Yi Mae-chang
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LocationBuan-gun, Jeollabuk-do
- CategoryRegional Overview
- Korean이매창
- Chinese李梅窓
- Nickname이향금(李香今)|천향(天香)|매창(梅窓)|계생(癸生)|계랑(癸娘)|계랑(桂娘)
- FieldHistory / Premodern
- Contents TypePerson / Literati∙Scholar
- BirthplaceBuan-gun, Jeollabuk-do
- Tomb Location89, Maechang-ro Buan-eup, Buan-gun, Jeollabuk-do
- Definition
- A prominent female entertainer (gisaeng) and writer from Buan during the late Joseon Dynasty.
- Genealogy
- Yi Mae-chang (1573-1610) was born in 1573 (the 6th year of the reign of King Seonjo) as an illegimate daughter of I Tang-jong, then governor of Buan. Her real name was I Hyang-geum,though she was also known as Cheonhyang (courtesy name), Maechang (pen-name), Gyesaeng and Gyerang. It is assumed that her mother was a maidservant of the government and that Yi Mae-chang became a gisaeng around the age of ten according to the dictates of contemporary custom.
- Career
- Yi Mae-chang, as a female writer and well-known gisaeng of Buan, was skilled at composing Chinese poems and sijo (traditional three-verse poems), dancing, and playing musical instruments such as the geomungo (six-stringed Korean zither) and the gayageum (twelve-stringed Korean zither). She is known today for fifty-eight Chinese poems and sijo, and one book titled Maechangjip (Collection of Maechang’s Works). She has long been regarded as one of the most prominent female entertainers of the Joseon period along with Hwang Jin-yi, about whom Hong Man-jong (1643-1725), a scholar of Joseon, once said, “Hwang Jin-yi in Songdo and Gyesaeng (Yi Mae-chang) in Buan have produced outstanding literary works comparable to those produced by literary men.” Based on Yi Mae-chang’s Chinese poem Jasang, it seems that she lived in Seoul for three years, as well as in Buan.
In addition, Lim Seo (1570-1624), then governor of Hwanghae-do, wrote, “(She) became my friend’s mistress and is now in Cheongnu” below a poem by Yi Mae-chang that he included in his book Seokchonyugo (The Literary Remains of Lim Seo). Based on this record, it is assumed that Yi Mae-chang was somebody’s concubine for a while. Later, when she returned to Buan, the Japanese Invasion of Korea (1592) broke out, and her activities and whereabouts in this period are unknown. Then, in 1601 (the 34th year of the reign of King Seonjo), when she was 29, she met Heo Gyun (1569-1618), a novelist, poet, and politician of Joseon, in Buan and developed her writing skills, eventually becoming a prominent female writer.
- Academic Achievements
- I’s book Maechangjip was published as a block book at Gaeamsa Temple, Byeonsan by local officials, who collected her 58 poems in various forms in 1668 (the 9th year of the reign of King Hyeonjong). In the epilogue of Maechangjip, it is written that “Yi Mae-chang excelled at writing poetry throughout her entire life and hundreds of poems have been cited, but most of them have since disappeared…… Now, local officials have collected her remaining 58 poems in order to publish a book.” The poems include twenty quatrains composed of five Chinese characters in each line, twenty-eight quatrains with seven Chinese characters in each line, six pentasyllabic regulated verses, and four heptasyllabic regulated verses.
Yi Mae-chang’s works are highly praised for their unique sentiments, humor, and excellent command of poetic language. In particular, her short poem The Wet Pear Blossoms, which concerns her parting from Yu Hui-gyeong (1545-1636) and is included in the Gagokwonryu (Collection of Korean Poetry), is very well known. Yu Hui-gyeong also left behind seven dedicatorial poems to Yi Mae-chang. In addition, Yi Mae-chang also associated with Heo Gyun and Lee Gwi (1557-1633), a civil servant of Joseon.
Two volumes of Maechangjip are kept at the Kansong Library and another at the Seoul National University Library, while the entire work was included in Joseon yeokdae yeoryu munjim (A Collection of Writings by Joseon Women, compiled by Min Byeong-do, published by Eulyu Munhwasa, 1950). Furthermore, thirty-eight of Yi Mae-chang’s poems were introduced in Kim Eok’s collection of translated poems (published by Dongbang Munhwasa, 1947), while Sin Seok-jeong (1907-1974) translated her poems and published Daeyeok Maechang Sijp (Collection of Translated Versions of I Maechang’s Poems) in 1958. The entire works of Yi Mae-chang were translated and included in Yeokdae yeoryu simunseon (A Collection of Women’s Writings, translated by Kim Ji-yong, published by Daeyang Seojeok, 1973).
- Tomb
- Yi Mae-chang’s tomb is located inside Maechang Park at 89, Maechang-ro (566, Seooe-ri), Buan-eup, Buan-gun, Jeollabuk-do. A stone monument was erected to her forty-five years after her death, in 1655 (the 6th year of the reign of King Hyojong), and when its inscription faded, the Bupungsisa, an association of Buan’s poets, built a new monument with the inscription Myeongwon I Maechangjimyo (Tomb of Yi Mae-chang). Her tomb was designated as Jeollabuk-do Monument No. 65 on August 24, 1983.
- Awards and Commemorations
- Maechang Park was established in 1997 to commemorate Yi Mae-chang as a part of Buan County’s cultural renovation project, by purchasing the public gravesite where she was buried. The Maechangje Ritual is held every year on April 5 on the lunar calendar at her tomb. In addition, in April 2017, the Portrait of Yi Mae-chang was made by Buan County and the Buan Culture Center to promote Yi Mae-chang as one of the best female writers of her time.