Hwang Chin-i: Introduction

It is commonly agreed that there are virtually no historical records confirming the existence of a sixteenth-century kisaeng named Hwang Chin-i. And yet from the slenderest historical fabric a myth has been woven that has engaged several of modern Korea's most accomplished fiction writers. Modern fictional representations of Hwang Chin-i range from Yi T'ae-jun's novel written during the colonial period (1936), to postwar works by Pak Chong-hwa (1955) and Chŏng Han-suk (1955), to Ch'oe In-ho's two eponymous stories (1972), to novels by contemporary writers Kim T'ak-hwan (2002) and Chŏn Kyŏng-nin (2004)-not to mention half a dozen film treatments.

Hong Sŏk-chung's three part novel Hwang Chin-i, Part I, Section 25 of which is translated here, is notable for several reasons. First, the author is a North Korean writer (and the grandson of Hong Myŏng-hŭi, author of the ten-volume historical novel Im Kkŏkchŏng [1940], one of the finest examples of storytelling in modern Korean literature). Second, in 2004, two years after it was first published in North Korea, the novel was honored with the Manhae Literature Prize, named after the great colonial period poet and activist Han Yong-un; this marked the first time that a North Korean literary work had been recognized with a major South Korean literary award. Third, and not surprisingly, Hong's novel focuses not on Chin-i's celebrated liaisons with yangban worthies but rather on her relationship with Nomi, a commoner.

Part I, Section 25 of Hong's novel depicts the well-known scene of the funeral procession of Chin-i's heartbroken young admirer passing by her home. It comes at a crucial point in the novel, with Chin-i's engagement to a young man of Hanyang (Seoul) having recently been broken off and Chin-i herself having been reduced in status. At the same time, Chin-i must contend with Nomi's developing interest in her. The writing indicates that Hong Sŏk-chung has inherited his illustrious grandfather's storytelling skill. The narrative is colloquial, at times colorful, the author has an eye for detail and an ear for dialogue, and Chin-i appears before us not as stereotype or icon but as a complex young woman faced with the challenges posed by her beauty and her anomalous status as the offspring of a low-level official and a servant woman who becomes a kisaeng.