Pak Kyongni facts for kids

Pak Kyongni
Quick facts for kids Korean name
Hangul	박경리
Hanja	朴景利
Revised Romanization	Bak Gyeongli
McCune–Reischauer	Bak Kyŏngli
Birth name
Hangul	박금이
Hanja	朴今伊
Revised Romanization	Bak Geumi
McCune–Reischauer	Pak Kŭmi

Pak, Kyongni (born October 28, 1926 – died May 5, 2008) was a very important South Korean writer. She was born in Tongyeong, which is now in South Korea. Later, she lived in Wonju, Gangwon Province.

Pak started her writing career in 1955 with a story called Gyesan (Calculations). But she is most famous for her huge 20-volume novel, Toji (The Land). This epic story tells about the difficult history of Korea in the late 1800s and early 1900s. Toji was so popular that it was made into a movie, a TV show, and even an opera! Many people think Toji is one of the greatest books in Korean literature.

Pak, Kyongni passed away on May 5, 2008, at 81 years old, due to lung cancer. Many other writers looked up to her as a guide for their own writing and lives. After she died, the South Korean government gave her the country's highest medal. This was to honor her for helping to promote South Korean arts and culture.

Her Life Story

Pak, Kyongni was born in 1926 in Tongyeong. Her birth name was Bak, Geum-i. She was the first child in her family. Her parents had a difficult relationship. Her father left her mother soon after Pak was born. This made her feel sad and alone. She often found comfort by reading books and imagining her own worlds.

In 1946, after finishing high school, she married Gim, Hangdo. He worked for a government office. However, more challenges came her way. During the Korean War, her husband went missing and later died. In the same year, she also lost her three-year-old son. As a widow, she had to support her daughter and her mother all by herself.

She became a professional writer in 1955. A famous writer named Kim Tong-ni encouraged her. In the 1960s, she had surgery for breast cancer. Later, in the 1970s, her son-in-law, a poet named Kim Ji-ha, was arrested. This meant she had to raise her grandson, Wonbo. She also later faced lung cancer.

Her Amazing Works

When Pak, Kyongni first started writing, she said, "If I had been happy, I would not have started writing." She also explained, "I lived with my mother and daughter and had to support them. I began writing because I hoped to escape my difficulties." Her tough personal life definitely influenced her stories. She often wrote about the importance of human dignity.

She began her writing journey with the novel Calculations (Gyesan). Her early stories often showed her own life experiences. For example, in novels like Time of Distrust (Boolsin Sidae), the main characters were often women living with their mothers, who had lost their husbands and sons. This reflected her own situation.

In her later works, like The Daughters of Pharmacist Kim (Kimyakgukui Ddaldeul), she focused on characters who bravely overcame their problems. Her writing style also changed. She started to look at things more objectively. Her stories moved from the Korean War period to everyday life. She also used more different styles and topics.

Toji (The Land) Explained

Toji (The Land) is Pak, Kyongni's most famous novel. This huge story began as a series in a magazine in September 1969. It took her an incredible 25 years to finish writing it!

The story is about the difficult times around the early 1900s. This was when Korean people were fighting against Japanese rule. The novel has hundreds of characters from all over Korea. It follows their lives from the late 1800s through Japan’s colonial rule and up to the division of the country. The main characters, "Kim, Gilsang" and "Choi, Seohee," like many in her other books, try hard to keep their dignity during this very tough time in Korean history. The book uses traditional Korean language and shows many different types of characters. It tells Korea’s modern history through the deep connection to the "Mother Earth."

As mentioned, Toji has been turned into a TV series, a movie, and an opera. It has also been translated into many languages, including English, German, French, and Japanese. It is even part of the UNESCO Collection of Representative Works, which means it's recognized as an important global literary work.

In 1999, Pak, Kyongni opened the "Toji Cultural Center" in Wonju. This center is on the land where her home used to be. She created it to help new writers grow and develop their skills. She also led the "Toji Cultural Foundation [ko]", which was started in 1996.

Her Published Works

Awards She Won

• The Woltan Literature Award (for Land)
• Contemporary Literature (Hyundae Munhak) Award (1958)
• The Inchon Award
• Korean Women's Literature Award
• The Bogwan Order of Cultural Merit (awarded in 1992)
• Order of Cultural Merit, Geum-gwan Medal (Gold Crown) 금관장 (awarded after she passed away)

See also

In Spanish: Park Kyung-Ri para niños