Royal classic novels under new spotlight
By Chung Ah-young
What did royal families and court ladies of the Joseon Kingdom (1392-1910) do for fun? There was not much entertainment at that time but they are believed to have enjoyed their leisure time by reading novels that dealt with diverse themes and subjects.
Reading the novels in the courtyard is a bit contrary to Korean traditional belief as “soseol,” or a novel in Korean, literally refers to “small talk,” which disparages the genre that was definitely not supposed to be popular with the noble class or royal court.
Recently, ancient novels read in the court are coming under the spotlight as the Academy of Korean Studies (AKS) has published three classic novels ― “Taewonji,” “Nyeongirok” and “Nakcheondeungwun.”
The move is part of the state-run institution’s long-term project to introduce classic tales, which were widely read in the court during the Joseon period, in modern Korean.
The publications have been selected from the royal collection which was stored in Nakseonjae, a compound that was first built in 1847 on the orders of King Heonjong for his young concubine Gyeongbin Kim.
The extant Nakseonjae collection consists of some 2,000 books ― 700 translation works of Chinese classics and 1,300 Korean novels ― which were all written in hangeul (Korean alphabet).
“It was widely believed that aristocrats or even royal families didn’t read the novels as the genre was underestimated at that time. But enormous quantities of the novels were actually circulated in the Joseon court. It was a rising trove of rich and diverse contents,”Lim Chi-kyun, professor of Korean Classical Literature at the academy, said in an interview with The Korea Times Wednesday.
The professor believes that the emergence of the court novels might have originated from the noble class and gradually spread to the court, mainly among women there.
“Royal classic novels are distinguished in style, format and themes from other classic novels that were popular among the public. The themes include Confucian teachings, historical incidents and other liberal arts, rather than social criticism and satire that were portrayed in other ordinary novels. They were written mostly in a long series with the authors remaining unknown,” he said.
The professor, who translated archaic hangeul into its modern format, said that some novels seemed to have been intended to inspire readers to develop an interest in diverse fields and enlighten them with the ruling ideology; or to explore the importance of family.
“But we’ve found very interesting points in the royal classic novels. They have intriguing stories that can appeal to modern readers, I believe,” he said.
One of the purposes of publishing the books is to break the bias against classic novels which are thought boring, difficult and stereotyped, the professor said. But many of those from the Nakseonjae (a compound at Changdeok Palace) collection are unique and diverse, and we can hardly imagine they were read at court.
He introduced not only recently published books but also works to be published in the near future.
For instance, “Jingsebitaerok” is set in China’s Qing Dynasty, which shows a change of concept in Joseon history which didn’t acknowledge Qing as an official state unlike the Ming Dynasty.
Also, “Taewonji” is a maritime fantasy that changes a Sino-centric view and adopts a new idea toward the outside world. It details a long odyssey of exploring the ocean to discover a fictional country called Taewon in which people there don’t know China. The novel includes the understanding of the world during the late period of Joseon.
“Hanjosamseonggibong,” a 14-volume series, deals with exchanges of souls between a male and a female, which gives a chance to understand the opposite gender’s situation and offers a taste reminiscent of the hit soap opera “Secret Garden.”
The five-volume “Nakcheondeungwun”is a love story of a male protagonist from a ruined family who disguises his identity to save his life and lives as an adopted son of a pimp. He falls in love with a woman who was sold to the brothel. They face obstacles but eventually protect their love against all odds.
“I think reading novels in the royal court was enjoyed by a small circle of the noble class or court ladies because there were not many transcripts found due to the bulky volumes,” Lim said.
“Such themes as filial piety, love, conflicts between family members over fortunes are still universal themes for us today and we can learn how they solved these conflicts and disputes within human relations. I hope many modern readers appreciate these values,”said Lim.
As most of the works are filled with difficult and archaic words that are not used anymore in hangeul, scholars including Lim are devoting themselves into recreating them for modern tastes.
“When I translated the works, I tried not to alter the original meanings while changing the words pertinent to modern standards. Also, archaic writing styles have been changed. That’s my main focus in this project,” he said.