Yi Sang
Kim Haegyŏng, also known by his art name Yi Sang, was a writer and poet who lived in Korea under Japanese rule. Although he was a poet, he did not receive specialized education in Korean language or creative writing, and instead majored in architecture at Gyeongseong Industrial High School, now known as Seoul National University of Science and Technology. After contracting tuberculosis in 1933, Yi Sang quit his job as a public official and ran a café, continuing his literary exchanges with the Guinhoe group. He died in Japan in April 1937.
He is well known for his poems and novels, such as Crow's Eye View and The Wings. Among them, Crow's Eye View received strong protests from the people at the time as not being a proper poem. Fellow poet Park Tae-won wrote in his memorial essay that people called Crow's Eye View "the sleep talk of a lunatic." Yi Sang's work contains various scientific symbols and terms, and is structurally very difficult to understand as it contains many experimental attempts. He uses wordplay through homonyms and also uses pictures in his works. He is considered as a pivotal and revolutionary figure of modern Korean literature.
Biography
Early life
Kim Haegyŏng was born in Seoul, Korea, on September 23, 1910, as the eldest of two sons and one daughter of Kim Yeun-chang and Park Se-chang.Yi's great-grandfather, Kim Hak-jun, held the rank of 'Jeong 3 Pum Dangsangwan' in the Joseon Dynasty. He lived in a very affluent household, but the [Annexation of Korea|annexation of Japanese Korea|Korea by Japan] led to a decline in the family's fortunes. His father worked in letterpress printing for a palace before his birth, but after an accident that cut off his finger, he became a barber instead. Yi Sang was raised by his uncle Kim Yeon-Pil as an adoptive son since 1913, as Yeon-Pil and his wife had no children at the time of his birth. Later, however, Yeon-Pil took Kim Young-Sook as his concubine and the son she already had, Kim Moon-Kyung, became a legal son of Yeon-Pil. Yi spent time at his uncle's house even during his tenure as an official in the Government-General of Korea.
Yi Sang's had his primary and secondary education at Sinmyeong School, Donggwang School and Posung High School. He graduated from Poseong High School as a 4th graduate. He met his friend Koo Bon-Woong at Sinmyeong School. While attending Boseong High School, he became an aspiring artist with interest in art, and his academic performance reached a higher level. However, because his uncle insisted, Yi chose to enter Gyeongseong Technical College in 1926. Yi majored in architecture and graduated from the college with 1st place honors in 1928. His first known use of his art name Yi Sang was in the graduation photobook. There is testimony that Yi's art name originated from the art box he received as a gift from Koo Bon-woong. Since the art box he received was made of plum wood, Yi Sang is interpreted to mean 'plum wood box'. Additionally, in his work 'Wings', he expressed his art name as 'Ri Sang' rather than 'Yi Sang'.
In April 1929, with a recommendation from the college, he got a job as a public official in the architecture team of the Department of Domestic affairs of the Government-General of Korea. In November, he changed positions in the government to work as part of the building maintenance team of the Department of Secretariat and Accounting.
In December 1929, he became a member of the Joseon Architecture Society, which mainly comprised Japanese architects in Korea. Yi won first and third prizes in a design contest for the cover of Joseon and Architecture, a journal issued by the Joseon Architecture Society.
Kim Yeon-pil, a father's elder brother who took care of the above growth process, died of Cerebral hemorrhage on May 7, 1932.
Career
Most of Yi's works were produced during the 1930s.In 1930, he serialized his first literature work December 12th on the Korean version of the magazine Joseon, which was a magazine issued by the Government-General of Korea to promote their colony policies.
In July 1931, Yi released the following six Japanese poems on Joseon and Architecture:A Strange Reversible Reaction The Scenery of Broken Parts The Amusement of ▽ The Beard BOITEUX · BOITEUSEThe Empty Stomach.
Eight Japanese poems under the name "Bird's-Eye View" on Joseon and Architecture :Two People ····1···· Two People ····2···· A Nervously Obese Triangle LE URINEFace Movement Confession of A Crazy Woman Entertainment Angel
In October 1931, he released a set of seven Japanese poems under the name "Three-Dimensional Angle Blueprint". The title of each poem is Memorandum on the Line 1, ···, and Memorandum on the Line 7.
In March and April 1932, Yi released two Korean novels: Darkroom of a Map and Suspension of Business and Circumstances on the magazine Joseon. He used different pen names on these two pieces: "Bigu" for the former and "Bosan" for the latter.
A series of seven Japanese poems under the name Building Infinite Hexahedral Bodies :AU MAGASIN DE NOUVEAUTES, Rough Map Under Heat No. 2 ; 열하약도 No. 2 )Diagnosis 0:1 Twenty-two years The Publication Law Departure of Mr. Cha 8 Midday—Some ESQUISSE—.
In 1933, he released the following Korean poems: A Flower Tree This Kind of Poem 1933, 6, 1 Mirror.
In 1934, Yi released the following Korean poems and essays:보통기념Three States of Blood Calligraphy Crow's-Eye View History of the Cane Soyeong Wije A Fall of Walks.
Three States of Blood Calligraphy was a set of five essays:Oscar Wilde Sensual Forgery Mr. Hyde An Evil Spirit's Appreciation The Third Blood Calligraphy
Crow's Eye View was a set of 15 poems, each titled from Poem No. 1 to Poem No. 15. Three poems from the series had an additional title: Poem No. 8 Dissection, Poem No. 9 Muzzle, Poem No. 10 Butterfly. Some of the poems from Crow's-Eye View were parodies of his early Japanese work, Building Infinite Hexahedral Bodies.
Jebi and Guinhoe
In 1933, Yi began coughing up blood due to tuberculosis, which forced him to quit his work as a public official. He opened a coffee house, Jebi, where he interacted with other writers and artists.In 1934, Yi joined the Guinhoe, a literary organization formed on August 26, 1933, to pursue pure literature, as opposed to the Korean Artists’ Proletarian Federation, an organization that pursued proletarian literature. The group recruited individuals associated with the cultural departments of daily newspapers, aiming for members who could withstand criticism from the KAPF. Mentioned individuals included Lee Tae-jun, Lee Moo-young, and Kim Ki-rim. To show its character as a literary circle, famous writers at the time such as Lee Hyo-seok, Jung Ji-yong, and Yoo Chi-jin joined the Guinhoe. However, although two individuals closely associated with the KAPF had established the Guinhoe to counter KAPF, the group's character gradually solidified into that of a simple social gathering. As a result, many of the early members of the group, including Kim Yoo-young, Lee Jong-myung, Lee Moo-young, and Lee Hyo-seok, withdrew. Park Tae-won and Yi Sang filled their vacancies. The Guinhoe then began to take on a direction different from its initial purpose. The increase in members with academic backgrounds, particularly those majoring in English literature, suggests that these individuals began to emerge as a force in Korean literature.
In 1935, Yi had to close the Jebi due to financial difficulties, and he broke up with Geumhong. Cafe Tsuru and Coffee Shop 69 in Insa-dong were opened and transferred, and after managing Coffee Shop Mugi in Myeong-dong, he healed in Seongcheon and Incheon right after he closed it. He then moved back to his family’s shack settlement beneath Beontigo-gae in Sindang-ri—a slum he later dubbed “the paulownia-hill ghetto”—where extreme poverty, recurring tuberculosis, and a slum fire that destroyed some thirty homes on 31 January 1936 formed the bleak backdrop for his next poems.
In 1936, Yi Sang edited the Guinhoe's magazine, Poetry and Novels, published by Changmunsa under the aegis of Koo Bon-Woong. His "Street Exterior, Street Passage" was published in this journal. That February he also issued the five-poem cycle Ruk-Dan in Catholic Youth, breaking his habit of publishing only in summer and recording a record −20 °C cold spell and winter haemoptysis in Gyeongseong. After partially recovering and marrying Byeon Dong-rim in June, he unveiled the twelve-poem cycle Wi-Dok between 4 and 9 October 1936. Of roughly seventy poems he published during his lifetime, about seventy-five percent appeared in serial form, Wi-Dok being the last. His short story "Diary Before Death" and his personal memoir "Monotony" were published posthumously in Tokyo.
In November 1936, Yi went to Japan. In February 1937, he was investigated by the Nishi-Ganda Police Station in Tokyo on ideological charges. After being investigated for about a month, he was released from prison due to worsening tuberculosis. Yi was hospitalized at the Tokyo Imperial University Hospital, and died on April 17 at the age of 26. His wife, Byun Dong-rim, moved to Japan immediately after hearing that Yi Sang was in critical condition. After Yi Sang died, she cremated his ashes and buried them in Miari Cemetery. Later, according to Byun, she had asked him what he wanted to eat, and he died soon after leaving the words, "Sembikiya's melon." Park Tae-won, a fellow writer and friend of Yi's, mentioned the following: "He loved girls so much, loved alcohol, loved his friends, and loved literature, but not a half of that love went for his body. His death is named as death from illness, but isn't the essence of this death suicide? Such suspicions become intense."
Literary relationships
Jeong Ji-yong (鄭芝溶)
Jeong Ji-yong is a founding member of the Guinhoe to which Yi Sang belongs. In 1933, he served as an editorial advisor to <Catholic Youth >, playing a major role in promoting Yi Sang's poems. With the help of Jeong Ji-yong, Yi sang published works such as "꽃나무" and "이런시" in Korean in <Catholic Youth>.Park Tae-won (朴泰遠)
Yi Sang and Park Tae-won were born around the same time and both hailed from the four gates of Gyeongseong, now known as Seoul. This shared origin is an important clue to understanding their literary worlds.Both Park Tae-won and Yi Sang were members of the Guinhoe, which they joined in 1934. They first met at Dabang Jebi, a coffee house opened by Yi Sang in Jong-no 1-ga. Their first meeting is estimated to have occurred in June or July 1933. Kim Ki-rim, another Guinhoe member, and Ko Un wrote that Jebi opened in July 1933, while Yi Sang's sister, Kim Ok-hee, mentioned June of the same year. The story of their first meeting is recounted in Park Tae-won's memoir for Yi Sang, "Yi Sang-ui Pyeonmo", written after Yi Sang's death. Park Tae-won was intrigued by Yi Sang as a poet and his poem "Movement".
Maintaining their relationship, Park Tae-won and Yi Sang collaborated with the newspaper Joseon-Jungang-ilbo to publish a series of Yi Sang's poems, Crow's Eye View ], and Park's novel, A Day in the Life of Novelist Mr. Gubo. Yi Sang also created illustrations for Park Tae-won's novel. Despite facing harsh criticism for the abstruseness of their literature, they continued their literary endeavors. After Yi Sang's admission to Guinhoe in the fall of 1934, they focused on the publication of the bulletin "Poet and Novel".
They also shared literary themes in works like Yi Sang's poem "Movement" and Park Tae-won's short story "Bangranjang Juin ", both written in a single sentence. Park Tae-won's novels often repeat similar themes and patterns, one of which is A Novel Report on Yi Sang's Private Life, including works such as Aeyog, Bogo, Yi Sang-ui Bilyeon, Yeomcheon, and Jebi.
The main character of the novel Aeyog is believed to be modeled after Yi Sang, hinted by Yi Sang's pen name "Hae-yung," who drew an illustration for A Day in the Life of Novelist Mr. Gubo. Jebi is a novel based on the tea house 'Jebi' run by Yi Sang, by Park Tae-won.
Park Tae-won and Yi Sang were inseparable, sharing not only their literary endeavors but also their indulgences, depressions, and moments of decadence. Park Tae-won's house in Da-dong was a refuge for Yi Sang whenever he was beaten by Geum-Hong, who lived with him. However, their close relationship ended with Yi Sang's death in Tokyo.
Kim Ki-rim (金起林)
Kim Ki-rim, a poet and a newspaper reporter at the Chosun Ilbo, was one of the founding members of Guinhoe. Yi Sang was initially introduced to Kim by Park Tae-won. During their first encounter, they discussed Jules Renard, Salvador Dalí, and René Clair. Kim became interested in Yi because of their shared aesthetic affinity for surrealism. Yi Sang designed the cover of Kim Ki-rim's poetry collection, "Gisangdo".Between 1936 and 1937, Yi Sang sent seven letters to Kim Ki-rim, which are still preserved today under the title 'To Kim Ki-rim'. During this period, Yi moved to mainland Japan and was close to death due to tuberculosis. These letters reflect Yi's everyday thoughts and experiences. For instance, in the fourth letter, Yi mentions René Clair, the French filmmaker, and criticizes his movie, "The Ghost Goes West." The letters also highlight their close relationship. Yi frequently discussed the progress of his works, such as "The Wings" and "Diary Before Death", requesting Kim's opinions on them. Additionally, Yi commented on a paper by Choi Jae-seo, a Korean literature critic, who criticized works like "The Wings (날개)".
After Yi Sang's death, Kim Ki-rim wrote a tribute titled "Memories of the Late Yi Sang". In this tribute, he recognized Yi's death as a "tragedy of a reduced-printed era", placing Yi's death within a historical context. In 1949, Kim Ki-rim collected Yi Sang's works and published the first collected works, "Yi Sang Seon-jip".
Koo Bon-Woong (具本雄)
Koo Bon-Woong was a painter and art critic who graduated from the . He first met Yi Sang at Sinmyeong School. Koo, who had a hunchback, attended school intermittently due to health problems and ended up graduating alongside Yi Sang, who was four years younger. Teased because of his hunchback, Koo developed a keen interest in art. Similarly, Yi Sang, who also had a strong interest in art, became friends with Koo, supporting and respecting him. This marked the beginning of their relationship, which continued into adulthood.In 1933, to care for Yi Sang, who had quit his job as a public official due to illness, Koo Bon-Woong took him to Baechon Hot Springs in Hwanghae Province. Baechon Hot Springs is also known as the place where Yi Sang first met Geum-Hong. After Yi Sang's health slightly improved, he and Geum-Hong returned to Seoul and opened a coffee shop called "Jebi". It is said that Koo Bon-Woong's painting, "Still Object with a Doll", was displayed in this café.
After Jebi closed down, Yi Sang had no means of livelihood. He eventually found work as a proofreader at Koo Bon-Woong's printing press. There, with Koo's assistance, Yi Sang founded a literary magazine called "Poetry and Novel", featuring works from members of Guinhoe. Although only the inaugural issue was produced due to a lack of active participation from the members, Yi Sang's postscript in the magazine shows that Koo Bon-Woong was a fervent supporter of Yi Sang's artistic activities.
Furthermore, Yi Sang's last lover, Byun Dong-Rim, was the younger sister of Koo Bon-Woong's stepmother. This somewhat unusual relationship was due to the fact that Koo's stepmother was not significantly older than Koo. Yi Sang and Koo were close, often spending time together at 'Ugodang,' Koo's studio and office, as coworkers. Yi Sang frequently drew pictures there. When Yi Sang was struggling with a series of business failures, Koo got him a job at a publishing company, Changmunsa, founded by his father in 1935. Koo Bon-Woong painted his friend Yi Sang in a well-known work called "Portrait of a Friend".
Relationships with women
In Yi Sang's poetry, women appear in various forms, but they commonly exhibit behaviors of fleeing from or becoming disconnected from the poetic speaker. This reflects Yi Sang's feelings of anxiety and alienation in his relationships with women. In his poems, women are always drifting away, leaving the speaker with a sense of loss and loneliness. This portrayal poetically expresses the complex relationships and inner conflicts Yi Sang experienced. The motifs of women in Yi Sang's poetry can be largely identified as three figures: Geum-Hong, Kwon Soon-ok, and Byeon Dong-lim. Particularly, women modeled after Geum-Hong tend to flee from the poetic speaker. Ultimately, the women depicted by Yi Sang can be interpreted as symbols of his deep-seated loneliness and sense of disconnection.Geum-Hong (錦紅)
In 1933, 23-year-old Yi Sang first encountered Geum-Hong, who was a kisaeng, during a trip to Baechon Hot Springs to recuperate from tuberculosis. They developed a romantic relationship and managed a coffee house called 'Jebi' on Jong-no 1st Street, Gyeongseong. Yi Sang designated Geum-Hong as the manager of the coffee house, and they lived together for an estimated two years. However, their relationship was tumultuous due to financial difficulties. Geum-Hong frequently stayed out, and Yi Sang would lash out at her by mentioning her previous life as a kisaeng. As a result, she would physically beat him and often run away from home, leading to their eventual breakup. Consequently, in September 1935, the coffee house Jebi closed down.Their love story is depicted in Yi Sang's novel, 'Bongbyeolgi', which means 'A Story of Meeting and Parting'. Geum-Hong is also implicitly portrayed in his short story 'The Wings' under the name Yeon-shim-i, her real name. Furthermore, Yi Sang's poems reveal the dynamics between him and Geum-Hong. In the poems "危篤:追求" and "明鏡", Geum-Hong is always trying to escape from Yi Sang, which fills him with sorrow each time. However, in the poem "ㆍ素ㆍ榮ㆍ爲ㆍ題ㆍ" and the novel "The Wings", despite his sadness, Yi Sang does not deeply dwell on Geum-Hong's acts of infidelity and prostitution. These aspects highlight the unique nature of their relationship.
Gwon Sun-ok
After the failure of the coffeehouse Jebi, Yi Sang took over the café 'Tsuru' by mortgaging his parents' house. He recruited Kwon Soon-ok, who had worked as a waitress at another café, 'Angel'. Kwon Soon-ok was highly educated and had broad interactions with other writers, such as Jeong In-taek. While Yi Sang fell for her, their romantic relationship never fully developed. Jeong In-taek had a secret crush on her, leading to a love triangle. Jeong In-taek even attempted suicide to win her favor, and after this incident, Kwon Soon-ok and Jeong In-taek married. Ironically, Yi Sang presided over their wedding ceremony. Following Jeong In-taek's death, Kwon Soon-ok remarried Park Tae-won.Byeon Dong-rim (卞東琳)
Byeon Dong-rim, a writer introduced to Yi Sang by Gu Bon-woong, became his wife. Yi Sang and Byeon Dong-rim met in 1936 through this introduction. Only three months into their marriage, Yi Sang left for Tokyo alone, where his health sharply deteriorated. He was transferred to Tokyo Imperial University Hospital in a severe state, worsened by a sudden arrest. Upon hearing the news, Byeon Dong-rim traveled to Tokyo within two days. After just four months of marriage, Yi Sang died in her presence.Their feelings towards each other can be traced through Yi Sang's "Tokyo" and Byeon Dong-rim's "Moonlight Heart". According to Byeon Dong-rim's essay "Moonlight Heart," shortly before his death, Yi Sang reportedly said he wanted to eat "Senbikiya's melon." Byeon Dong-rim went to buy the melon to fulfill Yi Sang's final request, but sadly, Yi Sang did not get to eat it.
In later years, Byeon Dong-rim reflected on Yi Sang's death, stating, "He lived a most brilliant, enchanted life. The 27 years he spent on this earth were enough time for a genius to fully blossom and then fade away."
Perception and legacy
Yi Sang is renowned as perhaps the most famous avant-garde writer of the colonial era. His work experiments with language, interiority, and the separation from oneself and the external world. His poetry was influenced by Western literary concepts such as Dadaism and Surrealism. In particular, the "Crow's Eye View" reject semantic interpretation, and the text itself functions as an event equivalent to reality. This embodies text reality, a core characteristic of the avant-garde, and defines the work as a performance that directly transforms reality, not just a reflection. Direct references to Western literature are rare in his writings, but in "Three-Dimensional Angle Blueprint ", there is a notable mention that suggests such influence. The inclusion of Faust and Mephisto in this piece has been interpreted by some as being inspired by Faust, the famous work by German writer Goethe. Yi's background in architecture also influenced his work, often incorporating the languages of mathematics and architecture, including lines, dots, number systems, equations, and diagrams. Yi Sang possessed a certain familiarity with Christianity, which is reflected in his literary works. References to Jesus appear frequently, and he also contributed writings to a Catholic magazine. In his poem cycle "Two People ", he mentions the Mount of Olives, where, according to the Bible, Jesus prayed for forty days. The poem notably draws a contrast between the image of Jesus and that of Al Capone, the American mafia figure active during the 1930s.His literary legacy is marked by his modernist tendencies, evident throughout his body of work. His poems reveal the desolate internal landscape of modern humanity. For example, "Crow's Eye View Poem No. 1" uses an anti-realist technique to condense themes of anxiety and fear. His stories dismantle traditional fiction forms to depict the conditions of modern life. The Wings, for instance, employs a stream-of-consciousness technique to express the alienation of modern individuals, who are fragmented commodities unable to connect with quotidian realities.
Yi Sang did not receive much recognition for his writing during his lifetime. However, his works began to be reprinted in the 1950s. His reputation soared in the 1970s, and the Yi Sang Literary Award was established in 1977. In 2007, he was listed by the Korean Poets' Association among the ten most important modern Korean poets. His most famous short story is "The Wings", and his poem "Crow's Eye View" is also well-known.
In 1960, a previously unpublished manuscript written in Japanese by Yi Sang was discovered and introduced by literary critic Jo Yeon-hyeon through the magazines Literary Thought and Contemporary Literature. The manuscript, written in vertical Japanese script across 64 pages of grid-lined paper the size of a university notebook, was composed with remarkable precision. It was written on graph paper typically used for architectural design, evoking the geometric structure of blueprints. However, significant portions of the text are difficult to decipher due to heavy graffiti and markings left by a third party.
Yi Sang's works are complex and often use ambiguous expressions, sometimes employing words that do not conform to conventional grammar. Most of his early poems and parts of his Posthumous Note were written in Japanese. The translations may not fully capture the intended meaning of Yi Sang's original works. Yi Sang’s Japanese poems were first translated into Korean in 1956 by Yoo Jung and Im Jong-guk. In fact, their translations involved liberal interpretation and were not cross-checked, resulting in inconsistencies in how words were translated. Therefore, to analyze his works accurately, it is preferable to understand them through the original texts rather than translations.
Yi Sang’s works are closely connected to mathematics and science. He adopted numbers and mathematical symbols as poetic language, distinguishing his literary imagination through these elements. In his first published poem, “異常ナ可逆反應”, geometric concepts such as “a circle of arbitrary radius” and “a line connecting a point inside and a point outside the circle” appear. Furthermore, in “Three-Dimensional Angle Blueprint”, mathematical expressions like and names of mathematicians such as Euclid are mentioned. Scientific knowledge from physics—such as spectrum, atom, and electron—also makes appearances in his work.
Some argue that it is worth considering quantum mechanics when interpreting Yi's works, and there is a study that specifically relates his poem "Crow's Eye View Poem No. 1" to quantum mechanics. His poetry also contains expressions that reflect concepts related to the theory of relativity. "Three-Dimensional Angle Blueprint", there is a line that poses the question, "If a person runs faster than light, can they see the light". Some interpret this as the writer's contemplation on the theory of relativity. Many of Yi Sang's works contain information related to physics. Quantum mechanics was first introduced to Joseon in 1936 in an article by Do Sang-rok, published in the monthly magazine "Jogwang". While quantum mechanics were not well-studied in Joseon, it is also possible that he learned about quantum mechanics from Japanese-language sources, given that he was fluent in Japanese and read many Japanese-language magazines. An article about Einstein's theory of relativity was also published in the first volume of Gongwoo, a magazine created by graduates of Gyeonseong Technical College.
Gwangju Institute of Science and Technology has a 'Yi Sang's Literature and Science' course, which specializes in the analysis of Yi Sang's literary works from the perspective of science and various languages. Four papers on Yi Sang were published from the course.
Published works
After his death, from 1937 to 1939, 16 of his posthumous works were released, including poems, essays, and novels. In 1956, nine more Japanese poems were found and their Korean translations were released. In the following years, more draft notes in Japanese, which are almost certainly thought to be Yi Sang's for several reasons, were found, and they were translated into Korean and introduced from 1960 to 1976.Since 1960, a total of 26 works by Yi Sang have been discovered. Of these, 25 were published from Yi Sang's posthumous manuscripts acquired by critic Jo Yeon-hyeon. The 「Hwang 」 series is composed of works written in Yi Sang's early notebooks, which remained unpublished until his death. After his passing, the manuscripts were discovered in the possession of Jo Yeon-hyeon. Regarding the discovery process, Jo Yeon-hyeon explained, "Some time ago, a student named Lee Yeon-bok from the night school at Hanyang University brought an old notebook to me. Although it was my first time meeting him, it was immediately evident that he was a literary enthusiast and particularly fond of Yi Sang. The notebook he presented was a draft book of Yi Sang's Japanese poems. Lee had found this notebook while visiting the house of his friend, Kim Jong-sun, who runs a furniture store. Kim's older brother had acquired the notebook, which had been used as waste paper, from an acquaintance who owned an antiquarian bookstore. About 90% of the roughly 100-page notebook was already damaged, with only about 10% remaining intact. Although Lee Yeon-bok was not proficient in Japanese, he was intrigued by the characters written in the notebook. He obtained the notebook and, after comparing it with various sources, including <李箱全集>, he surmised that it was an unpublished manuscript by Yi Sang and brought it to me."
Works in Korean
| Year | Title | Translated Title | Year | Publisher |
| 1930 | 十二月 十二日 | December 12 | 1930 | 朝鮮 |
| Year | Title | Translated Title | Publisher | Remarks |
| 1932 | 地圖의 暗室 | Darkroom of a Map | 朝鮮 March | With pen name '比久' |
| 1932 | 休業과 事情 | Shutdown & Reasons | 朝鮮 April | |
| 1934 | 지팽이 轢死 | 月刊每申 March | ||
| 1936 | 鼅鼄會豕 | Ji-Ju-Whoe-Shi | 中央 June | The title means "two spiders that met a pig" |
| 1936 | 날개 | The Wings | 朝光 September | |
| 1936 | 逢別記 | Bongbyeolgi | 女性 December | The Title means "a writing of meet and separate" |
| 1937 | 童骸 | Child's Remains | 朝光 February | |
| 1937 | 황소와 도깨비 | The Bull and the Goblin | 每日申報 March 5–9 | Fable / Fairy tale |
| 1937 | 終生記 | 朝光 May | ||
| 1938 | 幻視記 | Record of Illusions | 靑色紙 June | |
| 1939 | 失花 | Flower Loss | 文章 March | |
| 1939 | 斷髮 | Hair Cut | 朝鮮 April | |
| 1939 | 金裕貞 | Kim Yu Jeong | 靑色紙 May | - |
| Year | Title | Translated Title | Publisher | Remarks |
| 1934 | 血書三態 | 新女性 June | ||
| 1934 | 산책의 가을 | The autumn of a walk | 新東亞 October | |
| 1935 | 현대미술의 요람 | The cradle of modern art | 每日新報 March 14 ~ March 23 | |
| 1935 | 山村餘情 | 每日新報 September 27 ~ October 11 | ||
| 1936 | 문학을 버리고 문화를 상상할 수 없다 | I can't imagine culture without literature | 朝鮮中央日報 January 6 | |
| 1936 | 나의 애송시 | My favorite poem | 中央 January | |
| 1936 | 논단시감 | 朝鮮日報 January 24 ~ January 28 | ||
| 1936 | 西望栗島 | 朝光 March | ||
| 1936 | 早春點描 | 每日新報 March 3 ~ March 26 | ||
| 1936 | 편집후기 | 詩와 小說 March | ||
| 1936 | 女像四題 | 女性 April | ||
| 1936 | 내가 좋아하는 화초와 내 집의 화초 | 朝光 May | ||
| 1936 | 약수 | 中央 July | ||
| 1936 | EPIGRAM | 女性 August | ||
| 1936 | 아름다운 조선말 | The Beautiful Korean Language | 中央 September | |
| 1936 | 행복 | Happiness | 女性 October | |
| 1936 | 가을의 探勝處 | 朝光 October | ||
| 1936 | 秋橙雜筆 | 每日新報 October 14 ~ October 28 | ||
| 1937 | 십구세기식 | 三四文學 April | ||
| 1937 | 공포의 기록 | Records of Horror | 每日新報 April 25 ~ May 15 | |
| 1937 | 권태 | Monotony | 朝鮮日報 May 4 ~ May 11 | |
| 1937 | 슬픈이야기 | A Sad Story | 文章 June | |
| 1937 | 오감도 작자의 말 | Remarks from the author of "Crow's Eye View" | 文章 June | According to Park Tae-won's eulogy Yi Sang's flagella |
| 1936 | 김기림에게 2 | To Kim Ki-rim | Letter to send Kim Ki-rim | |
| 1936 | 김기림에게 3 | To Kim Ki-rim | Letter to send Kim Ki-rim | |
| 1936 | 김기림에게 4 | To Kim Ki-rim | Letter to send Kim Ki-rim | |
| 1936 | 김기림에게 5 | To Kim Ki-rim | Letter to send Kim Ki-rim | |
| 1936 | 김기림에게 6 | To Kim Ki-rim | Letter to send Kim Ki-rim | |
| 1936 | 김기림에게 7 | To Kim Ki-rim | Letter to send Kim Ki-rim | |
| 1936 | 김기림에게 8 | To Kim Ki-rim | Letter to send Kim Ki-rim | |
| 1936 | 안필승에게 | Letter to send Ahn Hoenam | ||
| 1936 | 남동생 김운경에게 | To my brother Kim Un-Gyeong | Letter to send his brother Kim Un-gyeong | |
| 1936 | 아포리즘 | Aphorism | 詩와 小說 March | |
| 1939 | 아포리즘 | Aphorism | 文章 July | |
| - | 아포리즘 | Aphorism | 京城高等工業 - 專門學校 Photo album | - |
Works in Japanese
| Year | Title | Translated Title | Publisher |
| 1935 | 船の歴史 | The history of ships | 新兒童 October |
| 1960 | 얼마 안되는 변해 | 現代文學 November | |
| 1960 | |||
| 1960 | |||
| 1960 | 이 아해들에게 장난감을 주라 | 現代文學 December | |
| 1960 | 모색 | 現代文學 December | |
| 1960 | 現代文學 December | ||
| 1961 | 습작 쇼오윈도우 수점 | 現代文學 February | |
| 1976 | 첫번째 방랑 | 文學思想 July | |
| 1976 | 불행한 계승 | 文學思想 July | |
| 1976 | 객혈의 아침 | 文學思想 July | |
| 1976 | 獚의 記 作品 第二番 | 文學思想 July | |
| 1976 | 作品 第三番 | Work No. 3 | 文學思想 July |
| 1986 | 공포의 기록 | 文學思想 October | |
| 1986 | 공포의 성채 | 文學思想 October | |
| 1986 | 야색 | 文學思想 October | |
| 1986 | 단상 | 文學思想 October | |
| 2000 | 낙랑 파라의 새로움 | The Newness of Nakrang Para | 韓國文學硏究 |
Works translated into English
[Yi Sang: Selected Works '', Seattle and New York: Wave Books, 2020..The Wings, Seoul: Jimoondang Publishing, 2001..Three Poets of Modern Korea: Yi Sang, Hahm Dong-seon, and Choi Young-mi, Louisville: Sarabande Books, 2002.- Yi Sang, "Wings," translated by Walter K. Lew, in
In popular culture
Yi Sang inspired numerous contemporary cultural works including video games, musicals, music and movies.Films and TV shows
- The Mystery of the Cube. Directed by Yoo Sang-wook.
- The Wings of Lee Sang. A 59-minute romance short film produced by the Korea Art Film Company. The film was directed by Choi In-hyeon and features actors Shin Sung-il, Nam Jeong-im, Moon hee and Choi Bul-am.
- My dear KeumHong. A 96-minute feature film produced by Taeheung Film Company. Directed by Kim Yoo-jin, the film stars Kim Kap-soo, Kim Soo-chul, Lee Ji-eun, and Yoon Jeong-bin.
- Yi Sang and more.
is the eighth installment of the 70-minute MBC drama festival season 1, which aired on MBC from Nov. 28, 2013. The director is Choi Jung-kyu, actor Cho Seung-woo plays Yi Sang, and other actors such as Park Ha-sun, Jung Kyung-ho, and Han Sang-jin appear.
Musicals
- Smoke. Produced by Double K Entertainment, draws inspiration from Yi Sang's "Crow's Eye View." It explores the lives of three characters who represent different facets of Yi Sang's persona. The musical's narrative and lyrics include direct references to Yi Sang's literary works, and it delves into the psychological and existential struggles depicted in his writings.
- Fan Letter. First released in 2016,
is a 160-minute musical produced by Live. The song was written by Han Jae-eun and composed by Park Hyun-sook. Based on the 1930s-era anecdotes of "Yi Sang," "Kim Yoo-jung," and the "Guinhoe". - L'art reste. First released on September 6, 2022,
- Kkood bye, Yi Sang. Organized by the Seoul Arts Center,
is based on the 2016 original novel of the same name.
Other
- The character Yi Sang, who is based on a real person, appears in Project Moon's role-playing game Limbus Company. In the game, Yi Sang is portrayed as a talented scientist, mirroring the author's real-life career as an architectural engineer during the colonial period. The character's dialogues often reference Yi Sang's poems, such as "The Wings" and "Mirror," reflecting the profound themes of time and existence found in his works.
- Shin Hae Gyeong, a contemporary musician, frequently draws on Yi Sang's literary themes in his music. His stage name and several album titles are direct references to Yi Sang's works. For instance, his name is taken from Yi Sang's real name, Kim Hae-kyung. His album My Reversible Reaction is inspired by Yi Sang's poem "A Strange Reversible Reaction." At the end of the music video "And then", a phrase from Yi Sang's novel Bonbyeolgi, "속아도 꿈결, 속여도 꿈결" appears directly. His music often captures the melancholic and introspective tone of Yi Sang's poetry, creating a modern dialogue with the poet's legacy.