Romantic Tales from Old Korea

There are not many old Korean love tales, but everyone knows the story of Chunhyang.

In 1892, the first Korean to visit Paris, Hong Jong-u, helped publish a French version of the story of Chunhyang.

Titled “Fragrant Springtime” (the meaning of “Chunhyang”), it is the first Korean story ever published in a western language.

A couple of years later, a second, more developed novel set in Korea was published, “

A Dead Tree Blossoms.” It includes parts of the story of Sim Cheong and her blind father, but is very different in many unexpected ways.


In 1919 an English translation of it was published in the US, but nobody noticed it.

In this new book, the French version of “Chunhyang” has been translated into English and is published with the 1919 English text of “A Dead Tree Blossoms” and a couple of other Korean love tales translated a hundred or more years ago.

Interestingly, the two main stories both express sharp criticism of corrupt officials and a strong concern for social justice.