In Korea and China there were poets who devoted both their poetry and their lives with fierce intensity. The protagonists are Liu Xiyi (劉希夷) of China and Jeong Ji-sang (鄭知常) of Korea. What was it about poetry that inspired such intensity? Where are these stories about poetry recorded? They are recorded in shi‑hua.

Jeonbuk National University (JBNU) Professor Park Sun-chul (College of Humanities, Department of Chinese Language & Literature) has published a book that examines and describes these fascinating stories, focusing on representative Korean and Chinese shi‑hua: "Korea–China Shi‑hua Stories" (Jeonbuk National University Press).

The book covers the origins, definitions, and development of shi‑hua; the various opinions of Korean and Chinese critics on the same poems; the fierce debates between the Jongdang School and the Jongsong School; the controversy over the relative merits of Li Bai and Du Fu; discussions about poems and poets; and appreciations of representative Korean and Chinese poems.

Reading this book allows readers to understand why poetry could represent Korean and Chinese literature over a long period and why so many poets composed, murmured, and enjoyed poetry. It also helps readers cultivate the cultural literacy to discuss poems and poets in an engaging way in everyday conversation.

The author, Professor Park Sun-chul, majored in ancient Chinese literature and earned his Ph.D. with a dissertation on the Shijing (Classic of Poetry). He has continued related research and published numerous scholarly papers.

He has also pursued comparative Korean–Chinese literary studies, conducting extensive comparative research on shi‑hua in the field of poetry and publishing numerous papers. In addition, he devoted himself to translating classical texts and collected works, spending more than ten years translating and publishing Ijae Nango.