.jpg) People pay respects to the late essayist Pi Chun-deuk, at the Seoul Asan Hospital on Sunday. Pi, who wrote the essay "Inyeon" (Karma) died at the age of 97 on Friday evening. / Korea Times Photo by Hong In-kie |
Staff Reporter
Pi Chun-deuk, who wrote the essay ``Inyeon" (Karma), died at the age of 97, late Friday evening. Pi had been suffering from a long illness, but his condition deteriorated on May 10 and was admitted to the Seoul Asan Hospital, where his son works as a doctor.
Pi, a professor emeritus at the Seoul National University, was famous for his essay style that dealt with plain themes in a lyrical and simple manner.
He was born in Seoul on May 29, 1910. Pi studied at a middle school in Shanghai, China and in 1937, he graduated with a degree in English literature from a university there.
After graduation, he returned to Korea and started working as a teacher, during the Japanese occupation. In 1946, he started working at the prestigious Seoul National University, where he taught at the English literature department for three decades. He retired in 1974.
Pi became known as a distinguished poet and modern essayist. His masterpiece essay ``Inyeon" (Karma) is included in middle-school textbooks in South Korea and remains etched in the memory of a majority of Koreans.
The much-loved essay is about Pi's encounter with a Japanese girl named Asako, daughter of a boarding house Pi stayed during his study in Japan. He recalls his three encounters with her in life in a calm manner, and the essay became his signature writing, conveying the feelings related to yearning, nostalgia and passage of time.
Although Pi stopped writing around 20 years ago, an English translation of his poems and essays came out in 2001, titled ``A Skylark.'' He was also given a government award Eungwan Order of Culture Merit in 1999.
He did not drink or smoke for life. Taking strolls and listening to classical music was his lifelong hobbies.
Pi is survived by his wife, two sons and a daughter. The funeral will be held at 7 a.m. on May 29, following a Catholic mass in the morning.
His students and fellow literary figures already visited the funeral parlor. ``His principle was that writers should not publish works inferior to previous ones, and he practiced the principle by stopping writing,'' Cho Jung-rae, author of ``Taebaek Mountain Range,''said. ``Nevertheless, there was not a single piece that lacked greatness in his collection of essays.''
cathy@koreatimes.co.kr
