Boucquey Thierry (General Editor). Encyclopedia Of World Writers. 3 volumes

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“The Living Flame of Love,” a four-stanza poem ac-

companied by commentary in which he compares

the knowledge of God to a consuming fire.

John’s writings were not collected until his

death and not officially published by the Carmelite

Order until 1630. He was made a saint in 1726. He

is remembered as one of the best Christian mys-

tics and poets, as beloved as St. Francis of Assisi.

The Spiritual Canticle remains the best example of

the challenging ideals and beautiful language of

this highly disciplined and inspiring man.

English Versions of Works by

St. John of the Cross

The Collected Works of Saint John of the Cross. Trans-

lated by Kieran Kavanaugh and Otilio Rodriguez.

Washington, D.C.: ICS Publications, 1991.

The Poems of St. John of the Cross. Translated by Roy

Campbell. London: Harvill Press, 2000.

Works about St. John of the Cross

Burrows, Ruth. Ascent to Love: The Spiritual Teaching

of St. John of the Cross. Starrucca, Pa.: Dimension

Books, 2000.

Herrera, Robert A. Silent Music: The Life, Work, and

Thought of St. John of the Cross. Grand Rapids,

Mich.: William B. Eerdmans, 2004.

Jonson, Ben (1572–1637) dramatist, poet,

nonfiction writer

Ben Jonson was born in London. His father, a cler-

gyman, died before Jonson’s birth. Although his

mother then married a poor tradesman, Jonson re-

ceived a high-quality education at the Westminster

Grammar School. After stints as a bricklayer’s ap-

prentice and a military serviceman, he became an

actor. He had his first success as a playwright with

Every Man in His Humor (performed 1598, printed

1601), in which William SHAKESPEARE acted. Jonson’s

intent in this play and the ones that followed was to

mock, or satirize, the folly of his audiences so they

would be shamed into improving their behavior.

Shortly after Every Man in His Humor hit the

stage, Jonson was imprisoned for killing a man in a

duel. He admitted his guilt, but was released after

forfeiting his goods and being branded on the

thumb. The following year Every Man Out of His

Humor, which illustrates the shortcomings of jeal-

ous, overambitious people, was performed. The

play’s memorable characters include the miser

Macilente, the sarcastic clown Carlo Buffone, and

Puntarvolo, an arrogant knight, all of whom came

from the Italian tradition of the

COMMEDIA DEL-

L’ARTE. The onlookers Mitis and Cordatus com-

ment on the ridiculousness of these characters.

They are Jonson’s moral compass, the holders of a

perspective with whom we would like to identify,

even if we see ourselves in the fools.

In 1605 Jonson again found himself in jail,

briefly, for collaborating on Eastward Ho! (1605), a

comedy with references to the Scots that offended

the Scottish-born king James I. In spite of this dis-

agreement with King James, Jonson’s career flour-

ished during James’s reign and with the king’s

support.

By 1616 Jonson had written his greatest plays,

including Volpone, or the Fox (1605), a satire about

greed and the respect accorded to the wealthy

rather than the morally superior. Next came Epi-

coene, or the Silent Woman (1609), a critique of the

period’s contradictory view of women, which rep-

resented the ideal woman as a silent one.

The Alchemist (1610), a satire about supersti-

tions and how tricksters make use of them, was

written in supple blank verse and is arguably Jon-

son’s greatest achievement. The central character,

Subtle, a fraudulent alchemist (someone who is

supposedly able to turn ordinary metals into gold),

embodies the vice of greed. The play follows Sub-

tle’s hilariously successful swindles until he is

caught and punished through a marriage to the

obnoxious Dame Pliant. Jonson’s genius with plot

is evident in his ability to catch up his villain-he-

roes in their own schemes.

Jonson also composed masques, dramatic en-

tertainments with dances and music that were per-

formed at court, often by the royal family and their

friends. Jonson’s best masques include The Masque

of Blackness (1606), The Masque of Beauty (1608),

Jonson, Ben 127

and The Masque of Queens (1609). In addition to

the masque proper, which celebrates the order pro-

duced by royal authority, these works include what

Jonson called anti-masques, comic dramatizations

of the forces of misrule.

Jonson’s nondramatic poetry was held in such

high regard that in 1616 King James began giving

him a yearly salary for it. Jonson wrote in a wide

range of poetic forms, including epigrams, lyrics,

and tributes. His “Song: to Celia” is based on letters

by the Greek writer Philostratus. The poem’s open-

ing lines are among the most famous in English lit-

erature:

Drink to me only with thine eyes,

And I will pledge with mine;

Or leave a kiss but in the cup,

And I’ll not look for wine.

Jonson was also an important literary critic. His

critical stance was that of a neoclassicist. In his

own plays he observed classical ideals such as the

dramatic UNITIES, derived from Aristotle’s Poetics,

which require that a play contain one action that

takes place in a single day and in a single location.

In the neoclassicist view, a play that does not ob-

serve the unities puts too much strain on the au-

dience’s belief. Thus, Jonson’s famous observation

about Shakespeare, that he “wanted art,” means

not that Shakespeare is a bad writer, but that his

plays do not maintain the unities.

At the end of his life, Jonson was regarded by

many as England’s greatest living writer, and a

number of young poets, styling themselves as the

“Sons of Ben,” gathered around him to enjoy his

wit and learn their craft. After suffering a stroke in

1628, Jonson spent the remainder of his life

bedridden. Upon his death, he was buried in West-

minster Abbey, where he remains to this day be-

neath a tombstone reading “O rare Ben Jonson.”

Works by Ben Jonson

The Alchemist and Other Plays. Edited by Gordon

Campbell. New York: Oxford University Press,

1998.

The Complete Poems. Edited by George Parfitt. New

York: Penguin, 1988.

Works about Ben Jonson

Loewenstein, Joseph. Ben Jonson and Possessive Au-

thorship. New York: Cambridge University Press,

2002.

Mickel, Leslie. Ben Jonson’s Antimasques: A History of

Growth and Decline. Brookfield,Vt.: Ashgate Pub-

lishing, 1999.

Summers, Claude J., and Ted-Larry Pebworth. Ben

Jonson Revised. New York: Twayne, 1999.

Julian of Norwich (1342–ca. 1416)

religious writer

When Julian of Norwich was 30 years old, she ex-

perienced intense, spiritual visions that led her to

live as a religious recluse in a room attached to St.

Julian’s Church in Norwich, England. The practice

of living in seclusion was not uncommon during

the period, and those who chose to live such a life

were known as “anchorites.” Little is known about

Julian; even the name “Julian” refers not to her

Christian name but to the church she occupied.We

do know, however, the date of her life-changing vi-

sions—May 13, 1373—and we have four manu-

scripts of the narrative of her mystical encounters.

Julian’s Revelations of Divine Love (also known as

A Book of Showings) consists of a highly vivid ac-

count of the visions she encountered while severely

ill. These revelations are examined through a theo-

logically informed and spiritually sophisticated lens.

What likely strikes present-day readers most is not

Julian’s facility with both Latin and English but the

intense, graphic quality of her descriptions. She de-

scribes the blood that drips from Christ’s crown of

thorns as running down like heavy drops of rain

falling from the eaves of a house in a rainstorm. The

roundness of the drops, she adds, resembles the

scales of herrings. Perhaps even more startling,

however, is Julian’s comparison of Jesus to a mother

figure. “The mother,” she writes, “can lay her child

tenderly to her breast. But our tender Mother Jesus

can lead us . . . into his blessed breast . . ., and shew

128 Julian of Norwich

us . . . the joys of heaven . . . [and] endless bliss.” The

feminization of Christ, while rather unusual today,

was not uncommon during the period.

Revelations of Divine Love in some ways resem-

bles works by other religious mystics, such as

Margery KEMPE and the author of THE CLOUD OF UN-

KNOWING. Julian of Norwich’s emphasis, however,

is on Christ’s love for humankind, and the excite-

ment and inspiration she derived from her vision

sets her work apart.

English Versions of Works by

Julian of Norwich

A Lesson of Love: The Revelations of Julian of Norwich

(Unabridged). Lincoln, Neb.: iUniverse, 2003.

The Revelations of Divine Love of Julian of Norwich.

Translated by James Walsh. St. Meinrad, Ind.:

Abbey Press, 1961.

Works about Julian of Norwich

Baker, Denise Nowakowski. Julian of Norwich’s Show-

ings: From Vision to Book. Princeton, N.J.: Prince-

ton University Press, 1994.

McAvoy, Liz Herbert. Authority and the Female Body

in the Writings of Julian of Norwich and Margery

Kempe. London: Boydell and Brewer, 2004.

Jung Mong Joo (Ch˘ong Mong-ju,

P’oun)

(1337–1392) scholar, poet, diplomat

Born in the final years of the Koryo dynasty, Jung

Mong Joo is often referred to as the father of Neo-

Confucianism in Korea. While in his 20s, he be-

came a member of the faculty of Songgyungwan

University. With other noted Korean scholars, he

established the Chinese classics as the core cur-

riculum with emphasis on the interpretations of

Zhu Xi (Chu Hsi).

Jung Mong Joo distinguished himself as a ca-

pable diplomat. In 1377 he was sent to Japan to es-

tablish ties with the Ashikaga military regime and

to negotiate the return of Koreans captured by

Japanese pirates. In 1386 he was ambassador to

China at the court of the newly founded Ming dy-

nasty at Nanjing (Wanking).

During this period, the Koryo dynasty was

under threat from within and without. In 1388

when the Ming dynasty tried to annex northern

Koryo territories, the Koryo king dispatched an

army under General Yi Song-gye to deal with the

crisis. Yi instead turned against Koryo and at-

tempted to seize the government, while his son

tried to persuade Jung Mong Joo to change sides.

Jung Mong Joo, however, remained staunchly loyal

to Koryo and responded to the taunts of Yi’s son

with the following poem, which he wrote in the

traditional Korean form of sijo:

Though this frame should die and die

though I die a hundred times

My bleached bones all turn to dust

my very soul exist or not

What can change the undivided heart

that glows with faith toward my lord?

The poem has become famous as a classic expres-

sion of Korean fidelity. Not long after he wrote the

poem, Jung Mong Joo was murdered by members

of the Yi faction on the Sojukkyo Bridge at

Kaesong for his refusal to switch sides. Thus, in

death, he became a symbol of Confucian loyalty. In

1517 during the Chosun dynasty, Jung Mong Joo

was posthumously inducted into the national

academy to take his place alongside the other great

Korean philosophers.

An English Version of Works by

Jung Mong Joo

“Spring Mood” and “Untitled Poem.” In Anthology of

Korean Literature from Early Times to the Nine-

teenth Century. Compiled and edited by Peter H.

Lee. Honolulu: University of Hawaii, 1981.

Jung Yak Yong (Jeong Yak-jong, Chong

Yag-yong, Dasan, Tasan)

(1762–1836)

philosopher, poet, reformer

The founder of the Shirhak, or “Practical Learn-

ing” philosophy, Jung Yak Yong was one of Korea’s

leading philosophers. As a proponent of Shirhak, he

Jung Yak Yong 129

went outside the conservative limits of philosophy,

writing about a wide range of subjects, including

history, education, law, mathematics, science, agri-

culture, and engineering. Born at Kwangju, he was

brother-in-law of Yi Sunghun, the first Korean con-

vert to Catholicism, and the uncle of Chong

Hasang, the Catholic martyr. He himself converted

to Catholicism in 1784. He was educated in the

standard Korean and Chinese classics and acquired

a taste for the religion and learning of the West.

Upon passing the civil service examination in

1780, Jung Yak Yong went on to hold several gov-

ernment positions. He was a lecturer at Song-

gyungwan University, assistant minister of defense,

and personal secretary and close adviser to King

Chongjo. In 1794 as secret royal inspector of Ky-

onggi, he submitted a report in verse on rural

poverty. Soon after, he performed duties as magis-

trate in the Hwanghae province.

The king’s death in 1801 coincided with the in-

famous Catholic persecutions of the time. Jung yak

Yong was fortunate to be saved because of his royal

connections, but his penchant for social reform re-

sulted in his exile in 1802.

He spent the next 18 years at Kangjin in Cholla

Province, where he developed the doctrine of

Shirhak in opposition to the old Confucian values

of the Yi dynasty. Shirhak advocated new utilitar-

ian solutions to national problems. In his famous

work Kyongse yp’yo (Design for good government),

he articulated a new concept of government. In

Mongmin simso (Handbook for tending the peo-

ple), he proposed agrarian and economic reforms;

and in Humhum sinso (New work on sentencing),

a treatise on capital punishment, he demanded jus-

tice for the poor.

In 1818 he returned from exile to his native

Kwangju. Refusing to reenter government service,

Jung Yak Yong continued his philosophical project.

His numerous prose and poetic writings not only

analyze in depth the social problems and injustices

of his era, but also propose solutions within the in-

novative framework of Shirhak. His writings are

thus considered the theoretical basis of Korea’s

economic and political modernization.

A Work about Jung Yak Yong

Setton, Mark. Chong Yagyong: Korea’s Challenge to Or-

thodox Neo-Confucianism. Albany: State Univer-

sity of New York Press, 1997.

130 Jung Yak Yong

131



Kabuki (1600s–present)

Kabuki, the Japanese popular theater, originated in

the early 1600s. A female dancer and former tem-

ple attendant named Okuni assembled a troupe of

female dancers and actors who gained wide popu-

larity for their parodies of Buddhist ceremonies.

Okuni’s Kabuki (literally meaning “song-dance-

skill”) was the first theatrical entertainment in

Japanese history for the common people, in con-

trast to the classical, aristocratic NOH and its pred-

ecessors. Okuni’s erotic and arguably blasphemous

performances (and pervasive rumors that her

troupe doubled as a brothel) caused the govern-

ment to ban women from performing on stage in

1629. Young boys took on female roles for some

years, but this practice ended in 1652, when the

state again intervened. At this point, mature men

began playing all women’s roles, a practice that

continues to the present day. By the early 1700s,

Kabuki had abandoned satire and salaciousness to

present serious and moving contemporary dra-

mas, often about commoners rather than samurai.

In contrast to the ritualistic, solemn, and aristo-

cratic Noh, however, kabuki delighted audiences of

all classes with its spectacular stage effects, beauti-

ful scenery, sympathetic characters, and exuberant

performances. Its rise in popularity mirrored the

ascent in social status of Japan’s long-despised

merchant class, and protagonists of Kabuki dramas

often sprang from their ranks. Many Kabuki plays

were based on actual events; Chushingura (The 47

Ronin) was inspired by the legendary ritual sui-

cide of a group of samurai in 1703. Similarly, many

of the Kabuki written by the great dramatist

Chikamatsu

MONZAEMON were inspired by actual

lovers’ suicides, as were his more numerous works

for the BUNRAKU (puppet theater).

As the 18th century wore on, two distinct schools

of Kabuki developed. “Soft” Kabuki, centered in the

thriving commercial city of Osaka, produced plays

that were realistic in style and often domestic in

theme.“Hard”Kabuki, by contrast, originated in the

samurai-dominated city of Edo (now Tokyo), capital

of Japan’s shogun, or military commander in chief. It

was highly stylized and violent, and influenced by

Noh to a greater extent than its Osaka counterpart.

Many common themes in Kabuki derive from

Buddhist and Confucian thought and include

vengeance, the transience of life, and, above all,

the insoluble conflicts between society and the in-

dividual, between passion and morality, between

conscience and duty. Notwithstanding these ambi-

tious themes, most Kabuki plays are better per-

formance vehicles than literary works, though

some are unqualified masterpieces. One of these is

Sukeroku, Flower of Edo, about a young samurai

who plots revenge with his lover after an evil war-

lord murders his father. Written by Tsuchi Jihei in

1713, its ornate procession and crowd scenes, spec-

tacular swordplay, and uproarious comedy have

long made it a favorite of Japanese theater. Another,

less-uplifting classic Kabuki drama is Chronicle of

the Battle of Ichinotani. Loosely based on historical

events, it revolves around a noble general’s tragic

attempts to reconcile conflicting duties to his em-

peror and his lord. Arguably the best Kabuki texts,

from a literary point of view, are those of Chika-

matsu’s puppet plays that were adapted for Kabuki

after his death; indeed, these works make up nearly

half of the current Kabuki stage repertoire.

Kabuki today remains a highly popular art form,

and is regularly performed at two large theaters in

Tokyo: the commercially focused, star-driven Kabuki

Theater, and the more historically oriented, textu-

ally faithful National Theater. Many younger actors

and directors at these and other companies are at-

tempting to update their discipline using Western

stage techniques and special effects. Classic Kabuki

plays have inspired numerous films, and after 400

years it remains Japan’s most popular genre of tradi-

tional theater. Kabuki has also influenced Western

dramatists ranging from Bertolt Brecht to Steven

Sondheim, and since the mid-1980s has become in-

creasingly popular in the United States.

An English Version of Kabuki

Kabuki: Five Classic Plays. Translated by James R. Bran-

don. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 1992.

Works about Kabuki

Halford, Aubrey S. The Kabuki Handbook. Rutland,

Vt.: C.E. Tuttle, 1956.

Leiter, Samuel L., ed. The Kabuki Reader: History and

Performance. Armonk, N.Y.: M.E. Sharpe, 2002.

Yamaguchi, Masao. “Noh and Kabuki: The Beauty of

Form,” UNESCO Courier (April 1983): 15–18.

Kant, Immanuel (1724–1804) philosopher

Considered to be one of the most influential

thinkers of modern times, Immanuel Kant repre-

sents a link between the ENLIGHTENMENT philoso-

phy of the 18th century and the Romanticist think-

ing of later times. His writings on metaphysics and

the nature of understanding had enormous influ-

ence throughout the Western world. His greatest

work, A Critique of Pure Reason, is one of the most

important works of philosophy ever written.

Kant was born in the German city of Königs-

berg, which is today the city of Kaliningrad.

Throughout his life, he never traveled outside the

vicinity of the city of his birth. After graduating

from the University of Königsberg, he worked for a

time as a private tutor before he became a professor

at the university. He would continue to teach at the

university until his death, simultaneously produc-

ing an impressive amount of intellectual writings.

Kant never married or had a family, and it was said

that his daily routine never changed throughout the

whole of his life. He was very well liked and re-

spected by the people of the city of Königsberg.

Although Kant’s life was relatively uneventful,

his philosophical influence was enormous. In fact,

he was one of the most important philosophers of

all time. His influence was most deeply felt in the

field of epistemology. Epistemology concerns the

nature of knowledge and asks questions about how

human beings know what they know (or what they

think they know). During Kant’s time, fierce debate

was raging in the field of epistemology. On one side

were thinkers who believed that all knowledge

came from direct experience or observation, an

idea known as empiricism. On the other hand there

were philosophers who maintained that some

human knowledge was innate, or built into the

human mind itself, and that people did not need

to acquire it through experience or observation.

This debate had serious implications for philoso-

phy, religion, and the nature of knowledge itself.

Kant’s works formed a bridge between these two

points of view. In 1781 he published his master-

piece A Critique of Pure Reason, which went a long

way toward resolving the philosophical dispute. In

this work, Kant describes his own view of episte-

mology and explains how he believed human be-

ings acquired knowledge.

132 Kant, Immanuel

Although Kant is best known for his epistemol-

ogy, he also produced works on a wide variety of

other subjects. He wrote about political philosophy

in A Critique of Practical Reason (1788), in which

he states his belief in the freedom of the individ-

ual and the right of every person to self-govern-

ment. He quietly sympathized with both the

American Revolution and the French Revolution.

In addition to epistemology and political phi-

losophy, Kant had a substantial influence on ethics,

which is the study of how people decide what is

morally right and what is morally wrong. He laid

out his ethical philosophy in Metaphysics of Ethics,

which was published in 1797. For a long time, Eu-

ropean thinkers had believed that human beings

possessed an innate sense of morality, given to

them by God. Kant, on the other hand, believed

that human beings discover what is right and

wrong simply through the use of reason.

Kant also believed that religious ideas should be

based on human reason, rather than on biblical

revelation. This unorthodox attitude toward reli-

gion caused the king of Prussia, Frederick William

II, to forbid Kant to write or teach about religion.

In addition to philosophy, Kant also wrote about

scientific subjects. In 1755 he published General

Natural History and Theory of the Heavens, which

was influenced by Isaac Newton. In this book, he

theorizes that astronomical systems such as galaxies

and solar systems might develop from a spinning,

gaseous nebula. This idea, astonishing at the time,

is now the accepted scientific theory for how such

formations come to be. Kant also wrote about ge-

ography and mathematics.

The philosophical work of Kant drew much of its

inspiration from earlier thinkers. Kant himself stated

that he was greatly impressed with the writings of

the Scottish philosopher David Hume, although he

challenged many of Hume’s ideas. Jean-Jacques

ROUSSEAU also influenced Kant, although more in a

political than philosophical sense.

Although Kant’s political, ethical, religious, and

scientific thought is important, he is best known for

his work on epistemology, and it would be in this

field that he had his greatest impact. Both during

his own time and after his death, his ideas influ-

enced a wide variety of thinkers and philosophers,

such as Johann Wolfgang von

GOETHE, other Ger-

man writers of the Romantic period, and Georg

Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel (who, in turn, had a

tremendous impact on Karl Marx). Kant’s political

views were greatly influenced by Rousseau, who fa-

vored a government that was not dependent on a

monarchy, which both Rousseau and Kant viewed

as a “violation of human dignity.” And, like

Thomas JEFFERSON, he believed that humans de-

served to act according to the will of the majority

and to what was best for all, rather than being sub-

jected to rules created by a wealthy and “noble”

ruling class. Much of 19th- and 20th-century Eu-

ropean philosophy is based on Kant’s work.

Critical Analysis

Of all the many works that Kant produced over the

course of his life, by far the most famous and in-

fluential is A Critique of Pure Reason, a detailed and

exact description of his system of epistemology in

which Kant explains how he believes human be-

ings acquire their knowledge.

European intellectuals had been debating the na-

ture of human knowledge for centuries before Kant.

One point of view held that the basis of human

knowledge was empiricism, the idea that all human

knowledge comes from direct experience and ob-

servation. According to this idea, the human mind is

a “blank slate”before it experiences or observes any-

thing. No human can have any knowledge of some-

thing unless he or she directly experiences or

observes it. One of the key thinkers of empiricism

was the English philosopher John Locke.

The other point of view held that certain types of

knowledge could be known to the human mind in-

dependently of experience or observation, because

human beings possessed reason enough to figure

things out. A clear example of this is human

knowledge of mathematics. Humans can solve

mathematical problems through the use of their

reason alone, without observing or experiencing

the problem beforehand. According to this school

of thought, knowledge of mathematical logic was

Kant, Immanuel 133

innate, which means that human beings possess it

simply because they are gifted with human reason.

However, Kant perceived that some things exist

beyond human knowledge and are generated by a

phenomenon outside the scope of human under-

standing. This Ding-an-sich (thing-in-itself) can

only be perceived through creative and intellec-

tual faculties but not fully understood.

In A Critique of Pure Reason, Kant combines the

two points of view to form a new system of episte-

mology. He declares that both types of knowledge

exist and are equally important. Some knowledge

is empirical and comes from direct experience and

observation, while other knowledge is innate and

simply is the gift of human reason.

An example of an empirical statement might

be, “The horse is brown.” This cannot be known

through innate knowledge, because people must

see the horse to know that it is brown. However, if

people directly observe the horse and see that it is,

indeed, a brown horse, they can be said to have

empirical knowledge of the horse’s color.

An example of an innate statement might be,

“All brown horses are brown.” This can be known

innately, without having to bother with observing

brown horses to make sure they are brown. The

truth of the statement is contained within the

statement itself and therefore cannot logically be

false. Similarly, one could say,“All brown horses are

horses” and know, independent of empirical evi-

dence, that the statement is true.

Kant’s genius was simply to point out that dif-

ferent types of human knowledge will apply in dif-

ferent circumstances. In some cases, empirical

knowledge is called for, such as when a person is

trying to determine the physical characteristics of

a particular thing. In other cases, innate knowledge

is called for, such as when a person is trying to

solve a mathematical problem.

On morality, Kant granted that moral action is

guided by duty. Duty, he perceived as the core of

freedom; thus, according to Kant’s philosophy,

“freedom rests upon the submission of the will to

the sublime moral law.” He believed in God, who in-

stilled in humans a moral consciousness, and it is

this consciousness that spurs action, and the human

soul that guides morality and ethical behavior.

The unification of the two types of knowledge

allowed Kant to develop an entirely new way of

viewing human knowledge. It bridged the gap be-

tween those who believed in empirical knowledge

and those who believed in innate knowledge, and

in almost all of his works, he saw a deep and abid-

ing connection between knowledge and faith in

God. His philosophy also advanced, if not made

possible, much of the philosophical and scientific

work that has taken place since Kant’s time.

English Versions of Works by

Immanuel Kant

A Critique of Judgment. New York: Barnes and Noble,

2004.

A Critique of Pure Reason. Translated and edited by

Paul Guyer and Allen Wood. Cambridge: Cam-

bridge University Press, 1998.

Groundwork for the Metaphysics of Morals. New

Haven, Conn.: Yale University Press, 2002.

Kant: Metaphysical Foundations of Natural Science.

Edited by Michael Friedman. New York: Cam-

bridge University Press, 2004.

Observations on the Feeling of the Beautiful and Sub-

lime. Translated by John T. Goldthwait. Berkeley:

University of California Press, 2004.

On Education. Mineola, N.Y.: Dover, 2003.

Works about Immanuel Kant

Allison, Henry E. Kant’s Transcendental Idealism: An

Interpretation and Defense. New Haven, Conn.:

Yale University Press, 2004.

Anderson-Gold, Sharon. Unnecessary Evil: History and

Moral Progress in the Philosophy of Immanuel Kant.

Albany: State University of New York Press, 2001.

Kuehn, Manfried. Kant: A Biography. New York: Cam-

bridge University Press, 2001.

Melnick, Arthur. Themes in Kant’s Metaphysics and

Ethics. Washington, D.C.: Catholic University of

America Press, 2004.

Pasternack, Lawrence R. Immanuel Kant: Groundwork

of the Metaphysics of Morals in Focus. London: Tay-

lor and Francis, 2002.

134 Kant, Immanuel

Kempe, Margery (1373–1438) memoirist

Margery Kempe was born in the English seaport of

Bishop’s Lynn to the prominent official John Brun-

ham. Around age 20 she married John Kempe, with

whom she had 14 children. Following difficulties in

childbirth, failed business endeavors, and an in-

creasing number of visions, in which she was vis-

ited by and held conversations with Christ and the

Virgin Mary, Margery, at age 40, struck a bargain

with her husband to end her duties as a wife so she

might take up her calling as a pilgrim of faith. She

occupied herself with visiting holy places and peo-

ple all over England and as far away as Germany

and Jersulem. One of Margery’s most affecting vis-

its was to JULIAN OF NORWICH, the anchorite famous

for recording her own visions. With the help of two

separate scribes, Margery dictated an account of

her turbulent life in what is now called The Book of

Margery Kempe, the first autobiography in English.

To the excitement of literary historians, Kempe’s

manuscript was “discovered” in 1934. It is valued for

its descriptions of the experiences of a middle-class

laywoman of the 15th century. For some modern

readers, the Book can be inaccessible due to Kempe’s

highly emotional form of expression and her devout

religious fervor. The strength of personality that en-

dowed Kempe with the motivation to record her life

also sparked many conflicts with her contempo-

raries. Some found her excessive and noisy weeping

bothersome, and others accused her of preaching,

which women were not allowed to do. Furthermore,

Kempe was suspected of practicing heresy, or not

conforming with the beliefs of the Christian Church.

Though tried on successive occasions, Kempe de-

fended herself and was always acquitted. For Kempe,

the difficulties she encountered and the trials she en-

dured served only to prove the rightness of the path

she had undertaken. The following passage from the

Book is typical of its tone and theme:

And then this creature, seeing all these adversi-

ties coming on every side, thought they were the

scourges of our Lord that would chastise her for

her sin. Then she asked God for mercy, and for-

sook her pride, her covetousness, and the desire

that she had for worldly dignity, and did great

bodily penance, and began to enter the way of

everlasting life as shall be told hereafter.

Kempe’s faith was the most important thing in

her life, and her concern with her own errors and

atonement for them is constant. Throughout the

work, her interactions with her visions and her ac-

tive fantasies about participating in scenes of

Christ’s birth and death are described much more

frequently, and in more vivid detail, than interac-

tions with her fellow humans. The above passage

demonstrates her belief that all her challenges are

merely tests of faith meant to guide her back to

God. Most curiously, she refers to herself through-

out her autobiography in the third person, often

using the term “this creature.” This allowed her to

distance herself from the narrative, which may have

been a tactic to avoid further charges of heresy. Re-

gardless, she proves her humility by portraying her-

self as no more than one of God’s many creatures.

Kempe’s determination to record her life is sur-

prising and daring, especially since she, like most

women of her class, was unable to read or write.

Once considered, in the words of Lynn Staley, the

account of a “possibly hysterial, certainly emotional,

woman,” Kempe’s Book is valuable as a record of

everyday life in England and as a depiction of one

woman’s struggles toward faith, identity, and

self-preservation in a world largely controlled by

men. Kempe believed she could personally and

directly experience God’s love and mercy, and

she maintained that belief despite opposition.

Modern readers must keep in mind that the

Kempe we see is filtered through others, the

scribes who wrote what Kempe dictated; it is,

therefore, impossible to guess the extent to which

these scribes modified the narrative as she told it.

Still, the Book is a clear and honest account of

human faith. B. A. Windeatt observes that “in the

Book we hear recorded, however tidied, [we dis-

cover] much of the accent of an authentic voice,

the voice of a medieval Englishwoman of unfor-

gettable character, undeniable courage and un-

paralleled experience.”

Kempe, Margery 135

Works by Margery Kempe

The Book of Margery Kempe. Edited and translated by

Lynn Staley. New York: W.W. Norton, 2001.

The Book of Margery Kempe. Translated by B. A.

Windeatt. New York: Penguin Books, 1994.

Works about Margery Kempe

Gallyon, Margaret. Margery Kempe of Lynne and Me-

dieval England. Norwich, U.K.: Canterbury Press,

1995.

McEntire, Sandra J., ed. Margery Kempe: A Book of Es-

says. New York: Garland Publishing, 1992.

Kim Jung Hee (Kim Chung-hui, Ch’usa,

Yedang, Wandang)

(1786–1856) artist,

calligrapher, scholar

Representative of the flowering of the late Choson

period, Kim Jung Hee is regarded as one of Korea’s

greatest calligraphers. He was born into an aristo-

cratic family, and his talents manifested themselves

at an early age. By six he was already a competent

calligrapher; and at age 16 he was accepted as a

pupil by the revered statesman Pak Che-ga.

Kim Jung Hee’s teen years, however, were marred

by personal tragedy. His mother died, followed in

quick succession by several close relatives, including

his wife. In spite of such adversity, Ch’usa nonethe-

less passed the civil service examination at age 23.

In 1809 he accompanied his father to China as

part of a delegation to the Qing dynasty. While

there, he was a student of the Chinese scholar

Wang Fanggang, who introduced him to the intel-

lectual and artistic circles of Beijing. Ch’usa thus

returned to Korea with a significant advantage

over his scholarly peers.

As leader of the Northern Group, he pioneered

historical research on epigraphy in Korea, produc-

ing the first text on Korean inscriptions. His main

achievement, however, was the creation of a unique

style of calligraphy known as ch’usach’e. In this style

the strong strokes of early Chinese epigraphy (Ye)

complement the vibrancy of grass script (ch’o).

In paintings, Kim Jung Hee’s work synthesizes

the individual self-expression of the Wu school and

the minimalist Son tradition with its sparing but

disciplined brushwork. He also excelled at orchid

paintings in which the simplicity of a single bloom

harmonizes with inscriptions surrounding it.

Exiled to Cheju Island as a result of factional

fighting, Kim Jung Hee made productive use of his

time by perfecting the individuality of his style.

He was recalled in 1848 by King Hongjong, only

to be exiled again to Pukch’ong in 1851 as a result

of another intrigue.

As a highly original artist and connoisseur of

taste, Kim Jung Hee made a great impact on the vi-

sual arts of the 19th century. Because he shared his

knowledge, he raised the level of art and made it

accessible to many.

Kim Shi-sup (Kim Sisup) (1435–1493)

fiction writer

As a child, Kim Shi-sup was very precocious. He

lived in the early years of the Yi dynasty and as a

young man held an administrative position at the

Korean court during the reign of Tanjong. After

Tanjong was overthrown by Se Jo, Kim Shi-sup

shaved his head and became an itinerant Buddhist

monk rather than serve the usurper.

At age 30, he settled at Kumo-san, near Kyongju,

where he developed a reputation for eccentric be-

havior. His collection of stories Kumo Sinhwa (New

Stories from Golden Turtle Mountain) is named after

this location. Kim Shi-sup wrote the five stories in

the collection in classical Chinese and used as his

sources supernatural tales called chuanqi (ch’uan-

ch’i), or “tales of wonder.” These folk tales typically

dealt with love affairs between mortals and other-

worldly beings, as well as dream voyages to the dark

underworld or exotic places, such as the Dragon

Palace. Kim Shi-sup’s story “Yisaeng kyujang ch˘on”

(Student Yi peers over the wall) contains many ele-

ments characteristic of the ch’uan-ch’I, such as a

ghost wife, an exchange of poems, and a moral les-

son at the end of the tale.

Kim Shi-sup’s writing is, moreover, marked by

allusions, or veiled references, to Chinese litera-

ture, especially a work by Qu You (Ch’ü Yu;

136 Kim Jung Hee