Overview

The life and work of Kim Iryŏp (1896–1971) bear witness to Korea’s encounter with modernity. A prolific writer, Iryŏp reflected on identity and existential loneliness in her poems, short stories, and autobiographical essays. As a pioneering feminist intellectual, she dedicated herself to gender issues and understanding the changing role of women in Korean society. As an influential Buddhist nun, she examined religious teachings and strove to interpret modern human existence through a religious world view. Originally published in Korea when Iryŏp was in her sixties, Reflections of a Zen Buddhist Nun (Ŏnŭ sudoin ŭi hoesang) makes available for the first time in English a rich, intimate, and unfailingly candid source of material with which to understand modern Korea, Korean women, and Korean Buddhism. Throughout her writing, Iryŏp poses such questions as: How does one come to terms with one’s identity? What is the meaning of revolt and what are its limitations? How do we understand the different dimensions of love in the context of Buddhist teachings? What is Buddhist awakening? How do we attain it? How do we understand God and the relationship between good and evil? What is the meaning of religious practice in our time? We see through her thought and life experiences the co-existence of seemingly conflicting ideas and ideals—Christianity and Buddhism, sexual liberalism and religious celibacy, among others. In Reflections of a Zen Buddhist Nun, Iryŏp challenges readers with her creative interpretations of Buddhist doctrine and her reflections on the meaning of Buddhist practice. In the process she offers insight into a time when the ideas and contributions of women to twentieth-century Korean society and intellectual life were just beginning to emerge from the shadows, where they had been obscured in the name of modernization and nation-building.

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Reviews

Park's important edition of Iryop's writings will interest those readers concerned not only with modern Korean intellectual history and Korean Buddhism but also with examples of reflective or philosophical autobiography, experiences of crisis and conversion, and how one singular person responds to her existential condition. - Philosophy East & West Author Jin Park packs a lot into the small book: A biography of Korean Buddhist writer Iryop Kim, Asian studies Buddhism and women, comparative philosophies, and feminism. The significant part of the book is the biography of Korean Zen Buddhist Iryop Kim (1896-1970). . . . the book is a rewarding read, and an important one. Kim's writings have contributed to the cultural heritage of a nation, offering relevant wisdom and insights to the modem reader, East or West. - Korean Quarterly Park's translations of Kim Iryop provide a valuable glimpse of the diversity of individuals that comprise Korean modernism and Buddhism in the early twentieth century. - Religious Studies Review

As the title hints, in this work Iryop (1896-1971), one of the most prominent nuns of twentieth-century Korea, looks backs on her life. Or rather, she uses recollections of her youthful self as a teaching device to draw the reader into her Buddhist worldview. With unflinching honesty, she is not afraid of using stories from her youth, especially those involving affairs, to show the vanity of human affections. . . . [It] is a valuable guide both to modern Korean Buddhist thought 'in action' (warts and all) and to an understanding of Zen in general. But most of all it is a very welcome counterpoint to the patriarchal tradition that so far has been the exclusive focus of research on Korean Buddhism.--Sem Vermeersch, Seoul National University Seoul Journal of Korean Studies, 28:1 (August 2014) Author Jin Park packs a lot into the small book: A biography of Korean Buddhist writer Iryop Kim, Asian studies Buddhism and women, comparative philosophies, and feminism. The significant part of the book is the biography of Korean Zen Buddhist Iryop Kim. . . . [T]he book is a rewarding read, and an important one. Kim's writings have contributed to the cultural heritage of a nation, offering relevant wisdom and insights to the modem reader, East or West.-- Korean Quarterly Better known as a literary figure during the Japanese colonial period and as an advocate for the New Woman's movement in Korea during the 1920s, Iryop was ordained in the early 1930s, effectively giving up her career as a writer to pursue her spiritual vocation. She returned to writing only later in life, and Reflections of a Zen Buddhist Nun is largely a translation of Iryop's book Onu sudoin ui hoesang, which was published in 1960, nearly three decades after she first became a Buddhist nun. . . . It seems clear that Park has chosen to make her translation as straightforward and accessible as possible for nonspecialists, while still providing some of the annotations that a specialist would want, and the result is a very smooth and highly readable translation of a fascinating book.--Mark A. Nathan, University at Buffalo, SUNY Journal of Korean Religions, 6:1 (2015) Park's important edition of Iryop's writings will interest those readers concerned not only with modern Korean intellectual history and Korean Buddhism but also with examples of reflective or philosophical autobiography, experiences of crisis and conversion, and how one singular person responds to her existential condition.-- Philosophy East & West Park's translations of Kim Iryop provide a valuable glimpse of the diversity of individuals that comprise Korean modernism and Buddhism in the early twentieth century.-- Religious Studies Review

Author Information

Jin Y. Park is professor of Asian and comparative philosophy and religion and founding director of the Asian studies program at American University. Robert E. Buswell, Jr. holds the Irving and Jean Stone Endowed Chair in Humanities at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), where he is also Distinguished Professor of Buddhist Studies in the Department of Asian Languages and Cultures and founding director of the university’s Center for Buddhist Studies and Center for Korean Studies.

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