Cheon Sang-byeong

In this Korean name, the family name is Cheon.

Cheon Sang-byeong (Korean: 천상병; January 29, 1930 – April 28, 1993) was a South Korean writer.^[1]

Cheon Sang-byeong
Born	January 29, 1930 Japan
Died	April 28, 1993(1993-04-28) (aged 63)
Language	Korean
Nationality	South Korean
Citizenship	South Korean
Alma mater	Seoul National University

Korean name
Hangul	천상병
Hanja	千祥炳
RR	Cheon Sangbyeong
MR	Ch'ŏn Sangbyŏng

Life

Cheon Sang-byeong was born in the Empire of Japan on January 29, 1930. He immigrated to Masan, Korea in 1945, after Korea was liberated from Japan.^[2] It was then that the 15-year-old Cheon began writing poems in the language of his ancestry. He published his first poem "River Water" while still in school.^[3] Cheon went to Seoul National University for a short period.^[4] In 1967 he was implicated in the East Berlin Spy Incident [ko] and jailed for six months during which he was tortured.^[5] This experience scarred Cheon who became impotent and alcoholic. Found unconscious on the street Cheon was institutionalized and his friends, believing him to be dead, published a posthumous book of his poetry.^[6]

Cheon, however recovered and began a prolific career.

Work

Cheon's poetry was written in a condensed style, and explored themes of existentialism. His most famous poem "Return to Heaven" (Gwicheon), speaks of a man's encounter with the afterlife and his journey from life to death, as a passing from one world to another: "I am returning to heaven, the day on which my sojourn to this beautiful world ends. Go and say it was beautiful".^[7]

Works in translation

• Rumanian: L ÎNTOARCEREA ÎN CER detail (천상병 시선집)
• Serbian: ПОВРАТАК НА НЕЪО detail (천상병 시선집 <귀천>)
• Spanish: Regreso al cielo detail (귀천)
• Turkish: Gőğe dőnüş detail (귀천)
• French: Retour au ciel detail (천상병시선-귀천)

^[8]

Works in Korean (Partial)

• Bird (1971)
• At the Roadside Inn (1979)
• If Even the Journey to Afterlife Costs Money (1987)
• I'm Going Back to Heaven (1993)
• Collected Works of Cheon Sang-byeong (1996)

^[9]