The Spirit of Kor-ean Cultural Roots 0 , .,

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. ,. , " ...... " Lee Hai-soon

Ewha Womans University Press The Poetic World ofClassic Korean Women Writers

Lee Hai-soon Transl ated by Won-Jae Hur

Ewha Womans University Press Table of Contents

Foreword 4

1. Do Not Speak of the Beauty of Yeosan 13 Jini's Pride, Songdo·samjeo!

2. Walking Walking Finally Reached Macheonryeong 19 Song Deokbong, A Dignified Wife to Her Husband

3. Although Its Beauty Fades, Its Clear Fragrance Will 25 Never Die Heo Nanseolheon, Who Suffered the Nobility's Contempt

4. I Am a Crane of the Paradise Realm Trapped in a 33 Birdcage Yi Maechang, Who Was Buried With Her Harp

5. My Body, Too, Is of Royal Blood 39 Yi Okbong, Whose Poems Lacked the Fragile Sentiments of a Woman

6. Long Ago at My Home by the Sea, I Was Happy with Family 45 Kim Hoyeonjae, Who Composed Poems with 13 Members of Her Literary Family

7. Knowing Contentment Is Most Important in Life 53 Seo Youngsuhap, Who Steadfastly Admonished Even Her Son, a Great Scholar 8. Only Women in the Inner Room Speak Words of 61 Longing and Yearning Kim Samuidang. Who Staked Her Dreams on Her Husband's Success

9. Please Do Not Concern Yourself with Food and Clothing 69 Kang Jeongildang. Her Husband's True Intellectual Partner

10. Do Not Be Envious, You Flowers and Birds 77 Kim Uncho. Who Married a 77 Year-Old Literary Figure Who Recognized Her Poetic Talent

11. As First Plum Blossom Falls, Dreams Become Clearer 87 Park Jukseo. Whose Poems Spoke of Purity

12. Dipping the Brush in My Tears, I Write the Word "Longing" 95 Kang Jijaedang, Who Al so Excelled in Calligraphy

13. The Great Ultimate Abides within Us 103 Nam Jeongilheon. Who Mastered the Classics

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12

13 Do Not Speab o-f the Beanty of Ycosan1

Hwang Jini' s Pride, Songdo-samjeo['

Literaty records refer to Hwang Jini as the illegitimate daughter of a low-level government official or as the daughter of a blind man. The story of how she called the great contemporaty Confuciat1 scholar, Seo Hwadam(1489-1546), the Bakyeon Waterfall, and herself the "Three Splendors of Pine Capital" is well known. According to legend, a funeral bier of a young man who had fallen in love with Hwang Jini stopped while passing in front of her house and would not move until Hwang Jini covered it with her blouse. It is said that she becatne a ginyeo 3 after this incident. Although Hwat1g Jini is most well known for her classical Korean verse, there remain about eight classical Chinese poems that she wrote. Among them, "Manwoldae Reminiscence(l~}=]g.I'itt1 ) "4 is a work imbued with affection for Gaegyeong, the capital and center of culture of the former GOlyeo Kingdom. As the title "Three Splendors of Pine Capital" that she gave herself indicates, Gaegyeong was a place close to her heat"t as both her home and place of birth. A ginyeo with low

1. Snli in Korean means "lTIOtmtain." 2. Sallgria-sall/jeal means "Three Splendors of Gaegyeong, Pine Capital," a title Hwang Jini coined to -­ refer to herself, her contemporary Confucian scholar, Seo Hwadam, and Bakyeon Waterfall which all come from the Songdo area near Gaeseong city(formerly called Gaegyeong during the Kingdom) during the Dynasty. 3. A female entertainer for the aristocracy belonging to the lower class who was highly educated and trained in the classical arts and literatme. 4. Mmlwalriae means "Full Moon Belvedere"

Portrait of a Beautiful Woman Joseon, Anonymous, 19C (Tokyo National Museum) ------class status, born and raised in the center of the former Goryeo Kingdom, Hwang Jini was an outsider at a time when Hanyang had taken its rightful place as the capital of the Joseon Dynasty.

;i¥i F.l Bm

Unlike her other poems that focus on her relationship with her beloved, this poem turns to consider history and nature. The "sh'eam" refers to the gutter of a palace belonging to an already fallen kingdom, and the temple next to it must have been desolate indeed in the evening light. Images such as the monk who still guards the lonely temple, the broken tower, and others point to the transient nature of the formerly splendid scenery and the glory of the past. This transience can be seen in the transformation of the seasonal scenery where only birds come and go as cows and sheep feed leisurely on grass. Although spring has returned, it feels like the fall when all of nature seems to fade because of the memory of the glory and prosperity of the past days. Songaksan near the end of the poem refers to the old capital of the Goryeo Kingdom, Gaegyeong. Originally, Gaegyeong's sacred mountain, Songak, was called Sinsung.5 Calling Songak by its former name hints that Hwang Jini still harbored affection for Goryeo while simultane­ ously revealing the poet's realization and awareness of how nature also changes before the transformations in history. The poem speaks of the impermanence of the past while also showing a deep w1derstand­ ing of history'S unpredictable character. Unlike her other poems, "BaklJeon Wate rfall(;H iJHl i~;{ff )" portrays the waterfall's grandeur.

.:f~ ;~41lJ Bakyeon Waterfall

-lJji*x PJ't~il!) One stream of the great heavens pours between the rocks

AiT~ am*~~ Over a hundred lengths the water roars

11Hi{ 1lIJ ~tUJW:! Descending cascades appear like the Milky Way iBiJti4:!Hil B li Angry cresting fall shows clearly the white rainbow

~ iliL ~ ~5fijiFoJ m Cataract falling dizzily fills the valley

,*fi 'li ~!f friX lIj!i~ Jade broken in jeweled mortar clear in the crisp air i1rtA!JtJUI i.1J ~ Do not say, you passersby, that Yeosan is beautiful

~Ji~xJ.!l?lf.lw * For must you know Cheonmasan is the supreme

5. The original Chinese character for Songak in the second to the last verse is Sinsung. meaning "sacred height." This is another name for Gaegyeong's sacred mountain, Songak.