The Italian explorer Columbus (1451-1506) discovered the American Continent in 1492. Of course, the unknown continent had existed even before he discovered it. But through Columbus’ discovery the unknown entity has emerged above the surface of the historical waters as a "New World." Literature is like a voyage in search of a new continent, and the author is like Columbus. In the course of our lives, undiscovered subject matters abound like countless islands in the gigantic ocean of awareness. If perchance such a continent is not discovered through the eyes of a writer, it would sink to eternal oblivion. An author, therefore, is like an explorer who, through an endless literary voyage, discovers and reveals a fascinating New World. Accordingly, an author may be called a christener of a particular subject matter just as Columbus who, upon discovery of an unknown continent, finally helped it exist by naming it America. Just as a conductor’s baton directs a violinist in an orchestra or a drummer’s dance, when a writer names something, he or she confers upon it both its existence and meaning.
In classical Korean literature, two great literary pieces, The Tale of Ch'unhyang and The Tale of Shimchong, represent two prototypes to which modern Korean literature can be related. In the classical tale of Ch’unhyang, the important motif is none other than "encounter." Love sprouts from an encounter at the Kwanghan Pavilion in Namwon in the Southwestern Province of Cholla, between Yi Mong-nyong, son of the county magistrate, and Ch’unhyang, daughter of a retired kisaeng (a woman entertainer, similar to Japanese geisha). For them, their class difference is not an obstacle. The romance, whose beauty is unrivaled in world literature, falls into a crisis with the entrance of an evil figure by the name of Pyon who succeeds Mong-nyong’s father as the magistrate. Eventually, following his "homecoming in golden robes" as the secret royal inspector, Yi Mong-nyong rescues Ch’unhyang, and the evil magistrate is dismissed and punished. The story has a happy ending, as their love is fulfilled.
In contrast, the theme of the story of Simch’ong, based on a Buddhist legend, is about an opening of the eyes, i.e., a prototype of "discovery." Simch’ong, the sixteen-year-old daughter of a blind man, sells herself to the boat people, who throw her into the ocean as a sacrificial lamb to the god of the sea for their protection. The filially pious daughter Simch’ong is resurrected and is betrothed to a king, who invites all the blind people of the country to his palace in hopes of finding among them his wife's father. The blind Sim’s eyes open at the dramatic moment of his re-encounter with his daughter. In the Asian thinking based on the Buddhist belief, "seeing with open eyes" corresponds to "being awake and seeing through the Truth."
Modern Korean literature has inherited the spiritual legacy of the tales of Ch'unhang and Simch'ong. One notable example is Hahn Moo-Sook’s novel, Encounter1. The novel’s very title and plot correspond with the eternal themes of encounter and discovery represented by The Tale of Ch’unhyang and The Tale of Simch'ong. Encounter is a rare novel in Korea, because it explores and probes so deeply into the Catholic faith, a faith which took root in Korean soil, through the beliefs and actions of Koreans themselves and not by proselytization. It recounts the early Christians’ tenacity that led to their heart-rending martyrdom. Hahn creates her work around two historical figures, Tasan Chong Yag-yong, a modern thinker and a scholar of the Sirhak (Practical Learning) School, and Hasang, Tasan’s nephew and a Catholic martyr. The novel Encounter is distinguished by Hahn's ability to produce great fiction at the same time that she chronicles an actual historical event.
In the twilight of her life, Hahn Moo-Sook, a practicing Catholic, had a burning desire to write a novel based on her faith. It might not be a coincidence that, between 1985 and 1989, she was the President of the Korean Catholic Writers’ Association. In her preface to Encounter, Hahn explains her motivation to write a Catholic novel that sums up her own life:
Hahn Moo-Sook made her debut as a writer in 1941 at the age of twenty-three with a novel titled A Woman with a Lantern, but it was written in Japanese. It was in 1948 when she made a spectacular debut into the Korean literary circles by winning the contest organized by Kukche Daily Newspaper with a novel titled And So Flows History. Her literary career culminated with the writing of her most significant novel Encounter, which she published in 1986 at the age of sixty-eight. It was also her last work, as she passed away in 1993. As a Catholic, Hahn seems to have always felt indebted to Tasan Chong Yag-yong and his nephew Chong Hasang. Hahn Moo-Sook explains her choice of her novel’s title as follows:Tasan Chong Yag-yong, in spite of his noble life based on pure principles, was unable to free himself from the attachment of human nature. This gigantic but lonely soul, paradoxical and impregnated with human weaknesses, has long captivated me. His very human faults and trespasses came to move me just as deeply as his greatness. Another personage that I have adored is Tasan's nephew, St. Paul Chong Hasang, who unlike Tasan, trod the road of unwavering faith, for which he willingly sacrificed his life. St. Paul Hasang’s immaculate life has always cleansed my soul. These two souls, contrasting as they are, have filled my heart, one just as dearly as the other.
It goes without saying that her encounter with Tasan Chong Yag-yong became a novelistic motif. However, for Hahn Moo-Sook, the encounter was a "discovery" of a great soul, and in the abyss of her discovery dwelled the sacredness of "God." In meeting her God, who dwelled deep in the abyss of her heart, she made an apology for her own human weaknesses through the character of Chong Yag-yong, while expressing her passionate fervor for God through the martyrdom of his nephew Chong Hasang. Chong Yag-yong’s human foibles were human weaknesses lurking inside Author Hahn Moo-Sook, and Chong Hasang’s spirit of sacrifice was the passion dwelling inside Hahn’s religious subconscious. In other words, Chong Yag-yong and Chong Hasang represent the dual nature of their creator, Hahn Moo-Sook. The novel Encounter is Hahn Moo-Sook through and through. Her style is as graceful and articulate as she was. Further, her descriptions are as sentient, spirited, and youthful as she was, even in her old age.Tracing the history of mankind, we come across individuals who met pathetic ends after a life of suffering because they were so far above the ordinary people, their lives so lofty, and their eyes open so ahead of their times.
The author Hahn Moo-Sook, who lived a life of propriety like Sin Saimdang, Korea’s ideal woman figure, and who was as aloof as the Choson-dyasty white porcelain, has left the following poem of farewell to her life through the mouth of Yi Sung-hun as he was being martyred in her novel Encounter:
Though the moon disappears from the sky,
It remains in the heavens;
Though the water evaporates on the surface,
It is undiminished in the pond.
[translation by Ok Young Kim Chang, Encounter, p. 316]
Hahn Moo-Sook, the author, explains the poem as follows:
Saint Francis said the following:Just as the moon is somewhere in the sky, even if it is sunken into the
eastern mountain, my faith is constant in my heart. Just as the water is still in
the pond, even if it is evaporated from the surface, my faith is constant.
Flower petals fall, but the flowers never wither forever.
Indeed, the author Hahn Moo-Sook has died and left us. However, just as the moon is still in the sky and the flowers come back every year, although flowers fall, she is still meeting us and she is living next to us through her work Encounter. The greatness of literature is none other than that.
-Translated from the Korean by Young-Key Kim-Renaud