Im Che

Im Che (Korean: 임제; Hanja: 林悌; 1549 – 1587) was a literate Confucianist Yangban in Joseon.

In this Korean name, the family name is Im.
Im Che
Hangul
Hanja
Revised RomanizationIm Je
McCune–ReischauerIm Che

Works

Im penned the following sijo upon the death of famed gisaeng, Hwang Jini.

The following two poems were exchanged between Im Che and his lover, gisaeng Hanu (한우; 寒雨). Im was known for his liaisons with Hanu and Hwang Jin Yi. The term in line 3, ch'an bi (찬비), literally translates as "freezing rain." It uses the same Chinese characters as the poetess' name (寒雨), but with a different pronunciation, and was intended by both poets as a pun.

Hanu's particular gift is to echo the style of the original that Im wrote to her, while improving on it with a teasing, very human tone. The translation employs a formal tone to match Im's original; and then follows with the simpler and more lyric style used by Hanu. In both cases, the line "rain has frozen" seemed to best communicate the double entendre of the originals.

When about to die, he grieved and left the words below.[4][5]


四海諸國, 未有不稱帝者, 獨我邦終古不能, 生於若此陋邦, 其死何足惜.

Although all Four Barbarians have joined, Zhongyuan, but only Korea had left behind. There's no use of living long for such a miserable country.
— Im Che

Kō Bun'yū introduce this line as Im Che's indignation because in the history, this is not only barbarians outside of the Great Wall, but even Tibetans from southwest conquered Chinese world once, or occupied the capital and threatened the city, however only Korea never even became a threaten to China. What Korea do is to treat Great China with the utmost courtesy and show loyalty to father.[6]

References
  1. David Bannon, "Sijo Poetry of Korean Kisaeng," Hangul Herald, Fall 2008: 10-13. Excerpted and used with permission.
  2. David Bannon, "Sijo Poetry of Korean Kisaeng," Hangul Herald, Fall 2008: 10-13. Excerpted and used with permission.
  3. David Bannon, "Sijo Poetry of Korean Kisaeng," Hangul Herald, Fall 2008: 10-13. Excerpted and used with permission.
  4. 林濬哲 北京大学比較文学與比較文化研究所招聘学者 (2005). "조선중기 漢詩에서의 典型 意象의 계승과 美感의 확충(II)". 語文硏究 제33권 제3호(2005년 가을). p. 358. Archived from the original on 2018-03-04.Yi Ik Seonghosaseol卷九, ｢人事門｣, 􋺷국역 성호사설􋺸(1976), pp.22～23. ｢善戱謔｣, "林白湖悌, 氣豪不拘檢, 病將死, 諸子悲. 林曰,'四海諸國, 未有不稱帝者, 獨我邦終古不能, 生於若此陋邦, 其死何足惜.'命勿哭. 又常戱言,'若使吾値五代六朝, 亦當爲輪遞天子.' 一世傳笑."
  5. "朝鮮半島歷史上第一個帝國，朝鮮半島歷史上第一個帝國大韓帝國". 奧推網. 2021-05-05. Archived from the original on 2021-07-29.
  6. Kō Bun'yū (2013-08-31). もしもの近現代史. Fusosha Publishing. p. 72. ISBN 978-4594068738.
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