Hong Gildong jeon

Hong Gildong jeon
Opening page of Hong Gildong jeon.
Korean name
Hangul	홍길동전
Hanja	洪吉童傳
Revised Romanization	Hong Gildongjeon
McCune–Reischauer	Hong Kiltongchŏn

Hong Gildong jeon (Hangul: 홍길동전; hanja: 洪吉童傳) is a Korean novel, often translated as The Story of Hong Gildong. The story is believed to have been authored by Heo Gyun during the late 16th or early 17th century. Hong Gildong is the main character of the story; he robs the rich and corrupt aristocrats to provide for the poor, much like the English folk hero Robin Hood. Hong Gildong's historical inspiration was the early 16th century Korean bandit and folk hero Im Kkeokjeong.^[1]

Authorship of the novel is generally attributed to Heo Gyun (허균), usually known in Korea as the writer of the first Korean novel, but was also a radical intellectual. His half-brother Heo Seong was at that time a famous poet, and his sister Heo Nanseolheon one of Korea's few famous female poets and artists. Heo Gyun had long dreamed to change Korea into a fair society with no pressures within a hierarchy.

However, in recent years, emerging scholarship has contradicted previously accepted theories on the authorship of Hong Gildong jeon. In an 2013 article in Azalea: Journal of Korean Literature & Culture, Minsoo Kang argues that the claim for Heo Gyun as author of the novel is based on flawed and biased scholarship. He proposes instead that Hong Gildong jeon was written around the mid-19th century "by an anonymous writer of secondary or commoner status."^[2]

Notes

1. (Polish) Joanna Rurarz (2009). Historia Korei. Dialog. ISBN 978-83-89899-28-6. P.237
2. Kang, Minsoo. "Introduction to the Story of Hong Gildong." Azalea: Journal of Korean Literature & Culture, Volume 6, 2013: 221-227. Project MUSE. Web. 19 Feb 2016.https://muse.jhu.edu/login?auth=0&type=summary&url=/journals/azalea/v006/6.minsoo.html

External links