sad beauty and loneliness that brings you to tears. When I look at it, I can not control the emotion that fills my heart. Where else can I find such beauty of sadness." The characterization of Korea as sad and stagnant was common in Imperial Japan; Japanese historiography of Korea was centered on the idea that Korea was stagnant. To justify the colonization of Korea, the Japanese propagated an image of Koreans as an inferior, uncivilized people, who were incapable of being independent and prone to being invaded and oppressed. The Japanese viewed Korea's "sorrow" as being because of "a national history of unremitting disaster". Yanagi's views of Korea mirrored those of contemporary Japanese colonial politics. Yanagi said that Korean history was characterized by instability, invasion, and subservience; the "sadness" of Korean history was said to be manifested in Korean art, which, according to Yanagi, embodied the "beauty of sorrow". Yanagi contributed to the naturalization of Japanese colonialism in Korea. The last Korean emperor, Sunjong, was directly associated with han. Following his death in 1926, an article said that his "life of han" ended in sadness. The Dong-a Ilbo wrote: "The anger, bitterness, and sorrow built up inside us have become mixed together, and it could be said that the passing of the Yunghui Emperor [Sunjong] has touched the hearts of the Joseon people and released their pent-up sadness." Han became political because Sunjong's death symbolized the end of Korean history. Yanagi Sōetsu was an influential figure in colonial Korea, and was accepted as a true friend by contemporary Koreans; he sought to preserve the traditional art of Korea, held fund-raising lectures and concerts for humanitarian aid, and spoke out in defense of Korean people and cultural heritage. Moderate Korean nationalists, who had a non-confrontational approach toward Japanese authority, supported Yanagi, and the Dong-a Ilbo actively promoted and sponsored him. Yanagi was admired by prominent figures in the fields of history, art, and media, who had a profound influence on the formation of modern Korean concepts of traditional art, aesthetics, and history. The concept of han, based on the "beauty of sorrow", was propagated by Korean scholars and writers, continuing Yanagi's legacy, and gradually spread to the entire education system. According to Jeong Il-seong, the passage of modern Korean history, going from the Japanese occupation to independence to national division to civil war to military dictatorship, influenced figures in art