| Chae Man-sik | |
| Birth Date: | 17 June 1902 |
| Birth Place: | Okgu, North Jeolla Province, Korean Empire |
| Language: | Korean |
| Nationality: | South Korean |
| Citizenship: | South Korean |
| Hangul: | 채만식 |
| Hanja: | 蔡萬植 |
| Rr: | Chae Man-sik |
| Mr: | Ch'ae Mansik |
| Hangulho: | 백릉 |
| Hanjaho: | 白菱 |
| Rrho: | Baengneung |
| Mrho: | Paengnŭng |
Chae Man-sik or Ch'ae Mansik (June 17, 1902 – June 11, 1950) was a Korean novelist known for his satirical bent.[1]
Chae Man-sik was born in (now Gunsan), North Jeolla Province, South Korea, to a family of the Pyeonggang Chae clan. He graduated from and attended Waseda University in Tokyo, Japan. He worked as a reporter for the publications Dong-a Ilbo, Chosun Ilbo, and ,[2] as well as working as an editor for the Gaebyeok Publishing Company's many magazines, including (Comet) and Jeilseon (Frontline).[3] Chae Man-sik entered the literary scene with the publication of his short story "Toward the Three Paths" (1924). He first gained critical attention ten years later with the publication of the short story "A Ready-Made Life" (1934). In 1936 he moved to Kaesong (now in North Korea) to devote himself solely to creative writing.
After publishing his first short story, "Toward the Three Paths" (1924) in the magazine, Chae Man-sik's literary career began. His early stories and plays were written from a class-sensitive perspective, and, with the publication of "A Ready-Made Life" (1934), he began to focus his attention specifically on the plight of intellectuals and artists during an era of colonial oppression, which he expanded upon in later works such as "An Intellectual and Mung-Bean Cake" and "My Innocent Uncle" (1938).
Having been arrested by the Japanese colonial government in 1938 as a result of his affiliation with the Society for Reading, Chae Man-sik was released on the condition that he participate in a pro-Japanese literary organization, the . Chae complied, writing a handful of pro-Japanese works as a result, including a celebratory account of what he had observed when visiting the Japanese Army's Manchurian Front in December 1942.[3] After Korea's liberation from Japanese colonial rule, however, Chae Man-sik openly reproached the pro-Japanese actions of Korean intellectuals at the end of the colonial period, his own included, by writing such works as Sinner Against the Nation and "The Path of History" (1946).
Until his death in 1950 (shortly before the outbreak of the Korean War), Chae Man-sik continued to produce satires of contemporary society in post-liberation Korea. The short stories "Constable Maeng" (1946) and "Story of a Rice Paddy" are particularly noteworthy in this regard, focusing on the turbulence and confusion of a society embarking upon the difficult process of rebuilding a nation. He published over 290 works in total throughout his life, including novels, short stories, essays, plays, and reviews.
Chae Man-sik's collected works were published in 1989 in the quarterly magazine Creation and Criticism by the publishing house (formerly known as Creation and Criticism until 2003).[3]