Yun Sim-deok

{{Infobox musical artist

| name = Yun Sim-deok

| image = Yun Sim-deok 01.jpg

| alt =

| caption =

| image_size =

| background = solo_singer

| birth_name = Yun Sim-deok

| alias =

| birth_date = 25 July 1897

| birth_place = Pyongyang, Joseon

| death_date = {{Death date and age|df=y|1926|08|04|1897|07|25}}

| death_place = Korea Strait

| instrument =

| genre =

| occupation = Singer, stage actress

| years_active = 1924–1926

| module =

{{Infobox Korean name/auto

|child = yes

|hangul = %윤심덕

|hanja = 尹心悳

|hangulho=%_수선

|hanjaho=水仙

|}}}}

{{Listen

| filename =Yun Sim-Deok - In Praise of Death.ogg

| title =사의 찬미(Hymn of Death)

}}

Yun Sim-deok ({{korean|hangul=윤심덕|hanja=尹心悳}}; 25 July 1897 – 4 August 1926) was a Korean singer.{{Cite web|url=http://encykorea.aks.ac.kr/Contents/Item/E0042442|script-title=ko:윤심덕(尹心悳)|last=Yu|first=Min-yeong|year=1995|website=Encyclopedia of Korean Culture|language=ko|access-date=26 March 2018}}{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5zKWBQAAQBAJ&q=Yun+Sim-deok&pg=PA231|title=Historical Dictionary of Pyongyang|last=Corfield|first=Justin|publisher=Anthem Press|year=2014|isbn=978-1783083411|pages=231}} She was the country's first professional soprano.{{Cite web|url=http://world.kbs.co.kr/english/archive/program/program_koreanstory.htm?no=101062|title=Yun Sim-deok, Korea's First Professional Soprano|date=23 August 2012|website=KBS World Radio|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180327023626/https://world.kbs.co.kr/english/archive/program/program_koreanstory.htm?no=101062|archive-date=27 March 2018}}

Life and career

Yun was born in Pyongyang in 1897. She studied at the Pyongyang Girls' Middle and High Schools, and graduated from Kyongsong Women's Teaching College in Seoul in 1914. After graduation she became a primary school teacher in Wonju.

After teaching for one year, Yun went to Japan, becoming the first Korean to study at the Tokyo Music School. In Japan, she met and fell in love with a married English literature student, Kim U-jin, with whom she had an affair.

After graduating from music school, Yun returned to Korea, where she debuted as a soprano in 1923. Though audiences were impressed by her powerful voice, she was unable to make a living performing Western classical music, and became a pop singer and actress to support herself.

Yun and Kim U-jin committed suicide together in 1926, jumping off a passenger ship en route from Simonoseki to Busan. The shocking news caused a sensation in Korea, and Yun's 1926 recording of "Hymn of Death" ({{Korean|hangul=사의 찬미|labels=no}}; also called "Death Song") sold a record 100,000 copies following her death.

Legacy

Yun's most famous recording, 1926's "Hymn of Death," is considered the first "popular" (yuhaeng changga) Korean song. It was recorded in Osaka by the Japanese Nitto recording company, with Yun's sister accompanying her on piano. The song is set to the tune of "Waves of the Danube" by Ion Ivanovici.Lee, Young Mee,(2006), The Beginnings of Korean Pop, in Korean Pop Music: Riding the Wave, edited by Keith Howard (England: Global Oriental, 2006) p.3

Two films have been made about Yun. The first, a 1969 film titled Yun Sim-Deok, was directed by An Hyeon-cheol ({{Korean|hangul=안현철|labels=no}}) and starred Moon Hee.{{Cite web|url=https://www.kmdb.or.kr/db/kor/detail/movie/K/01862|script-title=ko:윤심덕: Yun Sim-deok|website=Korean Movie Database|language=ko|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180327023609/https://www.kmdb.or.kr/db/kor/detail/movie/K/01862|archive-date=27 March 2018}} The second was a 1991 film called Death Song, directed by Kim Ho-sun and starring Chang Mi-hee. The film won numerous awards in South Korea, including Best Film at the 1991 Blue Dragon Film Awards and the 1991 Chunsa Film Art Awards.{{Cite web|url=https://www.kmdb.or.kr/db/kor/detail/movie/K/04484|script-title=ko:사의 찬미: Death song(Sa-ui chanmi)|website=Korean Movie Database|language=ko|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180327084203/https://www.kmdb.or.kr/db/kor/detail/movie/K/04484|archive-date=27 March 2018}} A television series was also made in 2018 titled The Hymn of Death.{{cite news|url=http://kpopherald.koreaherald.com/view.php?ud=201811020849214530273_2|title=Lee Jong-suk, Shin Hye-sun to appear in 'Hymn of Death'|date=2 November 2018|last=Lee|first=So-jeong|website=Kpop Herald|access-date=9 April 2019}}