Name	Incheon
Other name	Inchon, In Chun
Native name	인천仁川
Settlement type	Metropolitan City
Total type
Translit lang1	Korean name
Translit lang1 type	Hangul
Translit lang1 info	인천광역시
Translit lang1 type1	Hanja
Translit lang1 info1	仁川廣域市
Translit lang1 type2	Revised Romanization
Translit lang1 info2	Incheon Gwang-yeoksi
Translit lang1 type3	McCune-Reischauer
Translit lang1 info3	Inch'ŏn Kwang'yŏkshi
Translit lang2	Korean name short form
Translit lang2 type	Hangul
Translit lang2 info	인천
Translit lang2 type1	Revised Romanization
Translit lang2 info1	Incheon
Translit lang2 type2	McCune-Reischauer
Translit lang2 info2	Inch'ŏn
Blank emblem type	Emblem of Incheon
Map caption	Map of South Korea with Incheon highlighted
Coordinates region	KR
Subdivision type	Country
Subdivision name	South Korea
Subdivision type1	Region
Subdivision name1	Sudogwon
Parts type	Subdivisions
Parts style
Parts
P1	8 districts ("gu")
P2
P3
P4
P5
P6
P7
P8
P9
P10	2 counties ("gun")
P11
P12
Government type	Metropolitan City
Leader title	Mayor
Leader name	Song Young-gil
Leader title1	Council Chairman
Leader name1	Kim Gi-sin
Established title	Founded
Established date	1883 as Chemulpo
Named for
Area magnitude
Unit pref
Area total km2	1029.16
Area total sq mi
Elevation footnotes
Elevation min ft
Population as of	2010
Population total	2775645
Population density km2	auto
Population density sq mi
Timezone	Korea Standard Time
Utc offset	+9
coor type
Postal code type
Blank name	Dialect
Blank info	Seoul
Blank1 name	Flower
Blank1 info	Rose
Blank2 name	Tree
Blank2 info	Tulip tree
Blank3 name	Bird
Blank3 info	Crane
Website	incheon.go.kr
Footnotes	}}

The Incheon Metropolitan City is located in northwestern South Korea. The city was home to just 4,700 people when Jemulpo port was built in 1883. Today 2.76 million people live in the city, making it Korea’s third most populous city after Seoul and Busan Metropolitan City. While people have inhabited the area from the New Stone Age, the city’s growth was assured in modern times with the development of its port due to its natural advantages as a coastal city.

Incheon has since led the economic development of Korea by opening its port to the outside world, issuing in the modernization of Korea as a center of industrialization. In 2003, the city was designated as Korea’s first free economic zone. Since then, large local companies and global enterprises have increasingly invested in Incheon Free Economic Zone, including Samsung which chose Songdo International City as its new investment destination for its bio industry.

As an international city, Incheon has held numerous large scale international conferences, such as the Incheon Global Fair & Festival in 2009. The 17th Asian Games Incheon 2014 will also be held in Incheon from September 19, 2014. Incheon has established itself as a true hub of Northeast Asia with the world renowned Incheon International Airport and Incheon Port.

History

The first historical record of the Incheon area dates back to 475 CE. during the reign of King Jangsu of Goguryeo by the name of "Michuhol". The area underwent several name changes with successive kingdoms and dynasties. The current name was established in 1413. However, the name Jemulpo was not widely used until the opening of the port in 1883.

On September 15, 1950, during the Korean War, Incheon was the site of the Battle of Incheon, when United States troops landed to relieve pressure on the Pusan Perimeter and to launch a United Nations offensive northward. The result was a decisive UN victory. The USS ''Inchon'' (MCS-12) was named after the tide-turning battle that ensued.

Incheon was originally part of Gyeonggi Province, but was granted ''Directly Governed'' (now Metropolitan) City status on July 1, 1981.

Incheon was known as Inchon prior to South Korea's adoption of a new Romanization system in 2000.

Climate

Incheon lies in the border region between a humid subtropical and humid continental climate (Köppen climate classification ''Cwa''/''Dwa''). Incheon's climate is about average compared to the rest of Korea, with 8 locations being cooler and 10 locations being warmer, and with 9 locations being wetter and 9 locations being drier.

Incheon experiences each of its four seasons, distinctly feeling the rise and fall of temperature and humidity. The temperature however, never rises to an extreme, and the climate of the city is essentially mild. Incheon is swept by the seasonal winds as the northwesterly winds strike the city in the winter and the summer in Incheon is affected by gusts of the warm southwesterly winds.

Major events

Incheon was the site of the Battle of Inchon during the Korean War.

Incheon hosted a series of major international events. The Global Fair & Festival 2009 Incheon, Korea was held in the Songdo District in August 2009. It was open from August 7 to October 25 for a period of 80 days. It was a comprehensive international event with global institutions and corporations as participants.Various musicians and artists performed during the event.

The city hosted a meeting of the G20 Finance Ministers in February 2010.

Incheon will also be the site of the third Global Model United Nations Conference, held from 10th to the 14th of August 2011.

Incheon has also won the bid to host the Asian Games in 2014.

Education

On February 27, 2007, Incheon declared itself an "English City," and inaugurated the "Incheon Free English Zone" program. The goal of the program is to make Incheon as much an English speaking city as Hong Kong and Singapore are. This is for the ultimate purpose of establishing Incheon as a commercial and business hub of northeast Asia (see Free Economic Zone below). The official slogan of the program is "Smile with English."

Higher education

Incheon is home to several colleges and universities:

Gyeongin National University of Education

Gachon Medical School

Gachongil College

Gyeongin Women's College

Inha Technical College

Inha University

Incheon Catholic University

Incheon City College

University of Incheon

Jaineung College

SUNY South Korea

Transportation

Incheon is a major domestic and international transportation hub for Korea.

Air

Incheon International Airport, a regional air hub, is South Korea's primary international airport.

There were a total of 160,843 flights (157,134 international, 3,709 domestic) to and from Incheon International Airport in 2005, an average of 441 flights (431 international, 10 domestic) daily. 59.7% of the flights were serviced by Korea’s two national carriers, Korean Air and Asiana Airlines, with foreign carriers servicing the remaining 40.3%, which breaks down as follows: China 45,125 flights {28.1% of total}, Japan 32,352 {20.1%}, Southeast Asia 30,567 {19%}, Americas 27,916 {17.4%}, Europe 11,082 {6.9%}, Domestic 3,709 {2.3%}, Oceania 2,811 {1.7%}, others 7,281 {4.5%}.

Also featured in the Korean drama series, "Air City."

Sea

Incheon's sea port is the second largest port in Korea after Busan's sea port.

The International Passenger Terminal located at the port offers ferries to four cities in China: Dalian, Qingdao, Tianjin, and Weihai. There are also ferries to Incheon's outlying islands as well as Baengnyeong Island inside of the Northern Limit Line.

Buses

Incheon Bus Terminal, located at its eponymous subway stop, offers express bus transportation to all parts of Korea. Many city bus lines offer transportation within city limits as well as to the neighboring cities of Bucheon, Gimpo, Seoul, and Siheung.

Many BRT lines offer transportation between Seoul and Incheon.

Train

Local service to Guro, Seoul, Cheongnyangni, Uijeongbu and Soyosan is offered by Seoul's subway Line 1. The line has 11 stations within Incheon and connects to the Incheon Subway at Bupyeong station.

Rapid service on the same line to Yongsan Station in Seoul depart from Dongincheon station and stops at major stations.

The Airport Express (AREX) line runs from Incheon International Airport to Seoul Station via Gimpo International Airport. The Incheon-Gimpo line opened in March 2007 and was extended to Seoul station in December 2010. Passengers can choose a high-speed service stopping only at Incheon and Seoul, which takes 43 minutes but departs only every half-hour; or the all-station service which takes 53 minutes but leaves every six minutes.

Subway

The Incheon Subway has a single subway line serving the city. It connects to the Seoul Metropolitan Subway system at Bupyeong station, and AREX line at Gyeyang station. The line has 28 stations on 29.4 km of track. The Incheon subway is operated by the Incheon Rapid Transit Corporation (IRTC).

Extensions and additions are planned: IRTC has a plan to construct a second line, Line 2. It will extend from Oryu, Seo-gu to Incheon Grand Park, and will have 27 stations on 29.2 km of track. Line 2 is under construction from June 26, 2009 to 2014. Korail is constructing a new subway line from Incheon station to Suwon station by 2013. It will have 10 stations within Incheon. SMRT (one of three operating companies of Seoul Metropolitan Subway) also has to extend Seoul Metropolitan Subway Line 7 to Bupyeong-gu office by 2011 and provide transfers to the Incheon Subway system. It will have 3 stations within Incheon including the Bupyeong-gu office station.

Free Economic Zone

The Incheon Free Economic Zone consists of the three regions of Songdo, Cheongra, and the island of Yeongjong, and has a total area of . The goal of IFEZ is to transform these three areas into hubs for logistics, international business, leisure, and tourism for the Northeast Asian region. The term 'Free Economic Zone' applies to the development in these three areas with the aim of improving the business environment for foreign-invested enterprises and the living conditions for foreigners. The zone is a specially designated area to create the most favorable business and living environment where foreign nationals can live and invest freely and conveniently. Incheon's Free Economic Zone, the first in Korea, was officially designated by the Korean government in August 2003. IFEZ is planned to be a self-contained living and business district featuring air and sea transportation, a logistics complex, an international business center, financial services, residences, schools and hospitals, and shopping and entertainment centres.

New Songdo City

Songdo International City began development in 1994 and is being built on reclaimed land. It is designated to become a center of diverse international businesses, a hub for international trade, an area for knowledge-based technologies, and a place for eco-friendly urban living. Construction is due to be completed in 2020.

Development size:

Planned population: 252,000 persons

Construction duration: 1994~2020

Yeongjong Island

Yeongjong International City’s centering on the Incheon International Airport will be developed as an eco-friendly airport city by 2020. It will be a functional city with residential amenities for airport staff and visitors, as well as logistics, commercial and distribution facilities. Yeongjong will provide an optimal environment for logistic, tourism and leisure in conjunction with the Incheon International Airport. Development size:

Planned population: 144,800 persons

Duration: 2002~2016

Cheongra

The Cheongra district, on the mainland adjacent Yeongjong Island, will focus on entertainment and will feature a world class theme park. It will also be a residential area with sports facilities, a floriculture complex, and a business area specially designed for international finance.

Development Size:

Planned population: 90,000 persons

Duration: 2004~2008

Administrative divisions

Incheon is divided into 8 wards ("gu") and 2 counties ("gun").

Bupyeong-gu (부평구; 富平區)

Dong-gu (동구; 東區)

Gyeyang-gu (계양구; 桂陽區)

Jung-gu (중구; 中區)

Nam-gu (남구; 南區)

Namdong-gu (남동구; 南洞區)

Seo-gu (서구; 西區)

Yeonsu-gu (연수구; 延壽區)

Ganghwa-gun (강화군; 江華郡)

Ongjin-gun (옹진군; 甕津郡)

The northwestern islands of Baengnyeong Island, Yeonpyeong Island, Daecheong Island, and the much smaller Socheong Island are part of Ongjin.

Sports

Incheon is home to the following professional and semi professional sports teams:

Football (Soccer)

K-League team Incheon United. The National League team Incheon Korail.

Baseball

The successful KBO team SK Wyverns.

Basketball

The KBL team Incheon ET Land Elephants.

The Incheon team is known to have a popular rivalry against former Bucheon SK, (now Jeju United) due to the teams' close geographical relationship.

Munhak Sports Complex

The Munahk Sports Complex houses both a football stadium and a baseball stadium. The football stadium was Incheon's venue for the 2002 Football World Cup, and is also the home venue for Incheon United. The baseball stadium is the home venue for the SK Wyverns.

On April 19, 2007, Incheon was selected as the host city for the 2014 Asian Games, beating out New Delhi.

Points of interest

Bupyeong Station is where the Seoul Subway Line 1 and Incheon subway line intersect. There is a large under ground shopping center there mostly selling trendy women's clothing and cell phones. Above ground, there are many restaurants, additional shops, and a Lotte Mart.

A number of Korea's western islands, including Ganghwa Island, Yeongjong Island, and Baengnyeong Island are also administered by Incheon. Baengnyeong Island is South Korea's westernmost point.

Jayu (Freedom) Park- The statue of General, Douglas MacArthur, as well as a memorial to the centennial anniversary of U.S. and Korea relations is located within.

Chinatown is Korea's only official Chinatown, located across from Incheon Station near Jayu Park.

Arts Centre refers to a performance venue but also to a subway station and area. Within this district in Guwol-dong is Rodeo Street, a busy central square packed with restaurants and department stores.

Wolmido- Location of Green Beach, one of the landing sites for MacArthur's invasion force. It is now a local tourist attraction with a boardwalk, an amusement park and many raw fish restaurants. Ferries run from Wolmido to Yeongjongdo and Jakyakdo.

Jakyakdo- A tiny island located in the harbor close between Wolmido and Yeongjongdo. There are many walkways and picnic spots, a restaurant, and seasonal rental rooms.

Incheon Landing Operation Memorial Hall- A plaza and small museum dedicated to the Landing. Weapons and artifacts from the war and operation are displayed.

Incheon Dohobu Cheongsa- Located nearby Munhak Stadium, this is the old government complex for Incheon. It has existed since at least the reign of King Sejong, about 1424 A.D.

Incheon's government has many plans for restoring Incheon's old town.

People from Incheon

Hapkido Grand Master Bong Soo Han

Myung Jae Nam

Ryeowook, Super Junior

Hyoyeon, Girls' Generation

Choi Minho, SHINee

Kim Gu-ra

Kim Nam-Il, footballer

Cho Yong-Hyung, football defender

Yoon Shi Yoon, actor

Shin Ji, Koyote

Kang Hye-jeong, actress

Sister cities

People's Republic of China

* Dalian

* Tianjin

Alexandria, Egypt Tel Aviv, Israel Japan

* Kitakyushu

* Kobe

Panama City, Panama Manila, Philippines Hai Phong, Vietnam Yekaterinburg, Russia Banten Province, Indonesia United States

* Anchorage, Alaska

* Burbank, California

* Honolulu, Hawaii

* Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Phnom Penh, Cambodia

Independent cities in South Korea

Seoul

Busan

Incheon

Daegu

Daejeon

Gwangju

Ulsan

See also

List of Korea-related topics

List of cities in South Korea

Battle of Chemulpo Bay

Battle of Incheon

Inchon (film)

Incheon Chinatown

Incheon Free Economic Zone

Global Fair & Festival 2009 Incheon, Korea

Chemulpo to Songdo IBD: Korea's International Gateway

References

External links

Government Website of Incheon Metropolitan City

Pictorial history Chemulpo to Songdo IBD: Korea's International Gateway

ace:Incheon af:Incheon ar:إنشيون bg:Инчхън ca:Inchon cs:Inčchon da:Incheon de:Incheon et:Inch'ŏn el:Ιντσόν es:Incheon eo:Inĉon eu:Incheon fa:اینچئون fr:Incheon ko:인천광역시 io:Incheon id:Incheon os:Инчхон it:Incheon he:אינצ'ון kl:Incheon sw:Incheon lv:Inčhona lt:Inčonas lmo:Incheon mi:Incheon mr:इंचेवॉन ms:Incheon nl:Incheon ja:仁川広域市 no:Incheon nn:Incheon oc:Incheon pnb:انچن pl:Inch'ŏn pt:Incheon ro:Incheon ru:Инчхон sco:Incheon simple:Incheon sk:Inčchon sr:Инчон fi:Incheon sv:Inchon tl:Incheon ta:இங்கியோன் th:อินชอน tr:İncheon uk:Інчхон vi:Incheon zh-classical:仁川 war:Incheon wuu:仁川广域市 zh:仁川廣域市

Name	Han Yu
Full name	Family name: Hán 韓Given name: Yù 愈Courtesy name: Tuìzhī 退之
Posthumous name	Duke Wen of Han 韓文公
Birth date	768
Death date	}}

Han Yu () (768–824), born in Nanyang, Henan, China, was a precursor of Neo-Confucianism as well as an essayist and poet, during the Tang dynasty. The ''Indiana Companion'' calls him "comparable in stature to Dante, Shakespeare or Goethe" for his influence on the Chinese literary tradition (p. 397). He stood for strong central authority in politics and orthodoxy in cultural matters. He is also among China's finest prose writers, second only to Sima Qian, and first among the "Eight Great Prose Masters of the Tang and Song". Song Dynasty poet Su Shi praised Han Yu that he had written prose which "raised the standards after 8 dynasties of literary weaknesses" (文起八代之衰).

Biography

He was born in Nanyang, Henan, to a literary family. His father died when he was two, and he was raised in the family of his older brother, Han Hui. He taught himself to read and write and was a student of philosophical writings and confucian thought. His family moved to Changan in 774 but was banished to Southern China in 777 because of its association with disgraced minister Yuan Zai. Han Hui died in 781. In 792, after four attempts, Han Yu passed the imperial exam (jin shi). A few years later he went into the service of the military governor of Bianzhou, and then of the military governor of Xuzhou." He gained his first central government position in 802, but was soon exiled; seemingly for failing to support the heir apparent's faction (other possible reasons are because of his criticism of the misbehaviour of the emperor's servants or his request for reduction of taxes during a famine). From 807 to 819 he held a series of posts first in Luoyang and then in Chang'an. During these years, he was strong advocate of reimposing central control over the separatist provinces of the north-east. This period of service came to an end when he wrote his celebrated Memorial on Bone-relics of the Buddha. This protest against Buddhist influence on the country has been called "belligerently uncompromising and... disrespectful to the edge of personally insulting the emperor". Its only immediate effect was to prompt Han Yu's dismissal and exile to Chaozhou. "After a number of their distinguished government posts, he died at the age of fifty-six in Changan."

Thoughts and Beliefs

"Han Yu is generally considered the greatest master of classical prose in the Tang. He was an important Confucian Intellectual and served as the sponsor of many literary figures of the turn of the ninth century. Although he was Meng Jiao's strongest supporter, Han Yu was himself a very different poet. Han Yu wrote in many modes, often with discursiveness and experimental daring. He was "a Confucian thinker and was deeply opposed to Buddhism, a religion that was then popular in the court. Han Yu came close to being executed in 819 for sending a letter to the emperor in which he denounced "the elaborate preparations being made by the state to receive the Buddha's fingerbone, which he called 'a filthy object' and which he said should be 'handed over to the proper officials for destruction by water and fire to eradicate forever its origin'. He believed that literature and ethics were intertwined, and he led a revolution in prose style against the formal ornamentation then popular."

Han Yu advocated the personal assimilation of Confucian values through the Classics, making them part of one's life. He also championed what came to be called "old style prose," breaking free of the stylized formality of much Tang prose to a kind of writing more suited to argumentation and the expression of ideas.

Poetry

His "writings, especially his essays, are often of the very highest order, leaving nothing to be desired either in originality or in style. Han Yu wrote a large quantity of verse, frequently playful, on an immense variety of subjects, and under his touch the commonplace was often transmuted into wit. Among other pieces there is one on his teeth, which seemed to drop out at regular intervals, so that he could calculate roughly what span of life remained to him."

Overall Significance

Han Yu died on December 25, 824 and was buried April 21, 825 in the ancestral cemetery at Ho-Yang. He ranks among the most important personalities in the history of traditional Chinese culture. All the major accounts of Han Yu's life agree that he had an open and forthright character, which manifested itself in his unswerving loyalty to his friends. He was a great conversationalist and an inspired teacher: "His teaching and his efforts to mold his students were unrelating, fearing they would not be perfect. Yet he amused them with jokes and with the chanting of poems, so that they were enraptured with his teaching and forgot about returning home". The sense of humor that is so obvious in his writing was also important in his life. Contemporarily, it is 'due to his calm and dignified patriotism that the Chinese still keep his memory green." Most modern scholarship, although content to assign to Han Yu a secure place in the history of Chinese literature, has been embarrassed by the violence of his Confucian passions. Han Yu's own life and personality as well as understanding of T'ang history have made this process more feasible than it would have been half a century ago. Han Yu is among the most personal and at the same time the most open of Chinese authors, he writes often and frankly about his own life, his feelings, his career, his friends. Accordingly, almost 95 percent of his writings can be securely dated and then read against the political history of the time. The result is a remarkably clear picture of Han Yu as an active participant in the political life of his age. "

Sources

Barnstone, Tony and Chou Ping (ed.) (2005). The Anchor Book of Chinese Poetry, Random House, New York.

Birch, Cyril (ed.) (1965). Anthology of Chinese Literature. Grove Press, Inc., New York.

Giles, Herbert G. (1973). A History of Chinese Literature. Charles E. Tuttle Company, Inc. Rutland, Vermont.

Hartman, Charles. (1986). Han Yu and the T'ang Search for Unity. Princeton University Press, New Jersey.

Owen, Stephen (ed.) (1996). An Anthology of Chinese Literature. W. W. Norton & Company, Inc., New York.

References

External links

John Thompson on Han Yu and the guqin

Category:768 births Category:824 deaths Category:9th-century philosophers Category:People from Nanyang Category:Tang Dynasty politicians Category:Tang Dynasty historians Category:Tang Dynasty poets Category:Three Hundred Tang Poems poets Category:Critics of Buddhism

de:Han Yu es:Han Yu fr:Han Yu gan:韓愈 ko:한유 it:Han Yu ja:韓愈 no:Han Yu pl:Han Yu pt:Han Yu ro:Han Yu ru:Хань Юй sk:Jü Chan sr:Хан Ји vi:Hàn Dũ zh-classical:韓愈 wuu:韩愈 zh:韩愈

{{infobox korean name| context	north| hangul백기행| hanja白夔行| rrBaek Gi-haeng| mrPaek Kihaeng| hangulho백석| hanjaho白石 ''also'' 白奭| rrhoBaek Seok| mrhoPaek Sŏk| }}

Baek Sok (July 1, 1912 - c. January 1995), born Paek Kihaeng, was a North Korean poet.

He was born in Chŏngju in North Pyongan, and made his literary debut in 1936 with a collection of poems entitled ''Deer'' (사슴, ''Sasŭm''). Thereafter he published about 50 more pieces, but is not believed to have produced another collection of poems. He enjoyed making use of the unique Pyongan dialect in his writing, but after the division of Korea, the dialect-suppression policies of North Korea prevented him from being very active.

In South Korea, the publication of his works was prohibited since he was a North Korean poet, but he was widely re-evaluated after his works were first introduced to the South in 1987. He is now regarded as having opened a new face of Korean modernism from his own perspective, while using Pyongbuk dialect and relics of the past as his subject matter and founding his work on local sentiment.

South Koreans long believed that Baek Sok had died on a collective farm in 1963. However, recently it was revealed that he lived until 1995.

Notes

References

File: http://thumbview01.search.naver.com/thumbnails?q=http://imgnews.naver.com/image/003/2010/04/15/NISI20100415_0002609296_web.jpg

See also

List of Korean language poets

Korean literature

Culture of North Korea

Category:1912 births Category:1995 deaths Category:North Korean writers

es:Baek Sok fr:Baek Sok ko:백석 zh:白石