Patriot of Independence · Domestic Anti-Japanese Resistance · Patriotic Medal (Aejok-jang) (1995)
| Life | 1909 ~ 1935 |
| Era | 근현대 |
| Clan | 경주 최씨 |
Choe Yong-sin, the real-life model for the heroine of the novel The Evergreen Tree, was born in Dumam-ri, Deokwon, South Hamgyong Province. Dispatched by the YWCA in October 1931, she became a teacher at a night school in Cheongok (Saemgol), Banwol-myeon, Hwaseong, Gyeonggi Province, dedicating herself to rural enlightenment and Korean-language education. Initially met with indifference, she won villagers' trust by helping with farm work, and within three months more than a hundred students had enrolled across morning, afternoon, and evening classes.
She raised national consciousness by flying the Korean flag and teaching Korean as the 'national language,' and with the villagers' cooperation completed a new schoolhouse building in January 1933. She continued her work despite Japanese suppression and the YWCA's financial troubles, but her health deteriorated from overwork during a period of study in Japan in 1934.
She never fully recovered after returning to Saemgol, and collapsed from intestinal intussusception on January 18, 1935, dying of purulent peritonitis at Suwon Provincial Hospital on January 23 at age 26. She was buried near the Saemgol school at the villagers' request, and later that year novelist Sim Hun drew on her devotion to create the character Chae Yeong-sin in his novel The Evergreen Tree.