Writer of the pumunche school, exiled to Buryeong and Jinhae, author of the Uhae Ieobo; pen name Damjeong
| Life | 1766 ~ 1821 |
| Era | 조선 후기 |
| Clan | 연안 김씨 |
Kim Ryeo (1766-1821) was a late Joseon writer and scholar of the Yeonan Kim clan, with courtesy name Sajeong and pen name Damjeong. From a prominent Noron family that often suffered in factional struggles, he entered the Sungkyunkwan at 15 and became a leading figure of the informal short-prose style (pumunche), compiling the Uchosokji with Kim Jo-sun and associating with Yi Ok.
Implicated in the Gang I-cheon rumor case of 1797, he was exiled to Buryeong, where he lived among poor farmers and fishers and wrote poems with sympathy for their plight. A poem about a local official courtesan brought a literary persecution, and in 1799 most of his writings were burned.
In 1801 he was exiled again, to Jinhae, over contacts with Catholics, and there wrote the Uhae Ieobo, a treatise on fish. His son's petition ended ten years of exile in 1806; he devoted himself to compiling collections such as the Damjeong Chongseo and Hangogwan Oesa, and served as magistrate of Yeonsan from 1817.
At the Sungkyunkwan Kim Ryeo took to the short, informal prose of the period and issued a collection with Kim Jo-sun. With Yi Ok and others he stood among the foremost writers of this style during the literary debates of Jeongjo's reign.
In Buryeong he saw ordinary life up close; in Jinhae he lived among fishers and recorded sea creatures in the Uhae Ieobo. Exile left a deep mark on his writing.
After 1806 he compiled the Damjeong Chongseo of his and his friends' writings and the Hangogwan Oesa and Changgaru Oesa of unofficial history, work valued for preserving late Joseon sources.
His tomb location was not confirmed in this research.