Kim Sat-gat ― the wandering minstrel
By Choe Chong-dae
During my recent visit to Yeongwol, Gangwon Province, I paid tribute to the grave and memorial of Kim Sat-gat.
Located in the village of Norumok, Kim Satgat-myeon, Yeongwol, I was able to retrace his footsteps in the literary world. This area has been a famous and well-known not only among literary figures but also among tourists. The stream branches out from Mt. Taebaek to Kim's memorial, called ``Kim Satgat Valley.” Kim named it ``Mureung Valley” (Utopian Valley) for its pictueresque scenery.
Throughout the long history of Korean literature, he has stood out as one of the most influential poets of humor and satire of the Joseon Dynasty. His real name is Kim Byeong-yeon (1807-1863), but he is better known as Kim Sat-gat. Although his life brought him little happiness, he became famous for his bon-vivant life, his poetry and his adventurous spirit.
Kim was born into a disgraced noble family in Andong, North Gyeongsang Province, during the Joseon Kingdom, at a time when any disloyalty to the king could mean the death penalty. Wearing a ``satgat” (conical bamboo hat), Kim spent most of his life traveling and wandering Korea. This hat represented his feelings of guilt for writing an unforgivable poem censuring his grandfather.
He demonstrated exceptional intelligence and a unique literary talent from a young age. Hoping to reach a higher social status, at age 23, Kim took the state civil examination and received the top honor. For the theme of the essay part of the examination, Kim castigated a certain traitor of the past.
Kim later found out that the traitor he had chosen was his grandfather, Kim Ik-sun, who took part in the ``Rebellion of Hong Gyeong-Nae” against the Joseon royalty from 1811 to 1812. His grandfather’s crime haunted Kim more than he expected. Because of this treason, his family suffered severe retribution.
Eventually, Kim realized that the path he hoped to reclaim was closed to him. From then on, he immersed himself in poetry. Subsequently, Kim always wore a large satgat on his head as a symbol of self-imposed withdrawal from the light of the sun. The hat represented the recognition that, through no fault of his own, he should bear the burden of inherited guilt forever, and that he did not want to see the disordered world.
Finally, Kim became a vagabond troubadour, wandering around Korea, making contact with a wide range of people while admiring the country’s scenic natural beauty.
He composed numerous poems in praise of nature and humanism. He emphasized egalitarianism while sarcastically criticizing human greed, official tyranny and Korea's materialistic class-conscious society.
Much of his poetry inspired the masses, including farmers and the oppressed, giving them a sense of worth, dignity and hope. Although a century and a half has passed since the end of Kim’s poignant life, the aura of Kim’s great literature remains at his memorial in Yeongwol.
Drinking makgeolli, a Korean traditional wine, at a tavern in Yeongwol County, and looking toward Kim’s memorial, his fascinating literary legacy left me with a poetic sense of inspiration.
Kim's poetic sensitivity is a truly creative invigoration of the novel style. It remains hauntingly in my memory. He can be favorable compared to the American poet Walt Whitman (1819-1892) and the Japanese poet Ishikawa Takuboku (1886-1912). Like them, Kim Sat-gat deserves wide recognition both at home and abroad.
Indeed, these three are among the world’s great revolutionary poets. Their poetic metaphor is humanitarian and sentimental with a free verse style and distinctive voice that creates a feeling of optimistic inspiration.
Choe Chong-dae is a guest columnist of The Korea Times and the president of Dea-kwang International Co., as well as a director of the Korean-Swedish Association. He can be reached at dkic98@chol.com.