Yun Sŏndo

Yun Sŏndo (; 1587–1671) was a Korean philosopher, poet, and politician. A Neo-Confucian scholar, he was also known by his art names Kosan and Haeong.

Life He was born in Seoul, Joseon. He achieved early success as a government official, but his straightforward character earned him enemies at court, and he was banished for imprudent criticism of those in power. Thirteen years later, he returned to serve as tutor to the royal princes but was banished again. He spent most of his 85 years in his rustic country home, contemplating the nature of life, teaching, and writing poetry.

Yun is considered the greatest master of the sijo form in Korean literature. His most famous composition is The Fisherman's Calendar (어부사시사, 1651) a cycle of forty seasonal sijo. In both Chinese and Korean classical poetry, the fisherman symbolized a wise man who lives simply and naturally. In art, the fisherman appeared almost invariably in one of the most common genres of Asian water colors: sets of four paintings, one for each season of the year.

Yun Sŏndo wove both traditions into The Fisherman's Calendar. It is the longest and most ambitious sijo cycle attempted during the classical period of his life.

Some lines are given below from a translation of the Autumn section by Gross. A fisherman's life is idyllic, away from cares of the world...

Do not mock the old fisherman, you'll see him in every painting.

I look back on the world of men, the farther off the better. And from Five Friends. Moon, you watch but keep silent; isn't that what a good friend does?

Works Gosan seonsaeng yugo Byeoljip Yakhwaje Cheobangjeonseonchangyak Hoechungyak Haesuyak Bokhaksinbang Uyeoksinbang Oseonjubang