• Readings
in Early Korean Literature, Selections
and Introductions
First Round, to be
completed by Monday July 2, 5pm
Reading: EKL Preface, xi-xiii; A Brief
History of Korean Literature to the Nineteenth Century, 1-10; Samguk Sagi, Samguk Yusa, 13-24; EKL
Part 2, Negotiations in Korean Literature, and Ch’ôyong and Manghae Temple,
99-122
Notes and summary: As you read, please make notes on passages,
characters, incidents, or other matters that catch your attention, and explain
why they did.
Second, what can you find out about Korea's
historic society, cultural practices, issues or concerns? What was it
like in Korea back then?
Summarize your notes in a one or two-page response
and post it to the correct COMMENTS section of the POST on the class blog/web site by Monday July 2,
5pm. so we can get a sense of your encounters with the Samguk Yusa and related historical materials.
Note about posting: It is encouraged that you post between 4:30 and 5pm on Monday, July 2nd. Comments posted after 5pm will be considered late. You should write out your response well before the post time in another program such as MS Word or Text Edit and then copy and paste it to the COMMENTS area below. Please do NOT create a new post. Please remember the honor system, do not read other comments before posting your comment. Thank you.
Here is a test comment.
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ReplyDeleteAs I was skimming through pieces of Korea literature from the Samguk to the Chosun eras, I found that there were three characteristics of Korean literature throughout history. Korean literatures are not for entertainments but rather used for other purposes, it was usually for the educated, and also had a lot of outside influence.
ReplyDeleteLiterature in Korea was not something to enjoy as an entertainment, but were used for other purposes, like a specific recording of history in a more sophisticated sense. For example, Samguk Yusa and Samguk Sagi was written to record the history and mythologies of the Three-Kingdoms era before Koryo, and similarily, Yongbi-o’chon ka was written during the Chosun dynasty to praise the kings of early Chosun. Also, literature genres such as sijo(Korean poetry) were used as means to express one’s feelings in a creative manner. When Chong Mong-ju and Yi-Bang Won were negotiating with each other regarding establishing a new dynasty, they sent sijos , like Tansim-ka and and Hayeo-ka to each other- where one persuaded another to support their own side. Also, Chong-Chul wrote kasa named Sok miin kok and Sa miin kok, using a woman’s image to sing his loyalty towards the king while he was sent to exile.
Another characteristic of Korean literature is that it was usually for the educated people, in other words, elites of the society. A lot of Korean writings were written in Chinese characters- and peasant could not read it as they were not able to receive education that would have enabled them to read the Chinese letters. Even if they could read the letters, it would have been hard to empathize with the contents of the literary works, as they usually portrayed history and life of the nobles, which the normal citizens were not familiar with. This continued until King Sejong invented Hangeul, the Korean characters made for peasants to become literate citizens. However, written pieces portraying everyday life of peasants were not prevalent until late Chosun.
Finally, as Korea was located in a peninsula, between the continent (China) and island (Japan), it has experienced a lot of influence on its literature from outside of the country. As mentioned above, writings were usually written in Chinese characters, and in a lot of times of unified Silla and Koryo, Chinese writing styles were adopted as the empired took partial control of Korea at the time. For similar reasons, Japanese colonial period in Korea has also influenced its literary works in introducing Japanese-style writings. Also, it inspired Korean poets and writers to write works that expressed Korean anger towards Japanese colonialism.
In conclusion, historically, literature in Korean society might have been a privilege for elites to enjoy with a lot of foreign influence, serving many other purposes. However, I believe that in contemporary society, it has become easier for normal people like me to enjoy reading, as we now have mandatory education and different authors writing for their own reasons. Also, Korean writings are receiving international spotlight, through works such as ‘Please take care of mother’ by Shin Kyung Suk, which is being translated into many other language versions. I am thankful that I can enjoy such works, and I also hope that in the future, instead of just adopting other styles, Korean literature could actually be the one influencing the others.
Remnants of Silla and Koryo literature provide a rich record of early Korean culture, and serve as a point of reference for the persistence and application of certain modes of thinking. From this material, we can begin to note how literature became an avenue for emotional and political expression. As Koreans felt the burden of foreign attempts at physical invasion and cultural dominance, they retaliated with words as well as manpower. A small country, often at the mercy of Japanese and Chinese hegemony, Korea could not always do much in the form of sheer war tactics. The resentment caused by multiple transgressions is documented in Korean poetry. Monk Ch’ungji, for instance, wrote about the sacrifice that resulted from Japanese duress to build and man an invasion. Korean literature was both a method of catharsis and an expression individual and communal strength. By infusing their stories with hope in the survival and triumph of their people, Koreans used literature as a source of strength and a quiet form of resistance.
ReplyDeleteFor instance, the founding myth of Koreans, the story of Tan’gun, communicates transformation through resilience. Only by putting her vision for the future above present discomfort (consumption of bitter roots) does the bear attain a higher existence. Koreans, enduring foreign invasion with flexibility, enriched and preserved their culture. Korean celadon and music are both examples of creative resistance wherein clever manipulation of foreign pressures resulted in the creation of uniquely Korean cultural products.
Furthermore, the notions of quiet suffering and negotiation or manipulation of a foreign enemy are sentiments with current and historical resonance that are also evident in early storytelling. Often, negotiation takes places through performance, rather than violent demonstration. Koreans, a people unable to overwhelm huge enemies with sheer force, used other methods to survive. Through performance of a song, villagers regain their lost Lady Suro from the strange force of the sea dragon. Similarly by gaining the respect of foreign powers through exemplary cultural productions (artistic excellence and naval prowess), and preserving their practices in these art forms, Koreans were able to remain distinct entities in their relationships with Japan and China. Furthermore, by exerting themselves cautiously, and most of all, cleverly, with some bargaining item Koreans were able to fend against outside powers. In the Song of Cho’yong, the titular character reins in anger and instead strikes a deal with the dragon. Furthermore, if one is to interpret the Cho’yong’s wife as a shaman, then we see Cho’yong and the shaman manipulate their adversary, fooling him into a sense of confidence only to trick him into disappearing completely.
Of course, my analysis of early Korean literature only grazes the surface of the meanings and cultural clues imbedded in this literature. The sheer depth and richness of the poetry provides ample themes and structural examples for my own form of storytelling. I hope to incorporate the subtle, yet highly symbolic imagery employed by Samguk Yusa and Samguk Sagi tales in my own visuals. Furthermore, I will look for signs of resilience, rebellious performance, and mindful negotiation in the stories of individuals and institutions of the present.
When I was reading about the History of Korean literature, Samguk Sagi and Samguk Yusa, I was surprised by the fact that Koreans lived a very artistic life, not excluding any class or gender. Korean people’s desire for creativity and passion for writing could be seen from the start to finish of Korean literature. This can be found in the ways that they continued writing irrespective of nation’s circumstances such as under the Chinese dominating influence and Japanese Colonization, even though they used Chinese and Japanese languages. The passion for writing can also be seen in the creation of Hangul, which made the comparatively uneducated (especially women) to write and express their emotions and propagandas with words. The creation of Samguk Sagi and Samguk Yusa demonstrates that the educated Korean officials knew the importance of “histories” as well as “History,” since the SGSG focuses on the male-dominated, powerful narratives of court history but SGYS aims on the subjects that are quite marginalized and orally transmitted. Overall, I was able to find the deep affection of art in Korean people by reading SGSG and SGYS. The poem of King Yuri in SGSG portrays a transformation of personal emotions to poetic work; Rather than being angry, he chooses to sublimate his loss and sadness into a strict form of a poem. In SGYS, two songs are sung in the story of Lady Suro; Choyong dances and sang in front of a spirit; Sodong makes a song as a strategy to live with the Princess.
ReplyDeleteWhile I was trying to analyze the songs within SGSG and SGYS, I found out that only women were excluded in the singing activity, which I found it quite interesting. Singing part (poems, or lyrics) was not discriminated by class or age, but only by gender. King Yuri makes a poem, an old man sings for Lady Suro, and the children sing the song that Sodong had made. The women characters are described visually(like “beautiful,” “incomparable beauty,” symbolic reference to a flower, etc.) but they are silenced. Even though Lady Suro replies to Lord Sunjong’s questions, they are not in a form of a song. Princess Sonhwa replies and writes a letter to the Temple, and again we can see that she is excluded from artistic activities. This made me think about certain concepts: First, the relationship between visual virtue of women and silence. Second, the power of women’s songs (that was mentioned in the interpretation of Choyong in the book)—or women’s expression of themselves in an artistic form. These two connects with each other as well. I believe that although SGYS tried to focus on the “histories,” it cannot escape from the male gaze. It also suggests the constant male consciousness of women’s power throughout that period. However, it is very important that from the historical backgrounds, an alternative reading of these stories is possible from another perspective like Pf.McCann’s, with Choyong’s story.
"5000 years history" is a phrase commonly heard in Korea when we talk about our history. From Tangun, Three kingdom, Unified Silla, Koryo, Chosun, Japanese colonial period to current day Korea, various genres, contents of literature can be found. Myth, songs, fables are some of the earliest forms of Korean literatures handed down until Unified Silla era, followed by hyangga and its upgraded version sogyo. I found hyangga and sogyo similar because both are close to minyo, people's song, but the difference is that sogyo tried to include or use chinese-language style of writing in the presence. As King Sejong invented Korean writing system hangul in early chosun, verse literatures, sijo and kasa appeared. Sijo had structural rule to follow, three line, unlike kasa which had no limitation in length. Also, Akchang, a verse form used in official ceremonies is found in this era. These various verses in this time typically have dramatic, grave expressions, and contains meanings hidden behind the words. For example, many works would use the view of nature, trees, sky, sun, moon, animals, to implicitly talk about their life, wills, love for the king and so on.
ReplyDelete"Song of the Oriole" contrasts the situation of King Yuri and orioles singing together. King Yuri fails to bring his wife back when even little birds are in love and enjoying their life with a partner. The view of the orioles deepens the king's grief and sorrow also implying that even with the same problem, which in this case is love, human life is always more complicated and uneasy to solve.
"Tangun" story or myth is commonly heard in Korea used to explain in what spirit Korea first started. Hwanung who descended on the peak of Mount Taebaek is considered as heavenly being. He came to Korea with Earl of wind, the Master of Clouds, and the Master of rain. These masters are all related with weather which determines the agricultural life that was probably the most important way of living. Tiger and bear would probably represent the tribe that worshiped each animal since animism existed as an earlier form of religion at the time. In a very similar way, the story of lady Suro seems to be a form of animism in that it persuades the dragon, a supernatural, unrealistic animal, to return the lady. Parable of Choyong and King Mu on the other hand convey different aspect of Korea society. Basically both show the respect for the royals and yearning for peace in the country. Also, by using specific time and place or a construction, it tries to provide evidence that the story somehow did occur.
Korean literature was very closely linked with human ecosystem. For instance, elites in Korea, Yangban, used Korean and Chinese language tests held from the government that created a concrete line which separated the haves and the have-nots, elites and non-elites. Also, the use of literacy to yearn for national prosperity or peace was a common sight in the past. In this perspective, it can be said that Korean literature held optimism and a hope for a bright future.
When describing the parable of Choyong, most readers focus on the 'passivity' of Choyong's attitude when he encounters somebody or something in bed with his beautiful wife. However, the book tries to discover what underlies in the literary context.
While many critiques try to explain Choyong's unusual behavior, interpretation of Buddhism which simply deemed it as a 'type of behavior valued' in Buddhism concept was surprising. Related to what I encountered at excursion in Bongeunsa, Buddhist temple, the image of Jin-yu-moon, 'as it is door', emerged in my head. Buddhist see life and death as a cycle, not as a sequence of lined path, the relationship of you and I as a destined world that began from the past life and continuing to present and future. Choyong depicted as a Koyro-in, citizen of Koyro, seems to represent the way of life that is pursued in Buddism which prevailed during the era as national religion.
In a quite different point of looking at the parable, the whole sequence of story began from the king giving Choyong beautiful woman to thank him for his loyalty. As is mentioned in the book, the parable would never have gotten to Choyong's impassive behavior, if he never showed his respect towards the king in the first place. What he secures in the end is not just his wife but it represents a precious gift that was rewarded to him from the king and he does that while earning the respect from the spirit which to our common sense is in antagonistic relation. This also shows that this parable inhibited the concept of lifting king's dignity and the nation.
ReplyDeleteAfter reading the brief introduction in Early Korean Literature by David R. McCann, I became aware of how successful the poems in the early Choson Dynasty are in appealing to pathos. With recurring elements such as love, fidelity, and even fragility of life portrayed by those who were to be executed the following day, such poems characterize an overwhelming emotion of sadness that often entails the reader’s sympathy. Moreover, looking at how there was a near-absence of literary development during the Japanese annexation and the era of political instability that followed, I wondered if the main key to Korea’s golden era of literature was the freedom and leisure of expression. If that was the case, then why do so many of the poems from a “better era” depict sadness? Is it merely a coincidence that most of these famous texts during the pre-Choson period illustrate a kind of suffering?
ReplyDeleteThe stories in the three books of the Samguk Yusa at first left me baffled as I was trying to figure out the main message of the stories. For example, in The Story of Lady Suro, I did not understand the purpose behind the inclusion of the old fellow and the unexpectedly positive descriptions that the princess gave about the dragon’s palace. It brought me back to what the preface had briefly discussed, “how does a Korean historical work establish its authenticity and authority” (xii)? I concluded that Iryon’s stories are artistic expressions that reflect the values of Buddhism, touching upon elements such as gratitude, loyalty, and resistance.
Therefore, reading McCann’s explanation and analysis in the latter half of the book proved to be very intriguing and enlightening; it amazed me to see how much could actually be interpreted from such simple folktales. Who would have thought that an analogy could be drawn between a society’s literature culture and a “human ecosystem”, that everything could be viewed under the concept of negotiation, and that a single word could add significance to a story through its etymology? Most mind-boggling to me was how the mere swapping of perspective from the king to that of Cho’yong’s wife could lead to an ultimate solution of their story: the newly found balance of order for women, men, and spirits.
As for insights about Korea’s history that I have gathered so far from the assigned reading, I think that there existed a huge effort by the authorities to maintain the practice of ritual customs such as dancing or building temples, hence emphasizing the importance of gratitude and fidelity. Furthermore, the lowly status of women—also touched upon by the story of Cho’yong—sheds light on the issue of a strictly-dominated patriarchal society in the past. Such heavy reliance on the establishment of authority without directly solving the country’s internal conflicts is what led Korea to its plunge shortly after the Chosun Dynasty. In short, therefore, I find it easy to picture Korea’s world back then as a bubble; a bubble has the potential to fly up endless heights of prosperity, yet it can very easily pop in an instant due to the turbulence outside its flimsy walls.
Korean literature has been gradually changed its style from the earliest written remains to later chosun works. However, reading through the brief history of Korean literature, I could easily find out that there are some main themes in common throughout Korean literature.
ReplyDeleteFirst of all, Korean literature has been focused on separation and reunion. In Korean literature from the ancient time to modern days, the sadness of separation was spiritualized into expectation of reunion. This can be seen in a folk song called “Arirang”, kyoro gayo “gasiri” , “The story of King Tongmyong” or modern poem “Azalea” by Kim sowol. To be specific, in the “Song of the Oriole”, King Yuri feel grief and sorrow and just hope to bring his wife back, since the little oriole are in love and enjoying their time together.
Moreover, Koreans had to overcome lots of difficulties, since Korea had been invaded frequently due to its geographical position. Undergoing all the hardships, Koreans began to obtain perseverance and later on they considered patience as the best virtue a person should have. Perseverance in Korean literature is unique in a sense that it is not for afterlife but for this life. kyoro gayo “Jeongseok ka”, “Tamsim ka” and the old record of “Tan gun” all reflect this courtesy and perseverance idea. To illustrate, “Cho yong “ story is a good example for showing this patience. Cho yong sings and dances outside rather than taking firm action even after he finds out that his wife in bed with another man. Professor McCann's deep analysis and various perspectives toward this passive attitude of Cho yong was intriguing.
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ReplyDeleteThe stories of Tan’gun and Lady Suro are two representative accounts featured in the Samguk Yusa (1285), a collection of tales spanning five books that were compiled by the Buddhist monk, Iryon. Tan’gun, contained in the first book, tells of the founding legend of the ancient kingdom, Kochosun, and establishes the legitimacy of the country’s roots by tracing its origins to divine authority. It is also intended to propagate the country’s founding ideology, as exemplified by Hwanung’s descent and referred to as ‘Hongik In’gan,’ that is to this day taught in the Korean education system. The Story of Lady Suro, a woman who was so beautiful as to entice even the spirits, is significant for the two hyanggas included, “Hunhwaga (The Flower Offering Song)” and “Haega (Sea Song),” and interesting in its reflection of women’s stature of the times.
ReplyDeleteTan’gun was borne of Hwanung, the son of heaven, also called Hwanin, and Ungnyeo, a bear turned woman. Hwanung, the son of heaven, first came down to the earth with masters of the three natural elements of wind, cloud and rain, and organized government to rule human affairs by five different categories: agriculture, existence, illness, law and morals. Ungnyeo was originally a bear who yearned to be human, and endured twenty-one days of living in the dark on a diet exclusively of wormwood and garlic. This earned her Hwanung’s approval, who transformed her into a woman, to eventually wed her and give birth to their son, Tan’gun. Hongik In’gan, described as the humanistic approach to better the livelihood of all man, is illustrated in this story in that both animal and god desired to live as humans, and created civilized governance, for it “would be the most advantageous for human affairs.” Thus, it justifies government on practical grounds, and invests it with a sacred prerogative on a principle level, by deriving the source of rule from the heavens.
The Story of Lady Suro relates the tale of the woman whose beauty was such that a passerby would dare treacherous grounds “where no human feet can go” to fetch her flowers, and spirits of the sea and other elements would try and snatch her away. Two hyanggas included in this are “Hunhwaga,” the song recited by the man who picked her flowers, and “Haega,” the song sung by Lord Sunjong and the community in their effort to get the sea spirit to return his wife. While the two songs are important because only so few remain today, it is interesting to note the treatment of the subject in greater detail. It is historically noted that women were more equally treated during the Koryo period relative to the later Chosun period. Though the choice of a female as the title character seems consistent with that idea, it belies the story’s passive objectification of the Lady Suro that very much reflects a male-oriented perspective, which is unsurprising in light of who had collected these stories.
Although the primary character is the Lady, she is introduced only after her husband, Lord Sunjong, is described in the expository first paragraph to set up the reason for her presence. Additionally, the story does not give her much free agency. She is “seized” by the dragon, “lifted up” to the ground, and “[carried] away” by water spirits, all the while which she is a passive object. The only time she acts out of her own will, is to ask whether “someone will go and pick the flowers for [her],” again conferring the action on other males, to which the “old fellow” steps up to the plate. Her mention in the hyanggas further demonstrate her passive nature, as in “Haega” she is referred to as “another’s wife” that should be “let go”, and in “Hunhwaga” all mention of her (“if you will not be shy of me” as opposed to “if you are not shy” and “may I … have you take them?” rather than “would you take them?”) are in the passive tense. Therefore, the language of the tale makes it clear where she stands in relation to the males.
ReplyDeleteIn sum, Tan’gun is a founding legend that legitimates government on a principle and practical level, and upholds the ideology of “Hongik In’gan” and the Story of Lady Suro is a piece notable for its literary significance and as a greater indicator of women’s position within literature if not society.
1. Korean ancient story's shamanistic characteristic
ReplyDeleteIt is said that if you long for something badly, it comes to be realized. King Mu spreads a slanderous rumor against Princess Sonhwa to acquire her. People repeat a mantra that they will roast the turtle unless it returns Suro’s wife. In this way, Korean people have believed that even iron can be melted if they aspire and pray together. Also, in those days, the portrait of Choyong, who exorcised evil spirits with his nature and dance, was hung on the wall at every door as an amulet, which shows that shamanism has been a big part of Korean folk culture. Many fairy tales present the prototype of its folk belief, which is in existence even today.
2. Forced nature to us? Ch’oyong and Manghae temple
Influenced by Confucian culture, we are encouraged to conceal one's feelings. Grief, pleasure, and anger should be hidden or transformed to different feelings. Choyongga represents this property very well. Feelings are sublimated. He faced the scene that his wife is involved in immoral intimacy, but he just said what he should do, and he sublimated his feeling to dance. Finding enlightenment by his sorrowful dance, the evil spirit knelt down and repented his fault. Since then, people have hung his portrait on the door to prevent evil spirit. As Choyong's dance touches the evil spirit, emotional adjustment of art gives energy to creative work to arouse sympathy from people's hearts. In this sense, Choyong's dance has sadness. Rather than get angry with his wife's adultery, he danced and forgave it, which accentuates his noble character. Maybe this story depicted a kind of idealistic character through Choyong. As there is a saying that soft and fair goes far, Choyong's behavior may be considered a good example of noble nature at that time. If we think of this story only in a positive way, he represents a broad-minded person at that time. Yet, I would like to concentrate on other characteristics. Choyong seems passive and carefree, and is not good at emotional expression. This moderation and conformity might have influenced Korean people, sneaking in their personality and habits.
Personally, I feel a sense of frustration a little bit since neither Choyongga nor King Mu's story attempted to subvert typical writing at the time by focusing on females, as Helene Cixous’s Oedipus the King story. Choyong's wife was a marvel of beauty and she was raped by the evil spirit in the shape of man. At the same time Choyong's grief is understood, his wife is indeed a victim in this story. Yet, there is nothing about her feelings including she’s desire. Although there are many different versions of this story according to regions, they all were focused on the man, Choyong.
3. King Yuri, Song of the Oriole
In this ancient song, King Yuri depicted loneliness. Probably, loneliness is one of the important emotions which draw general sympathy across the ages and in all countries of the world. Rather than talking about his lonesomeness, he gives salience to his situation by describing mating orioles. Though he had control over a country, probably he couldn't avoid loneliness after losing his wife.
Written by Buddhist monk Iryon, Samguk yusa(SGYS) contains a lot of shamanic elements as well as Buddhist elements, as differentiated itself from Samguk sagi by Kim Pu-sik, written based on Confucianism concepts rather than Buddhist or shamanic way.
ReplyDeleteAmong many of the stories, readings focused on a story and song of Choyoung. Although song of Choyoung does not seem to express any shamanic or Buddhist forms of rituals explicitly itself, I thought Choyoung’s passivity actually represent Buddhist colors, dissolved very deeply and naturally in ancient Korean life. Considering background for this story and song is late Silla era, when the time of downturn of kingdom, and author of the SGYS is a monk who lived a life during Mongolian occupation period of Koryo, I felt Choyoung’s reaction that does not show any kind of resentment even when he was taken away his wife, represent Koreans’ efforts to overcome crisis with perservance rather than wrath or violence. What I read from Choyoung’s behavior is that this perservance-based reaction definitely shows Buddhist way to endure sufferings, and singing a song instead of fighting with bad spirit represent shamanic fashions.
As described in the book, many Korean scholars as well as professor McCann have pointed out about the passivity of Choyoung because his reaction to a situation that he faces is extraordinary. (this is why song of Choyoung became more unique than any other Korean ancient songs) It is very fascinating that Choyoung’s reaction can be interpreted in various ways, politically, culturally, or just literally. I greatly agree with an idea of reading Choyoung’s extraordinary behavior in political way because literature used to justify or praised political circumstances in many cases; as Choyoung’s action finally resulted in repentance of bad spirit, metaphor of disorder or unfortunate of the kingdom.
What I found most interest, however, was interpretation of roles of Choyoung’s wife, beautiful woman. Under classical masculine ways of thinking, ‘woman’ is an subject to be protected from outside danger, which is somewhat similar to the ‘country’ that actually cannot protect itself from outside threats. In this interpretation, woman politically and culturally read as ‘country’. Inversely, however, professor McCann provides another possibility of analyzing song of Choyoung with more female-centered way by borrowing concepts from Greek literature; perhaps Choyoung’s passivity comes from mark of uncontrolled male-oriented laments. Since I always aware of the fact that so strong male-centered Korean culture was established after Korean-Japanese war in Chosun period, I thought there are no problems to change ways of thinking in inversed way. Why not we can imagine hidden inner stories of what beautiful wife took an important role? Even though Choyoung’s beautiful wife appears in the song only as ‘two legs’, I found there are no differences between trying to find all kinds of meaning regarding Choyoung’s passive behavior and attempt to broaden hidden role of beautiful wife of Choyoung. In fact, Iryon himself wrote this story by collecting stories that orally transmitted, he might never know what the real original story was like.
What I felt during the reading was that there are no ‘correct answer’ for appreciating literature. Especially, song of Choyoung, which includes quite unique storyline, helps me to broaden my point of view in various ways. Who is a character actually playing the most important role in the Choyoung story, is the remaining question I have got from this assignment.
As reading the book “Early Korean Literature” by David McCann, I could skim through the brief history of Korean Literature and there were several points that captured my attention. Among them, the most interesting part was that Korean literature can be interpreted in a different way from the other person’s point of view. That is, I was able to eliminate the prejudice, occupying most of my thought, when appreciating the literary work.
ReplyDeleteWhat’s interesting was that the author assumes critical attitude against “Ch’oyong and Manghae Temple”. When learning the literature in high school, I just learned to analyze its literary meaning and had a glimpse on its historic background. However, I was surprised by careful analysis of the text; it deals with the plain meaning of the literature from various points of view that I couldn’t think of. For example, I haven’t thought of casting doubt on the relation between the story of the King and Cho’yong. I didn’t recognize any awkwardness before, however, the text led me how to have critical attitude when reading the literary work.
Also, it was fresh to point out the problem of the main character Cho’yong whose passivity is well-revealed in his behavior. I was impressed that his passivity can be interpreted in different ways and also discussed in depth. Especially in part of gendering negotiation, the way and the reason why Cho’yong expressed passivity are indicated.
From Korean literature, some specific feature of Korea’s culture can be found. Especially, “Cho’yong and Manghae Temple” reveals the tradition of women’s laments. In the book, professor McCann compares the one with Korean and that of Greece in detail. The natural basis of Korean is that the men have the right to pursue freedom as an individual, whereas the women should be dominated by men’s power. This thought is greatly influenced by prevailing Confucian culture. It can be said that “Cho’yong and Manghae Temple” represents the women’s laments in Korea, in which the beautiful woman in the literature indicates the marginalization. The beautiful woman is described as a weak individual, being despoiled by Demon Spirit with no resistance. Also, the beautiful woman was designated as the wife of Cho’yong. In this sense, in traditional society, women were thought as a bit of asset of men which implies the power. Here, we can conclude that women at that time are rather forced to conceal their feeling and had no right to argue for their freedom as an individual.
"Song of the Oriole” (From The Samkuk sagi, History of the Three Kingdoms) in Professor McCann’s “Early Korean Literature” comprises a short entry, which has only four paragraphs. Despite its length, however, the narrative was quite notable; it was illustrating some of the most basic and universal human feelings and emotions. For instance, King Yuri’s loneliness after Queen Song’s passing and the jealous feelings between the two concubines are representative of fundamental emotions human beings are prone to encounter relentlessly in life.
ReplyDeleteWhat is interesting is the fact that various emotional displays are in sharp dichotomy: the “anger” Hwa expresses and the “resentment” and “humiliation” Ch’i feels mirror each other like the "yin and yang", while the “affection” the two fluttering orioles demonstrate and the “loneliness” of King Yuri set a stark contrast. “Contrasts” are reasonably effective literary tools here, since the contrasts mentioned above successfully accentuate both Ch’i’s mortification and King Yuri’s grief in solitude. “Song of the Oriole” reminded me that ancient Korean people were captives of destructive human emotions such as loneliness and jealousy, just like we are today.
This narrative also demonstrated that there were several cultural issues in Korea at the time. This particular narrative shows Hwa’s antagonistic feelings towards Ch’i and her “Han” (or Chinese) origin. It may be groundless to say that Korean people as a group disliked the Han altogether, but “Song of the Oriole” can function as a piece of evidence that demonstrates that Korean royalties were slightly prejudiced against Chinese people during that time.
It was also interesting to find out that the Samguk Yusa was assembled as a supplement to the Samguk sagi. As “Early Korean Literature” points out, “Yusa” means “the remaining matters.” I believe that the existence of Samguk Yusa alone speaks to Iryon’s painstaking efforts to salvage “the forgotten vernacular materials” and resurrect the “omitted historical details” from Kim Pu-Sik’s earlier work.
The hyangga, which appear in several stories in the Samguk Yusa, imply that our Korean ancestors were fond of songs, dances, and music as much as we are today. A case in point is the narrative of “Ch’oyong and Manghae Temple,” in which many different kinds of spirits sing songs and appear in forms of dances.
Another attention-grabbing aspect of almost all of the selected Samguk Yusa stories in “Early Korean Literature” was the fact that they had recurring themes. Some of the illustrative themes and motifs include the following ideas: “the good triumphing over the evil (ex. The Demon Spirit is deeply moved by Ch’oyong’s great virtues and lets him take his wife back in Ch’oyong and Manghae Temple),” “beautiful women creating troubles and their husbands or lovers solving such problems(ex. Lady Suro was extremely beautiful that a dragon and water spirits carried her away in The Story of Lady Suro),” “mystical creatures or spirits transforming into human forms or giving birth to humans (ex. The bear marries Hwanung and gives birth to Tan’gun Wanggom in Tan’gun),” “Buddhism playing a hugely important role in solving conflicts (ex. The dragon of the Eastern Sea is pleased when a Buddhist temple is built for him in Ch’oyong and Manghae Temple),” and “supernatural events happening continuously (ex. The priest at Saja Temple uses his magical powers to transport Sodong’s gold in King Mu).”
By looking at these recurrent themes, it is not hard to make the following contentions about the time period these stories are set in. First of all, people must have believed in the existence of and the power of natural spirits and mythical creatures such as dragons, sea spirits, and mountain gods. Secondly, it can be concluded that ancient Koreans idolized beautiful women and parallel to other damsels in distress in other Western stories of quest for love, such female beauties created conflicts and catalyzed their admirers to embark on adventures and rescue those women. On the other hand, there aren’t a lot of “Joan of Arc’s” in Samguk Yusa. Women may sometimes show wisdom but never actively engage in settling conflicts or solving problems. It is usually – if not always – the men who show off their bravery or insight and knowledge to save the helpless yet gorgeous women they love. Furthermore, the stories prove that Buddhism was nationally – or culturally –acclaimed in those days. Buddhist monks are often play the central roles in resolving conflicts, and Buddhist temples often serve as “valuable tributes to angry spirits or dragons” or “places where solutions to problems are executed.” In addition to the aforementioned, there are many more noteworthy implications and literary elements in Samguk Yusa. In essence, the Samguk Yusa stories reveal numerous traits of the social and cultural milieu of Korea at the time.
ReplyDeleteHowever, it is essential to realize this is merely my own reading of the text. As Professor McCann contends in his essay titled “Ch’oyong and Manghae Temple: A Parable of Literary Negotiation,” there are numerous literary models and frameworks used to interpret a text. For instance, Prof. McCann argues that the passivity of Ch’oyong’s character can be construed differently depending on the context and perspective. In similar fashion, these mythical songs and legends might reveal completely different aspects of the Korean society or speak of concepts slightly different from the ones I found in those narratives.
Among the stories in Samguk yusa, I'd like to focus on the story of Ch'ǒyong. My first introduction to the song of Ch'ǒyong was actually in high school. In our Korean literature class, I learned about classical literature from various time periods. Teachers mainly focused on the specific meaning of each word or sentence of the works we studied, rather than the overall context or background story. I learned the song of Ch'ǒyong mostly in that way. Teachers didn't much mention the related story from which we can know the origin of the song. Learning the background story of the song gave me a newfound interest in something I had learned several years ago and had somewhat dismissed, because of the rather dry way in which it was taught to me.
ReplyDeleteAs I mentioned before, I found it interesting to know the origin story of the Ch'ǒyong's song. King Hǒn'gang suggested to build a Buddhist temple for the dragon, who could clear the fog that was obstructing Hǒn'gang and his warriors' path. This suggestion pleased the dragon and he gave his seventh son to Hǒn'gang as a reward. In return, Hǒn'gang gave the dragon's seventh son a beautiful woman. It is the development of the story. Development of the story gave the probability to the Ch'ǒyong's song. One day, the dragon's seventh son, named Ch'ǒyong, recognized that his wife and the other man had slept together. Then he sang the very song which most Korean students learned in high school. As I reexamine the work after learning the background story, I see it in a new light. The other man who was with his wife turned out to be a Demon Spirit. The situation is completed when the spirit promised not to show up again and went away.
The story catches my attention because Ch'ǒyong's response to the wife seems quite half-hearted from where I stand. In reality, most of the husbands' reactions would not like that. Ch'ǒyong remained calm unlike the ordinal people's reactions. There is a analysis about his reaction that it sublimated the situation, but his reaction seems passive in my perspective. He just sang a song and he did not express his feeling directly in the lyrics. Ch'ǒyong moderated in emotions and just turned around when he saw the disgraceful situation. If he had wanted to actively solve the problem, he should have asked his wife at least to explain the situation. I think his behavior might not better the relations between him and his wife. So, in my thinking, the character of Ch'ǒyong is weak of purpose to solve the problem and just manages the situation passively. Even though Ch'ǒyong did not say anything directly to the Demon Spirit, the spirit asked Ch'ǒyong's forgiveness. The spirit already knew that his behavior would be wrong. I can infer it from his apologizing to Ch'ǒyong. Even though he knew this, he tried to deliberately change his shape into a human and did a shameful thing. Then he just said sorry to Ch'ǒyong and went away when he only heard the song of Ch'ǒyong. Considering the spirit's deliberate and active trial, the situation completed too soon and easily. So I think the storyline is improbable in this part. The character of the Demon Spirit seems to have no backbone.
What also struck me was how the context of the Ch'ǒyong story gave a vivid portrayal of the distinctive societal roles of men and women in that era. Based on the characters' roles, it seems that the era was one in which men were the dominant figures of society, while women were more ornamental figures who did not exercise sovereign power. The main development of the story is driven by the male characters, while there is no mention at all about the beautiful woman's behavior or the reason behind her actions. There is only a little depiction of her appearance, and an emphasis on her 'beauty'. After the Demon Spirit seducers her, neither her response or what happens to her is mentioned. Compared to the men in the story, the woman is a relatively passive figure. The men's leadership and the woman's secondary role in the story illustrate the patriarchal society of 13th century Korea.
ReplyDeleteAnother aspect I can infer is that people believe in spirituality. The Demon Spirit existed in the story and talked with Ch'ǒyong. The spirit was personified in the story. Besides the Demon Spirit, there are several references about the spirits such as Sangsim. And there are also some references about the wishes to the god or spirit. Ordinal people danced a lot by mimicking spirit's appearance. And people believed that the dance has a special power. People's behavior in making Ch'ǒyong's likeness in front of the door in order to block some bad luck also correspond to my inference. People in that era might be superstitious and believe in spiritual power.
Observations by Terrence MCKENNA
ReplyDeleteTan’gun: I thought it was noteworthy that, despite their frequency in the other stories, dragons do not appear in Korea’s foundation story. Also, is the number “3” of any particular significance? There were three heavenly seals, three thousand attendants, three ministers (Earl of Winds, Master of Clouds, Master of Rain), three hundred areas of governance, and Chosŏn is separated into three administrative belts.
The Story of Lady Suro: An “old fellow” appears to be a stock character, someone who possesses special wisdom. I found the sentence “No one knew what kind of person the old fellow was.” really interesting. I’m wondering if the author means this in the sense we would use it (to describe character traits) or in a broader fashion (implying that there are different forms of being human [like half-god]). I’m also curious as to what the connection is between the first part of the story and the second. One thought is the idea of places “no human…can go”; another is a person’s longing becoming reality via the intervention of an “old fellow”.
Ch’ŏyong and Manghae Temple: Because the fog cleared as soon as the king ordered the temple built, it seems that the dragons of Korean folklore are omniscient and/or omnipresent. Furthermore, the dragons are influenced by human actions (this was also made clear by the previous piece). Dragons do not seems to have names, only places with which they are associated. They also appear to have human children (although Ch’ŏyong is never specifically said to be human, it seems to be the case from the context).
The line: “Owing to this, the people of this country make gate plates with Ch’ŏyong’s likeness.” portrays this piece as having an explanatory nature and also serves to build authenticity.
Above all else, it was the ending of this story that I found most noteworthy. In the end, the kingdom falls into ruin because the people misinterpreted the sign from the spirits as a happy omen when it was meant as a warning that the kingdom would fall into ruin. This sequence of events begs the question: if there had been no warning signs, would the kingdom have fallen into ruin? I was surprised that this text would suggest such a metaphysical question.
King Mu: Is the meaning of “cut his hair short” literal or is it a cultural idiom? Because of the context, it struck me as having a more encompassing meaning than the literal.
This story has a similar cause and effect sequence as the previous one: because King Chinp’yŏng believes the false rumor spread by Sŏdong, he inadvertently makes it come true. Unlike the previous piece, however, Sŏdong acts purposefully to trick the king (whereas the spirits acted to try to aid the king). The implications of this set of events is noteworthy as they point away from a world where the future is fixed and Fate rules over human affairs and toward the idea that an individual has influence over their future and even over the future of others. However, it must be noted that Sŏdong is the son of a dragon and a human so it is possible that the cunning to achieve such influence is only available to a few.
Like the previous piece, this myth tries to establish authenticity by claiming an explanatory purpose, referencing the “still standing” Mirŭk Temple.
It is surprising that Sŏdong does not realize that gold is valuable; Sŏdong’s character strikes me as somewhat cavalier. He doesn’t seem concerned with traditional ways of doing things, both in his “courting” of Sŏnhwa and his regard for the monetary system. Yet despite this, he marries Sŏnhwa and wins over her father and has abundant wealth.
King Chinp’yŏng is portrayed as a rather weak character in this piece. Throughout he is manipulated by Sŏdong to Sŏdong’s benefit.
Observations by Terrence MCKENNA
ReplyDeleteIt is clear from these stories that song and dance were central features of society and were attributed great power both in the physical and the spiritual realms. They appear to have been used to fill a role similar to that of an offering or sacrifice. Not only is there consistent communication between the spiritual and the physical realms, the two are able to influence each other. This contributes to an idea of balance and give-and-take necessary for prosperity. The readings also point to a society segregated into royalty and commoner and in which Buddhism was influential.
The passage that catch my attention is story of "Tansim ka" because it is so interesting that Lee Pang-won and Chong Mong-ju exchanged their sijos to sound out their intentions each other. In the book, Chong Mong-ju's sijo is focused on and Pang-won's sijo is not mentioned that much: "Pang-won invited Chong and then offered a somewhat mocking, metaphorical toast, couched in a sijo song, urging Chong to stop resisting the changing times." However the sijo ‘하여가(Hayeo ga)’, which is Lee Pang-won recited at the banquet to Chong, is also well know as much as 'Thansim ga' to Korean people. It is as in the following:
ReplyDelete이런들 어떠하며 저런들 어떠하리.
만수산 드렁칡이 얽혀진들 어떠하리.
우리도 이같이 하여 백 년까지 누리리라.
Free translation of the sijo is this: what if you are person of Koryo and what if you are person of Chosun, like as vines of Mansu Mountain are bound together, we could harmonize with each other. Basically this sijo was recited to conciliate Chong Mong-ju, but it also well represents Lee Pang-won's view of politics. As you can see in the phrase 'what if you are person of Koryo and what if you are person of Chosun', he adopted a pragmatic line to justify sacrifices in order to found Chosun dynasty. What he suggested in the '하여가(Hayeo ga)' is that even though Lee Sung-kye(father of Lee Pang-won) and his followers overset the older dynasty, the new country Chosun governs the same people at the same place of Koryo. Also, Koryo society was so rotten that people was suffered by dynasty extorting money from them. so swearing allegiance to the new dynasty is not shameful behavior but considerate behavior for people.
In direct opposition to Lee's sijo, Chong Mong-ju's return sijo '단심가(Thansim ga)' included a different set of values from Lee's. He was scholar rather than politic, he was a person who lived by his principles. So his sijo implied that he thoght Lee's overthrow is unjustifiable. Chong's sijo is written in praise of changeless fidelity and faith, which is 지조(Jijo), 절개(Jeolgye) in Korean. Ironically, this changeless fidelity and faith were passed to new nobillity of Chosun, 선비(Seonbi) and then became main value of them. As a result, during the era of Seonbi people valued faithfulness, fidelity and justification more than any other virtues. Untill these days, most of Korean people valued this virtues like faithfulness and fidelity, and that's why Korean people think that Chong's sijo is important.
However, nowaday Korean people tend to changed their set of values. Some people think sometimes they need to be flexible as like Pang-won dopted a pragmatic line. Even though Korean people hate the history that Pang-won cruelly purged the opposition forces, some of them admit that his way is more practical at least than Chong's way. Others, who don't like that way of thinking, think pragmatic line is not justified.
Even before opening a book, I thought reading a book about Korean literature written in a foreigner’s point of view would be interesting. Since the way literature can be interpreted varies depending on each reader’s experience and opinions, I expected to be inspired with a new way in understanding the classic literature. While I began skimming through the preface, I was once again reminded of the long history of Korea and its culture, which were relatively not interrupted by surrounding countries but kept its own originality. The original work itself shows how Korea was conserved and confined in the past. Therefore, I think literature serves as a tool that connects the past and the present as it is the only way for people nowadays to learn what life would have been in early Korea.
ReplyDeleteI find intriguing how literature not only reflects the history but many other aspects of the contemporary society. It also develops further and becomes complex after Korea finds its own language and involves more various classes of audiences.
The change in language in which literature was written depicts a significant revolution in terms of audience. According to the book, the very early literature was merely available to yangban class as the works were written in Chinese because yangban had chances to learn. However, after King Sejong spread Hangul among common people, everyone was able to read and write literature freely. It gave artists more opportunities to illustrate ordinary lives of people back then and express them into various forms of art.
The main focus of literature also varies among time periods. The ancient myth of Tangun gives emphasis on agriculture, morals, tolerance and patience. From Shilla period, Buddhism flourished, as shown through immense amount of literature dedicated to mere Buddhism and moral teachings. Since Koreans did not have their own language yet, they used Chinese characters until Koryo period. When Hangul was introduced in Early Chosun, songs of sijos and gasas were written. Interestingly, the subject of literature from then changed from religion to daily lives of people. As the time passes, pansori was developed in later Chosun, reflecting historical and political aspects of Korea. A Satire such as Hongil Dongjun was also written in which the protagoinist symbolized the marginalized class in Korea. Later, the tradition was challenged as new civilization stimulated the prevalent one for further fusion.
What I realized about difference between the past and the present of Korea while reading this book is that history of Korea reflected by early Korean literature does not involve a lot with foreign affairs but rather focuses on struggles within the country. As I mentioned earlier, Korea has a long history of 5000 years. However, Korea remained somewhat secluded and stayed away from external novel influences. It made Koreans past-oriented and concerned about their own living, moral lessons, nature, and virtue. On the other hand, people in modern days unfortunately tend to underestimate those values and have become future-oriented. The more they are exposed to new stimuli from the world, the more they seek for them. Furthermore, another example would be practices of Shamanism. As suggested by one interpretation of Choyong, shamanism remained popular in Korea. While still quite a lot of people believe in them, ritual practices are not easily seen these days.
Even though “the old Korea” apparently looks a lot different from “the modern Korea,” I think the essence of main issues and struggles among people remain the same as they still share common features of obstinate and conservative characteristics to some extent.
First of all, as we can read directly from the beginning, but also as it come back again and again in a lot of stories or historical parts: Korea has had such a big influence from the Chinese culture, I wouldn’t have excepted that much.
ReplyDeleteThis influence can be seen in different things: by the language and the alphabet: the Chinese language has been used in Korea for a long time, a lot of artistic writings by Koreans have been written in Chinese for a long time. We can also find this influence in the traditions or the origins of the country: the myth and stories about the creations …
Then, a second thing kept my attention: the place of Music and poems as a major part of the culture and of the history of the country. Of course, here, we are learning about Korean Literature, and not regular history, so it might be an explanation of why it has such a big importance. I will make a big comparison between the Asian culture (in general) and the European culture: in Asia, the myths are part of the culture, and it even feels like they are the foundations and pillars of the country, culturally and in the literature. In Europe, if you talk about the European culture and literature history, most of the things that would first come to mind to everybody would be the wars that made the countries as they are today, or the writings by famous artists, but most considered important because of the artists, not for the actual story.
To come back to music culture, we can actually feel this difference in every day’s life: in Korea, there is music everywhere, in stores, in the streets … and it’s normal, people don’t pay attention anymore. Also one more detail that makes me think that music is a main part of the Korean culture. Now, all over the world, the Kpop Movement (but it is also the same thing with Jpop, from Japan), and it really feels like the entire country of Korea is invading the rest of the world, and that all the people share that taste and wants it to grow. If you compare other “countries movement” in music, you could refer to the British rock of the 70’s or the French Touch in electronic music since the 90’s, it is only a part of the art culture (music is never alone in a movement: other kind of arts will stuck with a music movement: graphic design, fashion…): it is not part of the country’s culture.
Finally, last thing that really caught my attention is the number of references to the weather and to the 4 main elements. And, as it is not a coincidence, this is, of course, what we find on the Korean flag: the 4 elements Air, earth, water, fire but also in the “nickname” of the country :”land of the morning calm”. And as said before, it is the same for asia in general: Japan’s Nickname is “Land of the Rising sun.
The readings from Early Korean Literature not only provide cultural perspectives but historical views on Korean society as well. More importantly though, from the samguk siga and the samguk yusa there is a sense of meaning and purpose behind each story rather than the retelling of a story purely for entertainment or historical reasons.
ReplyDeleteMainly within the preface and “A Brief History of Korean Literature” were the ties to Chinese-language and literature, and thus culture, explicitly stated. Such a connection served to allow readers to realize at what point in time Korean literature, in its own respect, emerged and possesses its own distinct elements. The connection is important to make since China once had its own system of civil service examination upon which the Korean system was modeled. Literati during the Koryo period drew plenty from the Chinese when it came to literature, philosophy, and general education. As such, it would not be until the civil service exam was eliminated in 1894 that Korean literature would no longer be written in Chinese. The brief history demonstrated the changes that Korean literature has experienced only up until the end of the Choson Dynasty. The changes in literature parallel the changes in ruling powers as well as the Korean people's distancing from China.
Related more to the Samguk sagi and the Samguk yusa, even though I was a reader of these two texts for the first time, there were elements of the story that came across as the purpose for the telling of each story. In the “Song of the Oriole” the king loses both women, in “Tan'gun” the bear perceived and got its wish, in “The Story of Lady Suro” the lady is taken because of her wanting flowers from forbidden land, and it goes on. All of these stories made sense, but when reading “Ch'oyong and Manghae Temple” I was left a bit confused. While reading the discussion section, it became clear that these stories can be interpreted in multiple ways. What I did draw from the stories was the reverence for spirits and nobility during those times. Yet, nobility was not above the spiritual world, even if close. Rituals, ceremonies, and temples were the norm of the time. Although, both the samguk siga and samguk yusa are from before the Choson period, at which point Neo-Confucianism took hold throughout the peninsula. As a result, I suspect some of the values these stories held dear changed in Korea with the change in beliefs and ruling powers.
“Song of the Oriole” relates the story of the dynamics between wife, concubine, and husband, a king. The royal concubine Hwa insults Ch'i, a Chinese woman, and she leaves. Her flight thus inspires the king's title song.
ReplyDeleteBook 1: Tan'gun, from The Samguk Yusa, is a Korean creation story wherein Hwanung, wanting to “bring order to human life,” comes to Earth and allows a bear to become human. This new human gives birth to Tan'gun, the founder of Chosŏn.
Book 2: The story of Lady Suro tells the tale of Lady Suro, a woman with such immense beauty that the spirits regularly took interest in her. She is stolen by a dragon, only to be returned when Lord Sunjŏng, Suro's wife, gathers many people in song.
Book 2: Ch'ŏyong and Manghae Temple recounts King Hŏn'gang's journeys as he performs spiritual dances during a time of great prosperity for his kingdom, eventually leading to ruin, as warned by spirits. However, the story also recounts the tale of his son, who married a beautiful woman per his father's arrangement, and met a spirit who “despoiled” her with kindness.
Overall, female characters attracted my attention, because though they were generally given a secondary role and were more often than not portrayed as victims, they are central to the narratives, in addition to certain plot details, for developing an image of a past Korea. McCann's most striking analysis of the Ch'ŏyong encounter with the spirit relates the compelling idea that the beautiful wife was the main character of her ordeal, and that over time her identity and even true influence might have been stripped from her.
Moreover, women are victimized in these various plots, such as Lady Suro, stolen by a dragon, and the aforementioned wife of Ch'ŏyong, and their inclusion hints at the idea of women being secondary citizens.
In addition to the portrayal of women, finer details in the plots show that there is a harmony, if not reverence for, between man and nature. King Hŏn'gang's dances show that he is aware of the spiritual forces believed to be acting around him. However, there is also a cruel awareness of the limited human condition, wherein there can never be complete understanding, for despite this King's dances, his kingdom still faces ruin.
Early Korean Literature _ first reading assignment
ReplyDeleteFrom the earliest eras through unified Silla, Paekche, Koryo, early Choson to reach later Choson, Korean literature has persisted and developed all the way long. It has been embodying itself in a variety of forms, like ‘hyangga’ of Silla and Koryo, ‘Kyonggicheka’ of Koryo, ‘sijo’, ‘kasa’ and ‘akchang’ of early choson and ‘pansori’ and ‘hansi’ of later choson. There have also been many types of Korean literature after the collapse of choson; though most of them were in different foreign languages, they all represented the Korean spirit that lived throughout the long-lasting history, afterall.
The two major collections of historic Korean literature are Samguk Sagi(SGSG) by Kim Pu-sik, a rather formal recording, and Samguk Yusa(SGYS) by Iryon, a much more informal and tale-based recording. To select one story introduced in SGSG, ‘Song of the Oriole’ is the most notable. It was sung by the king Yuri who made two women as his wives after he bereaved with his first wife. The two women, Hwa and Chi, were not in a good relationship. When the king went out, Hwa condemned Chi and Chi, humiliated, kicked out of the palace. The king tried to get her back, only to fail. As he was resting under a tree, he saw a pair of male and female orioles playing with each other, so he sang this song grieving on his reality having lost his second wife, Chi.
In SGYS, which is much more focused on tale, has more famous stories in it than SGSG does. The Tangun story, the story of Lady Suro, Choyong and Manghae Temple and the story of King Mu are some of the most widely known ones. Among these, the Tangun story is remembered as Korea’s nation-birth tale reflecting many elements of Korea’s characteristics and is placed deeply in every Korean’s heart. Therefore, this Tangun story is the one that needs bigger attention than any other stories in SGYS. Hwanung, the son of God Hwanin, was yearning to rule the human world so Hwanin helped him go down to the human life by giving him three heavenly seals. He brough with him the Earl of Wind, the Master of Clouds, and the Master of Rain. When Hwanung started governance, a bear and a tiger prayed to be humans so he gave them wormwood and garlic cloves saying that they should only eat those for a hundred days without sunlight to be human. The bear turned to a woman after 21 days but the tiger failed to persevere it. The woman’s son was named Tangun Wanggom, who made country named (ancient) Choson and becamed the mountain god when he was allegedly 1908 years old.
In this Tangun story, we can find some important characteristics of Korean society in those years and also nowadays. Firstly, the three masters that Hwanung carried with him when he was descending to the human world, who were taking charge of wind, cloud and rain, indicate the agriculture-centered feature of Korea. The fact that wind, cloud and rain are the three most important factors determining the success of agriculture proves this. Secondly, we can see the tribal totemistic culture of then Korean society, in the part of bear and tiger wanting to become humans. The success of bear to turn to a human and the failure of tiger to realize the dream shows that bear-totem tribes were much superior than tiger-totem tribes was in those days. The last thing that tells something to us about Korea is the name of Tangun Wanggum. In Chinese Characters, the ‘Tangun’ means ‘the ruler’, and the ‘Wanggum’ means the ‘ritual leader’, so this means that in those ancient period in Korea, the ruler of a group also took charge of ritual ceremonies happening in that region.
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ReplyDeleteWhat stood out to me the most in the first week’s readings was how much translation of literature constructs the very meaning of it. I consider modern translating very interesting and complicated, but the translation of historic literature like in the “Samguk sagi” and “Samguk yusa” is on a whole new level. Transferring a classic Korean tale into Chinese characters, then centuries later into other languages (even back into Korean with Hangul once it was created) all has the potential to take the story’s original form farther away from the reader. As noted on page 116, “complex changes” occurred within Korea from when the SGYS’s story took place to when it was written or recorded. These changes within culture and language all strongly affect a story, so much so that I feel scholars of today must not hesitate to defy what they instinctually wish to interpret as David McCann does with “Ch’oyong and the Manghae Temple”.
ReplyDeleteReading “Ch’oyong and the Manghae Temple” with a somewhat feminist lens can uncover amazing interpretations regarding the “beautiful woman” who was gifted as Ch’oyong’s wife. Trying to uncover who this “beautiful woman” is, whether a powerful shaman or Korea’s next top model, all lead to important analysis of the story. This different approach can also help analyze women’s rights in Korea today.
I would try to stretch a little further (though my expertise in the Three Kingdoms and Korean myths is near non-existent, so this might be absurd) and question why we feel like Ch’oyong acted bizarre in the first place. Feeling anger and despair at finding another being with your “wife” are all very human reactions. Is Ch’oyong not the son of the Dragon of the Eastern Sea? How can we expect the son of a dragon (assumingly a dragon himself) to have the same emotions and reactions as men today would? The king gave Ch’oyong a beautiful wife and an office to create his contract of loyalty, so presumably dragons enjoy beautiful women (as is common for many dragons in mythology) but we are given no further insight as to whether he feels protective of her, loves her, or is even surprised to find someone in her bed. The spirit’s reaction is logical, regardless whether or not Ch’oyong has human-like emotions, because surely a dragon not attacking you is something to be thankful for.
We can definitely determine very little analyzing the reaction Ch’oyong did have, since there are no dragons to interview. Perhaps he was happy to see his wife getting some attention, and so he “sang a song, made a dance, and withdrew” so they could carry on. We know that Ch’oyong has danced earlier for the king in praise of his “virtue”, but the story also states that Hon’gang was a place full of music. “Constant” even. With the knowledge we are given at the beginning of the story, this song and dance of Ch’oyong could be a very joyous thing, and his song then seems more whimsical and without despair.
In contrast, the ending of the tale applied to Ch’oyong could lead to another interpretation. “The earth spirit and the mountain spirit knew that the kingdom would be ruined, and for that reason made the dance to serve as a warning.” This knowledge of dances used for warning could also be applied to Ch’oyong. His dance could actually have been a warning for the spirit to get out of his house immediately, and the spirit then thanks him for warning him and not attacking first in his mighty dragon anger.
Even if these ideas are preposterous, I do think that the gaps of knowledge like why Ch’oyong reacted the way he did is knowledge lost over centuries of cultural and linguistic evolution. The reaction may not have mattered or was common knowledge to the people of Hon’gang. Ignoring that seemingly critical question, there is still a lot of information about Korea’s past in the SGYS that is not as difficult to interpret. Belief and superstition are what many nations build their foundation of thought upon, like respecting and following contracts could be part of why many Koreans today are so honest. I hope we will be able to discuss these stories together, because without people to check me, my interpretations could go on forever.
ReplyDelete