Dramatist and poet; writer of the TV saga 500 Years of Joseon
| Life | 1933 ~ 2016 |
| Era | 현대 (대한민국) |
| Clan | 영월 신씨 |
Shin Bong-seung (辛奉承, 1933–2016) was a dramatist and poet best known for the historical TV saga 500 Years of Joseon. A member of the Yeongwol Shin clan, he used the pen names Chodang, Chwiyeong and Hanwoldang. He was born on 23 May 1933 in Okgye-myeon, Myeongju County (now Gangneung), Gangwon Province, graduated from Gangneung Normal School, and studied Korean literature at Kyung Hee University through the master's level. At normal school he was influenced by the poets Choi In-hui and Hwang Geum-chan.
He debuted as a poet in 1957 when Yu Chi-hwan recommended his poem "Dew" to Hyundae Munhak, and as a critic on Jo Yeon-hyeon's recommendation. His screenplay The Homeland Left Behind won a Ministry of Defense competition and launched his film career, after which he worked as a radio and TV dramatist, screenwriter, film director, history essayist, lyricist and playwright; he also wrote the lyrics of Choi Hee-joon's hit "Pay Envelope".
After crime dramas such as Chief Inspector (1971), he turned to historical drama, writing the MBC series 500 Years of Joseon (1983–1990), whose installments include Tree with Deep Roots, Snow-covered Plum, The Imjin War, Queen Inhyeon and Daewongun; it won the Grand Prize for television at the 1986 Baeksang Arts Awards. He also wrote Han Myeong-hoe (1994) and Brilliant Dawn (1995), and left some 150 books, including a 48-volume novel version of 500 Years of Joseon.
He taught at Sejong, Dongguk and other universities, was a chair professor at Chugye University for the Arts, headed the Korea Scenario Writers Association, and was a member of the National Academy of Arts. He won the Blue Dragon Award for best screenplay four times, the National Culture and Arts Award in 1988 and the Bogwan Order of Cultural Merit in 1998. Devoted to his hometown, he headed the Gangneung branch of the arts federation; his memoir History Is Knowledge, written during illness, is valued as a record of Gangneung's literary scene. He died on 19 April 2016 and rests at Sian Memorial Park in Gwangju, Gyeonggi Province.
Sian Memorial Park, Munhyeong-ri, Opo-eup, Gwangju, Gyeonggi Province