and anarchist independence activist Park Yeol, among others; in particular, he was both a maternal cousin of Yun Geuk-yeong, the author of the children's song "Banddal" (The Half Moon), and a classmate at Gyeongseong Public High School.1112
During his exile in China, he associated with Sin Chae-ho, Yi Hoe-yeong, and others in Beijing and passionately called for independence.3
Letter Sim Hun wrote to his mother from prison
Actor Yun Ju-bin, the grandson of Yun Bong-gil, drew great attention when he read aloud key passages from Sim Hun's letter to his mother written during his imprisonment, titled "To Mother from Prison," at the 100th anniversary ceremony of the March 1st Movement in 2019.1314
A film novel written by Sim Hun in 1926, and the oldest surviving film scenario in Korean cinema.
However, it has been claimed recently that Hyonyeo Simcheongjeon (The Filial Daughter Simcheong), a film novel written by Kim Chun-gwang in 1925, one year before Sim Hun's Talchum, is the first Korean film scenario.16
Korean History Map Study Group (30 November 2016). Walking Gyeongseong Following the Monument Stones. Yu Books. pp. 64–66. ISBN 9791195695935. ↩↩2↩3↩4↩5↩6↩7
He was born the third of four sons and one daughter in Gwacheon County, Gyeonggi Province, Korean Empire, and used the childhood names Sambo (三保) and Samjun (三俊). Unlike his family, many of whom took a pro-Japanese stance, he took part in the March 1st Movement in 1919, for which he was imprisoned and expelled from school. He later stayed in China for a time, and after returning home he worked as a reporter for the Dong-a Ilbo. In 1927 he went to Japan to study film and made the film Dawn Breaks. While the Dong-a Ilbo was carrying out the V Narod movement, he wrote the long novel The Evergreen, which won a prize, and the following year he suddenly contracted typhoid fever and died.
Life
Sim Hun was born on 23 October 1901 (lunar calendar 12 September) into a landowning family in Habuk-myeon, Gwacheon County, Gyeonggi Province, Korean Empire (present-day Heukseok-dong, Dongjak District, Seoul, Republic of Korea).2 His family was described as "a middle-landowning class from a traditional yangban lineage that conformed to the pro-Japanese currents of the time"; his two elder brothers were pro-Japanese collaborators,3 and his first wife was Yi Hae-yeong, the younger sister of Marquis Yi Hae-seung of Cheongpung (淸豐君 李海昇), who had received a marquis title from Japan. While attending Gyeongseong First Public High School (now Seoul Gyeonggi High School), Sim took part in the March 1st Movement in 1919 while in his fourth year. He was arrested for a student demonstration at Namdaemun on 5 March and sentenced to eight months in prison; he was also expelled from school, and he took a path different from that of his family.3
University
The following year, in 1920, he went to Shanghai, China, and enrolled in the philosophy department of St. John's University. However, he dropped out the following year, in 1921, and went to Hangzhou, where he re-enrolled in the dramatic literature department of Zhejiang University. But he dropped out of this as well in 1922, and organized the Geukmunhoe (Drama Society). During his exile in China, he associated with Sin Chae-ho, Yi Hoe-yeong, and others in Beijing, and passionately called for independence.3
After returning from China in 1924, Sim joined the Dong-a Ilbo as a social affairs reporter, and in 1926 he began serializing Talhoe. After the press activist group Cheolpil Gurakbu was dissolved by the Japanese authorities following a press freedom event (the Cheolpil Gurakbu Incident), Sim was also dismissed from the Dong-a Ilbo. In the same year, when Emperor Sunjong died, he anticipated that an independence movement would break out, as it had during the March 1st Movement, and he published a poem titled "In Lament" in the Sidae Ilbo. Just as Sim had predicted, the June 10th Movement broke out.34
In 1927 he went to Japan to study film, and wrote, adapted, and directed the film Dawn Breaks, which deals with colonial reality, and it was screened at the Danseongsa theater. He later serialized novels such as Dongbang and Bulsajo in the Chosun Ilbo, until the serialization was halted by Japanese orders to stop publication. At that time, When That Day Comes, which is considered Sim's representative work, was published as a poem on the anniversary of the March 1st Movement. It was originally scheduled to be published as a poetry collection, but its publication was refused due to Japanese censorship.3
In 1935, the Dong-a Ilbo carried out the V Narod movement and, on the 15th anniversary of its founding, held a competition for long novels set in rural and fishing villages. Sim stayed in Dangjin, South Chungcheong Province, and wrote the long novel The Evergreen for the competition, using as material the night-school movement and cooperative farming activities of his eldest nephew Sim Jae-yeong; it was selected immediately.35 With the prize money he founded the Sangnok Academy to support the education of rural students. Sim Hun tried to adapt The Evergreen into a film, but his efforts were frustrated by Japanese obstruction; while he was devoting himself to writing with the aim of publishing it as a book, he died of typhoid in 1936. The film The Evergreen, which Sim Hun had hoped to make, was directed by Shin Sang-ok and starred Choi Eun-hee, Heo Jang-kang, and others.
Participation in socialist literary activities
After returning to his hometown, Joseon, in 1922, he was active in the Yeomgunsa, which later merged into the KAPF, and in 1925 he joined the KAPF.6
Legacy
In 1949 the poetry collection When That Day Comes was published, in 1952 the seven-volume Collected Works of Sim Hun was published, and in 1996 the three-volume Complete Works of Sim Hun was published.
The Dongbang ui Aein and Bulsajo, which were serialized in the Chosun Ilbo, were halted by the censorship of the Empire of Japan and remain unfinished works.
On 16 July 2013, Sim Cheon-bo, the eldest grandson of Sim Hun's family, donated 414 family relics, including items related to Sim Hun, to the city of Dangjin. In March 2014, the city of Dangjin completed the Sim Hun Memorial Hall.7
The Sim Hun Sangnok Cultural Festival, first held in 1977 in Dangjin County, Dangjin, South Chungcheong Province, began as a multicultural arts event commemorating Sim Hun and continues today under the Sim Hun Sangnok Cultural Festival Executive Committee, supported by the city of Dangjin in South Chungcheong Province.
To honor Sim Hun's literary achievements, the Sim Hun Literary Award was established in 1997, and since then it has been co-hosted by the Sim Hun Memorial Project Association of Dangjin and the quarterly magazine Asia, which award a winner every year. In 2015, the Sim Hun Literary Grand Prize was established to honor established writers for their literary accomplishments and contributions to development, and literary awards for various fields have been established and are being presented.
Family and relatives
Great-great-grandfather: Sim Neung-yu – posthumously Vice Minister of Personnel
Great-grandfather: Sim Ui-bung (沈宜朋) – Vice Minister of the Royal Household
Great-grandmother: Yeonan Yi – daughter of Seungji Yi Yeong
Great-grandmother: Jeonju Yi – daughter of Yi Hwan-il
Great-grandmother: Tamjin Choe – daughter of Choe Wan
Grandfather: Sim Jeong-taek (沈鼎澤) – clerk
Grandmother: Gwangju Ahn – daughter of Ahn Gi-won, a provincial official
Father: Sim Sang-jeong (沈相涏) – township head
Mother: Haepyeong Yun – daughter of Yun Hyeon-yeong, a clerk
Sister-in-law (first wife): Daegu Seo Seo Nam-sun – daughter of Seo Sang-chun
Sister-in-law (second wife): Jinju Gang Gang Do-won – daughter of Gang Seon-heup
Eldest nephew: Sim Jae-yeong (沈載英) – described in biographical accounts of Sim Hun's writing as the person who led the night-school movement and cooperative farming that inspired The Evergreen,8 but according to the local Dangjin newspaper Dangjin Sidae, the vice chairman of the Sim Hun Memorial Hall operating committee, Yun Seong, argued that the lives of Sim Jae-yeong and Park Dong-hyeok differ, suggesting that Sim Hun's eldest nephew Sim Jae-yeong may not have been the model.9
According to the biographical facts about Sim Hun in the edition of The Evergreen published by Moonji Publishing, Sim Hun was said to be very handsome, cheerful in character, and spoke without any hesitation. He formed literary friendships with children's literature writer Bang Jeong-hwan and novelist Hyeon Jin-geon, among others, and artistic friendships with film directors Yun Bong-chun and Na Un-gyu, among others.
He was a classmate at Gyeongseong Public High School of independence activist and politician Yi Beom-seok, independence activist and politician Pak Hon-yong, and anarchist independence activist Park Yeol, among others; in particular, he was both a maternal cousin of Yun Geuk-yeong, the author of the children's song "Banddal" (The Half Moon), and a classmate at Gyeongseong Public High School.1112
During his exile in China, he associated with Sin Chae-ho, Yi Hoe-yeong, and others in Beijing and passionately called for independence.3
Letter Sim Hun wrote to his mother from prison
Actor Yun Ju-bin, the grandson of Yun Bong-gil, drew great attention when he read aloud key passages from Sim Hun's letter to his mother written during his imprisonment, titled "To Mother from Prison," at the 100th anniversary ceremony of the March 1st Movement in 2019.1314
A film novel written by Sim Hun in 1926, and the oldest surviving film scenario in Korean cinema.
However, it has been claimed recently that Hyonyeo Simcheongjeon (The Filial Daughter Simcheong), a film novel written by Kim Chun-gwang in 1925, one year before Sim Hun's Talchum, is the first Korean film scenario.16
Korean History Map Study Group (30 November 2016). Walking Gyeongseong Following the Monument Stones. Yu Books. pp. 64–66. ISBN 9791195695935. ↩↩2↩3↩4↩5↩6↩7