Ambassadors, senior diplomats sample traditional Korean love story in Namwon

By Publisher Lee Kyung-sik, Vice Chairman Jang Chang-yong, Editor Kevin Lee

A number of ambassadors and senior diplomats attended the Namwon Seong Chunhyang Festival in Namwon City, Jeollabuk-do Province on May 26, 2023. It was the official Opening Day of a five-day gala cultural-historical event beginning on May 25 and running through May 29.

One of the most interesting folk events of Korea, the 93rd Chunhyang Festival was held in the Namwon city of Jeollabuk-do Province, the hometown of Chunhyang, on May 26, 2023, which was attended by the ambassadors and many other international dignitaries as well as local leaders and residents.

The Korea Post media, at the request of the host (Mayor Choi Kyung-sik of the Namwon City), invited foreign ambassadors in Seoul and their families to attend and observe the opening ceremony of the Chunhyang Festival to help the Festival further shine and develop abroad in the world as well as in Korea.

For the first time of the history of the local event, many ambassadors and other senior diplomats attended the Festival, among whom were ambassadors Sierra Leon, Turky, Czekia, Kenya and Zambia together with senior diplomats from Panama and other countries. (See list at end of this report.)

The Korea Post media, at the request of the host (Mayor Choi Kyung-sik of the Namwon City), invited foreign ambassadors in Seoul and their families to attend and observe the opening ceremony of the Chunhyang Festival to help the Festival further shine and develop abroad in the world as well as in Korea.

For the first time of the history of the local event, many ambassadors and other senior diplomats attended the Festival, among whom were ambassadors Sierra Leon, Turky, Czekia, Kenya and Zambia together with senior diplomats from Panama and other countries. (See list at end of this report.)

The event was also attended by important personalities from many other countries around the world, such as the United States and Japan, including mayors of the sister cities of Namwon around the world.

Mayor Yoshitaka Nagayama of the Hioki City of Japan won the warm attention from the participants in the event for his wonderful speech, which, in the opinion of many participants, was surely contributing to further promoting the relations, friendship and cooperation between Korea and Japan.

From the sister cities and other friendly cites of Namwon, came many mayors and representatives who included Mayor Chung Myung-keun of the Hwaseong city of the Gyeonggi Province.

The Chunhyang Festival is a representative folk festive event in Korea.

The story of romance between a young man and a young woman during the erstwhile days of Korea is very famous because at the time when men and women were not allowed to stay together as soon as they became seven years in age.

Against this backdrop, the love story between Seong Chunhyang and Yi Mongyong, who bravely shared their love, is loved by all the people in Korea even today—as well as in the erstwhile days.

The story of how Chun-hyang, the daughter of a socially lowly-rated Gisaeng (entertainment woman), and Yi Mongyong, the son of an aristocratic family (magistrate of Namwon City at the time), fell in love with each other at the first glance, and then overcame all obstacles and difficulties to achieve a happy ending, which is rated to be truly dramatic in Korea.

If ‘Romeo and Juliet’ is the representative Western romance story of the century, then Korea’s representative romance story is ‘Sung Chun-hyang and Yi Mongyong.’ The tragic ending of Romeo and Juliet of the West poses a striking contrast with the happy ending of ‘Seong Chun-hyang and Yi Mongyong.’

The young woman and man, Seong and Yi, had to be separated because the young man had to leave Namwon to take the then most important state examination, Gwageo, conducted in Seoul, the capital city of Korea—before the presence of the King.

During Yi’s absence, the new magistrate of Namwon, Byeon Hak-do, commits all kinds of atrocities against Chunhyang to entire her and have her, but Chunhyang, with unmatched courage, patience, and frosty response, resists all kinds of threats and appeasement made by Magistrate Byeon Hak-do.

Chunhyang even was ready to give her life in order to keep her first love, Yi Mongyong. This development became the target of admiration and encouragement from everyone in Korea—contributing to the prestige and dignity of women in Korea at the time, which became the envy of women and raised the dignity of the Korean women.

Yi Mongyong, the son of the former magistrate of the Namwon City, passes the then rigidest State Examination of Gwageo, and re-visits the Namwon City at that juncture in his capacity now as Amhaeng Eosa (one of the secret emissaries of the King) to check on the performances of the local magistrates, especially misdemeanors and official corruption.

Yi, now an Amhaeng Eosa, visits the house of Chunyang’s mother, Wol-mae (or Moon Apricot). The young secret agent of the King poses as a beggar.

Wol-mae never knows Yi has passed the most important state examination and has become the King’s most important emissary.

‘Beggar’ Yi Mongyong hides his real identify (King’s Inspector) and visits the house of Wolmae (mother of Chunhyang) looking like a poorest-clad beggar and explains how he had failed to pass the state examination and how now he had become a beggar after his family had collapsed and become so poor.

However, Wol-mae, is a woman of heart and faith.

She welcomes the ‘beggar’ Yi Mongyong, with a warm heart rather than showing disappointment when she saw him entering her house in rags as beggar. She, in the opinion of many people, symbolizes the patience, compassion, and tolerance on the part of many women in Korea.

Finally, this romance story culminates in a dramatic scene where, at the birthday party of the new magistrate, Byun Hak-to, King’s Emissary Yi Mongyong appears at the scene where Byun tortures Chunhyang for not accepting his order for a night together with him.

The corrupt Governor Byun is arrested and gets punishment, and the young couple live happy ever after the ups and downs of their early days.

This story has now become the epitome of Hallyu Culture in Korea today.

The Korea Post media hosted a tour for the ambassadors and madams to attend this ceremony at the request of the mayor and the government of the Namwon City.

Details of participation is as follows:

Ambassador Kathos Jibao Mattai of Sierra Leon

Ambassador and Mrs. Murat Damer of Turkey

Ambassador Gustav Slamecka of the Czech Republic

First Counsellor Ann Wangui Mwaura of Kenya

Charge d'Affaires Wray Mulendema Ham Weene of Zambia

Cultural Attache Mme. Ana Pstrica Castillo of Panama

Further details on the Story of Chunhyang told through the melodious medium of Pansori:

Gwangju News published on May 11, 2022 an extensive introduction to the details of the Story of Chunhynag entitled “Through the Melodiouos Medium of Pansori” written by Diane Dooley. Excerpts from the article follow:

Pansori is probably one of the most well-known “traditional” Korean art forms outside of Korea, commonly referred to as “Korean opera.” (Or, more likely these days, K-Opera!) Pansori is an oral narrative and has been popular amongst Koreans since its inception in the seventeenth century.

It was originally performed by singers known as gwangdae in rural villages or marketplaces. Today, it is even performed in large concert halls to considerably larger audiences. 

A pansori performance involves only two performers: a singer (gwangdae) and a drummer (gosu). This simplicity meant that it could be performed virtually anywhere. Traditionally, the singer would recount a tale from the twelve-work repertoire (madang), such as The Song of Chunhyang. 

Pansori singers vary both rhythm and melody to reflect changes in circumstance and atmosphere as the story develops, as well as a character’s emotional state. Alternating between sung and spoken passages, pansori is an excellent example of a multimodal narrative art form. 

Pansori is believed to have developed from shaman songs, which are long oral narratives mixing spoken passages and singing. Research has noted that shaman songs and pansori narratives (from our very own Jeolla-do!) are often identical or are at least very similar in terms of the techniques used and structure. However, shaman songs are intrinsically “sacred.” 

The main character is a shamanist deity who possesses special powers. Importantly, shaman songs serve religious and spiritual purposes. Pansori, on the other hand, are oral narratives that realistically depict the problems arising in commoners’ daily lives. Thus, the worldview of pansori revolves around everyday life. 

In pansori performances, colloquial speech, for example, was sometimes used to explain the plot and parts of the dialogue. As such, pansori performances are often incredibly long – a full performance of The Song of Chunhyang can take up to seven or eight hours!

Significance of Pansori:

It is often argued that the origin of Korean literature as it exists today can be traced back to pansori. As pansori became fixed narratives, circulating as reading materials, they created a readership for pansori fiction and contributed significantly to the development of realistic depictions of the commoner’s social conditions during the Joseon period. 

Pansori’s establishment as a separate art form can be traced to social changes during the late Joseon period. Namely, the disruption of the Confucian idea of order and the simultaneous growth of the commoner class. 

Both acted to secularize shamanism, resulting in the belief that problems experienced by people in their daily lives could be affected by shamanist incantations weakened considerably. In summary, a demand for a more realistic and engaging art form grew exponentially during this period. 

Pansori was very simply in its early stages, and its function was entertainment (unlike shaman songs, which served a spiritual and religious function), primarily because performers required, of course, an audience in order to be successful.  
Pansori singers chose to refine old narratives that the masses were familiar with rather than create new ones; thus, an established pansori repertoire was transmitted from one generation to the next, and the number of works eventually reached twelve. 

The establishment of the twelve pansori works as sophisticated musical and literary art forms also generated interest amongst Joseon’s elite literati during the eighteenth century. 
Yu Chin-han, for example, heard The Song of Chunhyang and was so impressed that he wrote the story in literary Chinese, elevating its status. Pansori, which had been derided by the elite as entertainment for commoners, gradually came to be appreciated as a sophisticated art form. 

The Story of Chunhyang: Whenever spring rolls around, I cannot help but think of The Story of Chunhyang, with Chunhyang, literally meaning “scent of spring.” The story is considered to be an important piece of Korean literature and an enduring part of Korea’s folk heritage. 

Believed to have originated from the pansori, the story is still told today through different mediums. It is one of the most well-known “love stories” told on the Korean Peninsula. Several different versions of the story have been told and recorded at different points in time, as the story has been passed from generation to generation, being gradually altered and refined along the way.

The Song of a Faithful Wife, Chunhyang, one of the most popular versions of the story, explores the relationship between women and Confucianism, frustrations with the strict Joseon social hierarchy, government corruption, and hypocrisy within society.

The Song of a Faithful Wife, Chunhyang featured the relationship between women and Confucianism because the latter had become the dominant ideology during the Joseon Dynasty, and significant changes affected women’s lives and their place in society. It would be inappropriate to portray women as victims of Confucianism because the ideology was dynamic – not just patriarchal in nature.

The relationship between women and Confucianism was undeniably complex. For example, women often used Confucianism to their own advantage or to achieve some semblance of agency. This agency is well-conveyed in Chunhyang. In the version translated into English by Richard Rutt, the character Chunhyang is the illegitimate daughter of a yangban (person of nobility) and a kisaeng (female entertainer) who pursues a cross-class relationship with Mongryong, the son of the local governor in Namwon, North Jeolla.

When his father is re-assigned to the capital, they are separated, and a new, corrupt governor replaces him. Chunhyang, considering herself to be a married woman, refuses when the new governor insists that she become his mistress. She employs Confucian ideals to do so, stating: “A subject cannot serve two kings, and a wife cannot belong to two husbands: That is my principle.”

Chunhyang is initially praised for this by the governor but is ultimately treated as a mere kisaeng and encouraged to comply with his orders. She then highlights the hypocrisy inherent within society, stating that “a woman’s virtue is the same for high ranks and low” and subsequently lists a number of kisaeng who were recognized for their “good character.”

This scene demonstrates the frustration with hypocrisy within society at the time it was composed and the difficult position women were placed in due to it: Chunhyang is obligated to be virtuous and faithful to Mongryong but as the daughter of a kisaeng must also comply with the demands of the governor, who outranks her.

Notably, during the Joseon Dynasty, legislation was introduced to create a greater legal distinction between primary wives and secondary wives. Secondary wives and their children were seriously discriminated against. It is therefore interesting to examine Chunhyang alongside her mother. Wolmae, a kisaeng and a former yangban governor’s secondary wife, urges Mongryong to be cautious when he visits her to ask for permission to marry Chunhyang.

She states that her deceased husband “mistook a kite for a falcon and called me to serve him,” which is self-deprecating and suggests that her husband’s infatuation or lust for her affected his ability to assess the social and legal ramifications of their relationship, and she saw this reflected in Mongyong. She warns him not to put Chunhyang through the same difficulties and explains that if he were to abandon Chunhyang, she would be left with nothing and would probably be unable to remarry.  

Wolmae’s poor financial situation is a result of her status as a secondary wife. As she had no legal claim to an inheritance, she was not left any living expenses when her husband died. 

Despite her uncertainties, however, she remains optimistic that the pair could “make a break with the past,” conveying her desire for change. This desire for change was prominent in the Joseon Dynasty at the time. 
Chunhyang also examines the political landscape in late Joseon. At the time, various scholar-officials controlled local governments. These local governments were often corrupt, and as a solution, the king would sometimes send secret inspectors to investigate and uncover any mismanagement. (This was one of the many roles undertaken by Jeong Yakyong, for example, from my previous article!) 

The corrupt governor in Chunhyang, and Mongryong’s appointment as a secret inspector later in the story, is a reflection of this real-life issue. In late Joseon, local governments profited by abusing the grain tax system: They extorted money through unethical loans.

In his role as a secret inspector, Mongryong recites the following at a feast in honor of the governor: “Fine wine in golden cups is the common people’s blood / Viands on jade dishes are the common people’s flesh,” a biting criticism of the governor’s display of ostentatious wealth, earned by extorting money from farmers.

Mongryong’s couplet was popular in works of Korean satire and its inclusion here, and in many other versions of Chunhyang, despite constant revision and refinement, suggests a longstanding appreciation of the couplet as well as the sentiment behind it. 

Many modern retellings of Chunhyang exist today. The most popular recent (relatively speaking) adaption of the tale is perhaps Sassy Girl Chun-hyang, a 2005 television drama series starring Han Chae-young, Jae Hee, Uhm Tae-woong, and Park Si-eun.

The drama’s soundtrack features a mixture of modern rap and pansori, and was the first drama penned by the famous drama-writing duo Hong Jung-eun and Hong Mi-ran (“the Hong sisters”). However, instead of corrupt government officials and women’s relationship with Confucianism, this drama explores several key economic and social issues of the early 2000s. The endurance of Chunhyang is perhaps down to this adaptability, as well as its classic star-crossed-lovers plot.

Today, you can even visit a Chunhyang-themed park in Namwon, North Jeolla Province, a mere hour away from Gwangju by bus! Namwon, I should mention, is the traditional setting of Chunhyang.

There you can visit a Chunhyang-themed park or participate in the regular Chunhyang Festival, which includes performances of the pansori narrative and a Miss Chunhyang Beauty Pageant. And, of course, Namwon is always a beautiful spot for enjoying Korea’s spring cherry blossoms!

Sources:

Cho, Sung-won (2004). Trapped in the quest for realism: Mistaken equality in Namchang Ch’unhyangga. Korea Journal, 44, 102–122

Cho, Sung-won (2003). Waiting for the Sage King: The “political unconscious” of Namchang Ch’unhyangga. Korea Journal, 43, 240–266

Deuchler, Martina. (1992). The Confucian transformation of Korea: A study of society and ideology. Council of East Asian Studies, Harvard University.

Eckert, Carter J., et al. (1990). Korea old and new: A history. Harvard University Press.

Kim, Heunggyu. (2003). P’ansori. In Peter H. Lee (Ed.), A history of Korean literature. Cambridge University Press.

Kim, Yeongmin. (2011). Portrait of two women: Multiple layers of Confucianism in late Chosŏn Korea. In Yeongmin Kim & Michael Pettid (Eds.), Women and Confucianism in Chosŏn Korea. State University of New York Press.

Rutt, Richard. (1974). The song of a faithful wife, Ch’unhyang. In Richard Rutt & Kim Chong-un [Trans.], Virtuous women: Three classic Korean novels. Royal Asiatic Society, Korea Branch / Kwang Myong Printing.

Further details on the Namwon City:

The Namwon City in the North Jeolla Province is about 50 minutes by car from the provincial capital of Jeonju, which is almost 3 hours away from Seoul. The official city flower the Namwon is Cheoljuk (Royal Azalea) while the City Tree is the crape-myrtle (which in Korean is Baeron Namu) and the City Bird is the Swallow (Jebi in Koean), a bird which is respected by people for speed and message of good news.
Hence the common expression, Gangnam Gatteon Jebi-ga Dora Omyeon (When the swallows, who had gone to the South of the River (Warm Land of the Wolrd), returns to us). This common expression among Koreans is used when good news comes afer a spell of bad ones, comparing the dreary, old winter as misfortune and the warm spring as good news.

Namwon is a small city located just outside the Jiri-san Mountain National Park, which has the largest set of mountains on the South Korean Mainland. It also borders the Seomjin River, one of South Korea's more prominent rivers.
It is 3 hours and 15 minutes from the Seoul Central City Bus Terminal (via direct bus) and about one hour from both the U-Square Bus Terminal in Gwangju and the Jeonju Inter City Bus Terminal (depending on traffic). It is called "the City of Love" because of the famous Korean love story of Chunhyang. The Gwanghallu Pavillion (a gaarden) is a shrine to this love story.

History: Namwon was founded in 680 during the reign of King Sinmun of the Silla Kingdom. The Namwon county was founded on April 1, 1895. The city suffered during the Siege of Namwon in 1597 during the Imjin War (Japanese Shotun Hideyoshi Invasion of Korea).

During the siege that lasted from August 13 to 16 the only defenders against the Japanese army of 56,000 men were 3,300 Korean and Chinese soldiers and 6000 women and children. In the end the Japanese found a way to enter the city and killed all the soldiers and civilians.

Geography: Namwon is located in a basin bordered by the Sobaek Mountains to the east and the Buheung Mountain Ridges to the west with the Yocheon River flowing through the city. Namwon is bordered by the counties of Imsil and Sunchang to the west, Jangsu to the north, Hamyang and Hadong in Gyeongsangnam-do to the east, and Gurye and Gokseong in Jeollanam-do to the south.

Climate: Namwon has a humid continental climate (Köppen: Dwa), but can be considered a borderline humid subtropical climate (Köppen: Cwa) using the −3 °C (27 °F) isotherm. The average yearly temperature of Namwon is 12.3 °C (54.1 °F) with the average temperature in January being −1.4 °C (29.5 °F) and 25.2 °C (77.4 °F) in August. Due to its location in a mountainous basin with a high rate of precipitation, the climate of Namwon varies greatly. Winds in Namwon are usually weak and blow north to west in the winter and south to west in the summer. However, temperatures can sometimes (briefly) drop below −10 °C (14 °F) in January with wind chills making it feel as though it were below −15 °C (5 °F).

Chunhyang Festivals: The Chunhyang festival, that commemorates the love, fidelity and integrity of Chunhyang, started when female Korean entertainers created a fund to have a ceremony to honour Chunhyang in 1931, at a time when Korea was colonized by Japan. The festival is known as a festival for love through which the city of Namwon and the cultural assets of Chunhyang are promoted to the global community.

The Chunhyang festival, one of the 10 most celebrated festivals in Korea, attracts not only Korean participants but has also become popular among foreigners. Miss Chunhyang Beauty Pageant and other events make the festival memorable and fun for visitors.

The main bridge that crosses the river that runs through the middle of the city is lit up, and along the river bank there are vendors selling food and items of all kinds. The Chunhyang beauty contest can be entered by the most beautiful female residents, in Hanbok (traditional dress).

Another event is the Chunhyang parade which runs through cordoned sections of the city along the river bank, and which comprises just about the entire complement of the city's mid-grade schoolgirls (numbering probably in the low hundreds) who are dressed in full chogori and carry musical instruments of some type, and who march in a very long line. There are also other parades of men and anyone else who is not a young girl may dress up in traditional dress and join the procession. The festival lasts four days and fireworks are launched every night.

For the rest of the year when the festival is not on, there is a small theme park dedicated to Chunhyang (Namwon Tourist Complex) complete with hypothetical dwellings and surroundings that someone like Chunhyang would have had (a mock house and yard). There are other sights in the park unrelated to Chunhyang such as a fish pond where visitors are free to feed the fish and some old-fashioned swings and horseshoe-style throwing games. Outside the park, along the river bank, there are also mini paddle boats that people can rent to traverse the small river.

Baraebong Royal Azalea Festival: From the end of April to mid May, Mt.Jiri is filled with their vivid red and pink flowers. Tourists can see crimson red flowers from the peak of Barae Bong of 1,165m down to Pal Rang Chi. There is a botanical garden and a herb valley nearby Barae Bong.

Namwon Herb Festival: Namwon Herb Festival, holds at Jirisan Mt. Herb Valley every spring and autumn, showcases many herbs that grow around Jirisan Mt.[7]

Heungbu Festival: Namwon is the setting of a Korean traditional novel named Heungbujeon(Story of Heungbu), and this festival is one of the most popular local events. Heungbu Festival opens on September 9 every year in lunar calendar to celebrate the friendship and love of a man named heungbu. Since the first festival held in 1993, it has offered various events including Heungbu theater, farm music competitions and food tasting event made with gourds.

Attractions: Namwon 'The City of Love' has a lot to offer. It has a very clean environment surrounded by Jiri Mountain Jirisan National Park. Much of its local and traditional culture and nature have been preserved compared to other places in Korea.