Chae Man-sik
1902–1950
Biography
Chae Man-sik (1902–1950) was a Korean novelist, playwright and critic, best remembered for his satire. He was born in Okgu, in North Jeolla province (now part of Gunsan), into a family of prosperous farmers. He attended a school in Seoul and then went to Japan to study at Waseda University, but he came home without completing his degree. In the 1920s and 1930s he worked for several Korean newspapers and magazines, and his first short story appeared in 1924.
His early stories were written from a class-conscious viewpoint. With A Ready-Made Life (1934), a sharp story about an educated man who cannot find work that suits his training, he turned to the plight of intellectuals under colonial rule, and his irony grew more cutting. He was arrested in 1938 because of his links to a reading group, and he was released only on condition that he take part in a pro-Japanese literary body. After liberation in 1945 he turned his satire on the collaboration of intellectuals, his own included. He died in 1950, shortly before the Korean War began.
Two of his novels are on this site under their Korean titles: 탁류 (The Muddy Current, 1937) and 태평천하 (Peace Under Heaven, 1938). Both are long novels from the late 1930s in which he uses irony to expose the greed and complacency of colonial society. Readers who know his short satires will recognize the same sharp eye at a larger scale.
This biography was written by a language model. The sources below are where to check it; treat details with care.
Books
탁류
by 채만식
Cho-bong, the daughter of a ruined rice clerk in the port of Gunsan, is pushed into marriage and then drawn down, one man after another, as the town's bankers, clerks and schemers use her and one another. Chae Man-sik's long novel follows the muddy Geum River into the colonial…
Summary written by Claude Sonnet 5.5.태평천하
by 채만식
Old Yun Jik-won, a rich landlord who bought his standing with money, thanks the Japanese for keeping the peace and dreams of a grandson who will become a magistrate. His own grandson, a student, is arrested as a socialist, and the old man's world collapses. Chae Man-sik's satire…
Summary written by Claude Sonnet 5.5.