If you really want to know more about Korean culture, you should read "The Legend of Chunhyang"! ! !
The novel "The Legend of Chunhyang" is a classic literary masterpiece formed by the Korean people through long-term oral transmission. It is said that the story first appeared in the period of King Gongmin of Goryeo in the 14th century, until the end of the 18th century and the beginning of the 19th century. A complete work was finally formed during the reign of the twenty-second generation Wang Zhengzong (1776-1800). There have been many different versions including the Quanzhou native version of "The Song of Martyr Chunxiang", the Beijing version of "The Legend of Chunxiang", the Chinese version of "The Story of Shuishan Guanghan Tower", "The Legend of Chunxiang in Chinese" and the manuscript "The Ancient Version of Chunxiang". In 1954, the Korean Writers Union Publishing House used "The Song of the Martyr Woman Chunhyang to Guard the Festival" as the basis for editing and annotating it, and published it under the title "The Story of Chunhyang"
In North Korea, the plot of "The Story of Chunhyang" is a household name and is well known to everyone. . It is divided into upper and lower volumes. In the first volume, it is written about the retired prostitute (Note: the retired prostitute refers to the geisha who changed her registration.) Chunxiang, the daughter of Yuemei, met Li Menglong, the son of Liangban Hanlin, by chance during a spring outing in Guanghan Tower during the Qingming Festival. The two fell in love with each other and got married privately. Li Hanlin was soon transferred to the capital and ordered Menglong to go first. Chunxiang and Menglong had to say goodbye reluctantly. In the second volume, it is written that after the new envoy of Nanyuan, Bian Xuedao, took office, he forced Chunxiang to guard the palace for him (note: guarding the palace means being a concubine, but it is not a formal concubine.). Chunxiang refused and was forced to go to jail. His life was on the line. Menglong passed the examination in Beijing and was appointed as the imperial envoy of Quanluo, secretly inspecting Nanyuan. He found out the truth about Bian Xuedao's evil deeds, went to Bian Xuedao's birthday party incognito, and wrote a satirical poem to criticize him. Afterwards, Bian Xuedao was dismissed and punished. Chunxiang and Menglong were reunited and went to the capital together.
Why did such a somewhat sentimental story with a happy ending become widely circulated in the late Li Dynasty and evolved into the stereotyped novel "The Legend of Chunxiang"? Simply put, this is because of "The Legend of Chunxiang" It expressed the thoughts and emotions of the Korean people at that time, and the Korean people also wanted to reflect their loves, hates and wishes through "The Legend of Chunhyang". In the feudal society of the Li Dynasty at the end of the 18th century and the beginning of the 19th century, the aristocratic class was extravagant and licentious, the rule of the two classes was dark and decadent, and the people were persecuted and exploited. Peasant uprisings, citizen struggles, and practical thinkers' exposure and criticism of the feudal system have all reached a climax, and the feudal system of the Li Dynasty was on the verge of collapse. It was under such historical conditions that "The Legend of Chunxiang" was perfected through people's oral tradition.
It can be seen that "The Legend of Chunxiang" is by no means a simple love novel. It only uses the love story as the plot thread and the struggle against Bian Xuedao as the central event. Criticized the corrupt rule of the Li Dynasty's bureaucracy. Praising the people's resistance struggle is its theme. This theme is hinted at in the poem "Golden Cups of Wine and Thousands of Blood" written in the novel.
The protagonist of the novel is Cheng Chunxiang, the daughter of retired prostitute Yuemei. During the circulation of the work, the North Korean people expressed deep sympathy for her misfortune and enthusiastically praised her strong and unyielding character. She is the representative of the graceful image of Korean women who fought for the freedom of love and marriage in the last years of the Lee Dynasty.
Marriage should be a union of love. According to such a standard, young Chunxiang made a free choice about her "life-long events". Although she is a retired prostitute, she has been "strong and ambitious since she was a child, and has extraordinary magnanimity." "I never like those weak people", and I dream of the love of "unity and unity". Guanghan Tower happened to meet Menglong, the son of the second class Hanlin. Chunxiang broke through the shackles of status and hierarchy and resolutely married Menglong. But the marriage problem is a social issue after all, and the shaky rulers of the Li Dynasty continued to maintain a strict class status system to prolong their dark rule. Therefore, when Menglong had to go to Beijing and leave Nanyuan with his father, their free marriage increasingly revealed the differences in status and class. In order to protect his rights and personality, Chunxiang started a head-on conflict and struggle with the feudal society. .
The first conflict between Chunxiang and society occurred between Chunxiang and Menglong. It was a conflict between two ideas. On the one hand, Chunxiang has always been loyal to love. She did not choose Menglong just to get into a famous family. When she was passionately in love, she reminded Menglong that there was a difference between "guijie" and "pengmen" between the two families, and she waited until Menglong was "decided and sincere in love" before they could marry. On the other hand, at the critical moment when the noble son Menglong was about to leave Nanyuan, he actually believed in the feudal family motto, "Marrying a geisha's daughter as a concubine will not only ruin the family, but... will definitely ruin your future." Chunxiang said, "The two of us have to break up." This is undoubtedly a manifestation of Menglong's submission to feudal traditional concepts.
The conflict occurred between Chunxiang and Menglong, but it was actually a conflict between free marriage and the status hierarchy of "honor and inferiority" at that time. At that time, Chunxiang pointed out to Menglong, "Don't think that Chunxiang is a bitch and abandon her at will." And then denounced the unreasonable hierarchy: "The two classes of nobles are all vicious! Hate it! Hate it! It's really hateful to be noble and humble! Everyone hopes that lovers in the world will eventually get married, but they never imagined that there are such vicious people in the world. The two classes!" This is Chunxiang's heartfelt cry for freedom of love, and it is also a sad and indignant protest and serious criticism of the status hierarchy!
The second conflict between Chunxiang and society occurred between Chunxiang and Byun Xuedao During this period, this was Chunxiang's direct and sharp contradiction and struggle against the Yangban class and the feudal system. This struggle was a class conflict between the rulers and the ruled, the oppressors and the resisters.
The cause of this conflict was that Chunxiang did not follow Bian Xuedao as the guard, and Bian Xuedao used his privileges to imprison Chunxiang on death row. Chunxiang is a victim of feudal tyranny, but at the same time it is its exposer and protester. In the court, Chunxiang scolded Bian Xuedao, "Why is the man who kidnapped a married woman not guilty?" "Are you here to govern the people, or are you using torture to annoy people?" Then, he further revealed: "The envoy The scholar-bureaucrats do not know the sufferings of the people of the Forty-eight Fangnan Plains, but they know how to bend the law and seek personal gains." She publicly stated that she wanted to "redress grievances" and "would like to get a seven-foot sword to kill thieves and slanderers." She believes that "a sinless person will always turn around" and "a person who practices justice will definitely not end well". Here, Chunhyang’s complaints and protests, which were filled with grief and anger, expressed the long-standing resentment and hatred of the Korean people against the feudal system at that time. Chunhyang gradually launched a struggle against bureaucratic tyranny from fighting for personal freedom of love to safeguarding her personal dignity. This conflict greatly enhanced the social significance of Chunhyang's image. This made Chunhyang the expresser of the thoughts, emotions, will and wishes of the Korean people at that time.
Li Menglong was an intellectual who came from the two classes at the end of the feudal period and had certain progressive ideas. In the early days, he was an aristocratic son who pursued individual liberation and demanded freedom in marriage; when he passed the imperial examination and was appointed as the imperial envoy of Cholla, Menglong was the image of an "upright official" within the feudal ruling class who was opposed to Bian Xuedao. The difference between him and the decadent yangban of society at that time was that he had a certain connection with the people. He secretly inspected Nanyuan and listened carefully to the voices of the lower classes. He himself said: "If you want to know what's going on in the city, you have to ask the farmers." He can also punish corrupt officials in accordance with public opinion within his own power. Finally, he left a satirical poem at Bian Xuedao's birthday banquet:
Golden bottles of fine wine are the blood of thousands of people,
Jade plates of delicacies are the paste of thousands of people,
< p>When the candles shed tears, the people shed tears,Where the singing is high, the complaints are high.
The poem ruthlessly exposes the crimes of Bian Xuedao and his gang who indulged in excessive drinking and cruel exploitation of the people, and expresses the resentment and protest of the broad masses against the morally corrupt and ugly feudal bureaucrats. Afterwards, he promptly dismissed Bian Xuedao, cleaned up the prisoners, reunited with Chunxiang, and fought against Beijing together.
In an era when the feudal system was in decline and people's struggles were on the rise, it was possible for "upright officials" like Li Menglong to emerge. However, in order to completely resolve the sharp contradiction between the decadent feudal system of the Li Dynasty and the masses of the people, an "upright official" who came from two classes of aristocrats could never accomplish this historical task by using the methods of "departure as an imperial envoy" and dismissal from office. The image of Menglong only shows that the North Korean people at that time needed to use this image of an ideal "upright official" to express their desire to oppose social ugliness and change the social status quo.
Bian Xuedao is a typical feudal bureaucrat in the late Li Dynasty. His characteristics are arrogance, extravagance, and bending the law for personal gain. In the novel, he is in an opposing position with Chunxiang, Menglong and the general public. He was originally a "cunning and eccentric" and "immoral villain", but he was continued to be appointed as Nanyuan envoy by the bureaucratic ruling group. He had a heavy responsibility but ignored political affairs. Instead, he relied on his power to persecute the people and even wanted to kill Chunxiang. Bian Xuedao's greed and violence just showed that the feudal society of the Li Dynasty was decadent and on the verge of death.
The images of Chunxiang, Mongryong, and Byun Xuedao were typical representatives of different classes of people in Korean society at that time. In addition, the book also depicts characters such as maids, bookboys, and geishas, ??which enriches the social life picture of the work and shows the author's sympathy for the lower class people.
In terms of art, "The Legend of Chunxiang" is a novella with national characteristics and folk literature style. The structure of the novel has the characteristics of folk tales: it has a beginning and an end, and has a strong storytelling quality. The "first volume" of the novel starts from Chunxiang's birth to her love and separation from Menglong, which is the "beginning" of the story; the "second volume" follows the above, unfolding a broad social picture and ups and downs of struggle scenes: Chunxiang Yong Fighting against Bian to learn Taoism, the imperial envoy secretly inspecting Nanyuan, meeting in prison, writing poems at the birthday banquet, dismissal from office, etc., gradually pushed the plot to a climax and highlighted the theme of the work. "The first volume" focuses on lyricism, and the "second volume" focuses on narrative. Finally, it ends with a happy ending, turning sadness into joy. The whole work appears complete, unified and harmonious, with the taste of classical art.
In terms of character creation, "The Legend of Chunxiang" is like many folk literature works. The description of the character's appearance, psychology, and character environment are closely integrated with the development of the novel's plot. Moreover, this kind of description clearly shows the author's praise and criticism and expresses the emotions of the people. To portray Chunxiang, the author combined the plots of spring outing, love, marriage, etc. to describe her appearance, mood, and psychology with fine brushes; through scenes such as separation, interrogation, and imprisonment, she showed her pursuit of equality, fear of rape, and courage to fight. Inner thoughts and qualities. The characters are both realistic and ideal. The image of Menglong in the book prominently uses contrasting techniques to express his thoughts and character in the development of the plot. Writers have both praised and criticized him, basically affirming it, but also criticizing it. As for the corrupt official Bian Xuedao, cartoons are used to outline his ugliness, showing the people's hatred and denial of the feudal bureaucracy. It can be seen that the basic creative method of "The Legend of Chunxiang" is realism, but it also contains elements of romanticism.
The style and language of "Chunxiang Zhuan" have the characteristics of folk literature, combining "singing and rapping". The "speaking" part is written in prose, and the "singing" part is written in verse. Prose is easy to understand and is used for narrative; rhyme is beautiful and elegant and is used for description and lyricism.
In the novel, the characters' language is also written in prose and verse. Chunxiang's language is scattered and rhymed, sometimes high-pitched and exciting, sometimes low and tactful, which expresses her rich inner world and noble qualities; Menglong's language mostly uses rhyme, reflecting his upbringing and identity; Bian Xuedao's language is all in prose, which makes it appear that Pretentious, crude, and arbitrary; the farmer's lyrics are simple yet harmonious, expressing the true nature of the laborer.
"The Legend of Chunxiang" also quotes many folk songs, nursery rhymes, idioms, aphorisms, slang and short stories, which further enhances the national and folk literature characteristics of the work. The book also mentions poetic allusions from ancient Chinese writers. These are mixed with things with Korean national characteristics, blending into one, complementing each other, and embodying the classical style of the novel.
During its long-term circulation, "The Legend of Chunxiang" has also been infiltrated by feudal consciousness. On the one hand, it praises the Li dynasty, which is on the verge of collapse, with eulogies such as "Holy King and Holy Virtue", "Life is long and prosperous", and "Peace and prosperity"; on the other hand, it also promotes "the gods of heaven and earth" and "retribution of gods and ghosts" , "after suffering comes happiness" and other religious superstitious concepts. These cannot but affect the perfection of the ideas and images of the work.
In general, "The Legend of Chunxiang" is an excellent classical literary masterpiece collectively created by the Korean people. It is a precious literary heritage of the Korean people. It is deeply loved by the majority of the Korean people. To this day, it is Still gives us beautiful artistic enjoyment.