Clamp's Manga

Putting the words Chun Hyang in the title of Legend of Chun Hyang is deceitful. The characters, actions and themes are related to the actual Korean folk legend Chunhyangga in only the most tangential manner. As a result of the title, the manga begins to tread into the territory described by Emily Apter of poets like Rexroth, who created a fictitious basis for his poetry – does Legend of Chun Hyang really have any thematic or intellectual ties to the Korean folk legend?

In nearly every sequence, the manga departs precipitously from the canon, Korean Chunhyangga. We see a Chun-hyang who carries modern values of universal equality and female rights directly supplanted into Choson Korea, with awkward results. Traditional values of virtuosity and loyalty are no longer the central themes, as they are replaced by themes of individuality. Then, of course, there is the divine intervention of dragons and angels, and a sword-wielding Chunhyang who solves problems by confrontation and violence.

Since the original folk legend is distinctly Korean, it is worth noting that the authors of the manga are Japanese. This begs the question: why is a Japanese author basing manga on Korean folk legends? To rephrase – is there some perspective that a Japanese author can provide to this tale that the numerous Korean tellings have failed to provide? I feel that the manga has done no great service to the original, and that the title was merely as a ploy: to differentiate an otherwise standard, generic comic book by giving it some “legendary” background.

CLAMP's Shin Shun Kaden

(Sorry, forgot to publish this) CLAMP has a history of using mythology or popular tales from other countries to form their basis of writing, including RG Veda (which is from Hindu scriptures), Miyuki-chan in Wonderland (which is pulled from Alice in Wonderland). They did write about a domestic legend, which was called Shirahime-Syo (Snow Goddess Tales).

After reading the Legend of Chun Hyang manga, I was left with a “plot-what-plot” feeling. It was only when I wiki-ed it that CLAMP actually did not finish this project, although they said they might finish this later on. If they truly wanted to, they should have finished this long ago since this manga was first published back in 1992. You can also tell from the art that it is a dated manga because CLAMP’s artwork style has changed and looks vastly different since the mid- to late-1990s.

When the wiki-article describes this manga having a storyline that is loosely based on the Korean legend, it really means loosely. In here, Chun Hyang is a very typical CLAMP heroine. She is around 14 years old and is headstrong, innocent, and short who loves to defy the authorities (the yangban). Mong Ryong appears as the other main character and some Korean terms were used. That is about as far CLAMP went with the legend. Since the manga was probably for a younger audience, the development of the characters was not emphasized but more on the action scenes fantasy elements. However, the KBS drama remained a bit more faithful, although their heroine also has most of the same qualities as well, probably due to adaptation for the modern audience. They focused more on the sappy love story between the two.

Separation Anxiety

As I watched the film version of Ch'unhyang, I was worried that either Ch'unhyang or Mong-ryong would die in the name of love at the end of the movie. I noticed the numerous outstanding reviews on the DVD box and thought that one of the two characters must die in order to get such great reviews. I don't know how the true story ends but this made the film slightly more realistic for me simply because it did not deploy a technique that I think is used far too often in contemporary romantic films. On the other hand, I think the film is still only a film and should not be viewed as a true representation of the themes in the text itself. With this being said, I think it is important to separate the film's supposed "universal themes" mentioned in Kie-Chang's article and the actual textual themes.

I once did a paper on romantic films, and discussed how the most popular ones usually contain some forbidden love theme. Ch'unhyang is not any different. We have to ask though what makes forbidden love or other themes universal. Is it because many people across cultures can relate to it. Possibly, but there are an abundant amount of themes that people can relate to. I would argue that these themes are created, reinforced, and made universal through technological media and popular culture. For example, I have seen DVDs with chapters entitled "Forbidden Love". This allows viewers to consume certain scenes not only out of the entire film's context but certainly out of any former textual context. So the love story in Ch'unhyang the film may seem universal, but the themes in the actual text are most likely not. Was the text intended for a mass audience like that of a film? Probably not. So this really goes for all supposed universal themes. The actual themes themselves are not universal because they depend on the era, specific situation, and author/audience.

D'oh! The Simpsons, Animation, and the Koreas

I think that when you look at the Korean animation industry, you can see globalization in a different way. Here is an interesting--but long--look at the history of animation in Korea during the 20th century (stopping in the '70s). It seems that Korean domestic animation was not as popular or as technically and stylistically advanced as foreign imports (mostly from the U.S. and Japan). It was interesting to me that early Korean animation relied heavily on classic Korean stories and legends, perhaps to provide the same sort of cultural legitimacy that canonical Western literature provided to films (as discussed in the High-Pop reading). Nowadays, it seems that many of the popular animated works in the U.S., such as The Simpsons, are actually drawn by Korean animation studios. Even North Korea is involved in this business of subcontracting animation projects. So, while the Koreas are heavily involved in the global animation market, it is not a uniquely or overtly Korean product that is being marketed and sold. Rather, Korean talent produces products that are actually culturally foreign to most Koreans. This is different from the dramas, movies, or music part of hallyu, which market Korean culture and identity in various forms to global audiences.

*Because I was curious, I found some information on Mazinger (Mazinga) Z, which is referenced in some of the episodes of the drama we had to watch for this week. There were a lot of Korean and non-Korean pop cultural references in Delightful Girl Choon-Hyang, including to Pretty Woman, Love Actually, William Shakespeare's Romeo + Juliet, and other t.v. dramas (Full House, for one). Definitely trying to appeal to a contemporary youth audience, no?

Manhwa & Reinforcing Gender

I found the Chunhyang manga very interesting because it seems to simultaneously reinforce and challenge traditional gender roles. The main character, Chunhyang, is both sassy and strong while maintaing a very feminine appeal - she's outspoken, brave, confident, and a talented fighter, in addition to possessing more traditionally valued feminine characteristics such as beauty and kindness.


It's interesting, however, that while many of Chunhyang's traits seem to defy the typical Asian woman stereotype of a quiet, reserved, gentle, pretty female, many of those same traits can also be interpreted as displaying other female stereotypes. For example, Chunhyang is a great fighter, but she is also righteous - she fights only to defend others or stand up for herself, but never picks a fight with anyone who doesn't deserve it. Also, she is fierce and strong, but usually this is only displayed after she is provoked. And like the old saying goes, "Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned."



















Chunhyang certainly retains the traditional female emphasis on emotions. In addition to her fury, she also sometimes breaks down in tears (like, understandly, after her mother dies), and in her angst, turns to a broad-shouldered man to comfort her. Interesting, the photos above and to the right are spaced only two pages apart in the manhwa. Chunhyang therefore melts into a classic damsel in distress only two pages after whipping into a fiery-eyed warrior.

I think all of this comes together to create a complex, multi-dimensional character, but it also presents a very mixed message of the "ideal" heroine. Perhaps this is a reflection of the changing roles of women in modern society, and the way modern women are torn between wanting to fill traditional roles and wanting to break out of them. Regardless, this representation of Chunhyang does a great job of satisfying readers who prefer many different types of women, as Chunhyang's characteristics and behavior can be interpreted to be either traditional or modern or a nice mixture of both. I think this was very a entertaining story presented with beautiful artwork and engaging, lovable characters.

Article - useful viewing guide to the movie "Ch'unhyang"

This article I feel will be an extremely useful viewing guide to the 2000 movie Ch'unhyang directed by Im Kwon-Taek. The writer raves about the universal themes of the movie and gives historical background to the original folk-story. Especially interesting about this article is his emphasis on universal themes of the movie, diversity of the audience (at the movie theater where he viewed it), and raves of the movie by western newspapers. It reminds me of the global culturalism idea that we were discussing last week. Though this movie came out in 2000, I haven't really heard of the movie until this week when we had to watch it for this class. It makes me wonder just exactly how successful this export is compared to say "Jewel in the Palace" or "Full House", Korean dramas that were especially famous and popular in Asia. Nevertheless I agree with the author that this movie gives the viewer a look into historical Korea and does have universal themes (AKA love) that western audiences can enjoy.

[http://times.hankooki.com/lpage/opinion/200211/kt2002112117203911340.htm]

[Hello Korea] Chun-hyang in Washington
By John Kie-chiang Oh
Professor Emeritus, Catholic University of America


I saw ``Chun-hyang'' the other night, and I was enchanted. Of course, I did not see her in person, but in a movie, shown at a commercial theater in downtown, Washington, D.C.
When I came to the United States in 1954 as a university student, I could not in my wildest dreams ever imagine seeing Chunhyangjon (the tale of Chun- hyang) at a theater anywhere in the United States.

Recently, at a small bistro cinema, where a viewer can enjoy a movie while eating snacks or a light meal, I saw the Chunhyangjon, Korea's Academy Award entry.

I felt the genuine pleasure that I occasionally experience after enjoying rare masterpieces of either the East or the West. I am sufficiently bi- cultural, and I am certain that my satisfaction was not just a function of my nostalgia for fine things Korean.

It was the sense of having appreciated a timeless masterpiece of 18th century Korean folk literature. Im Kwon-taek skillfully and tastefully directed the movie in the versatile medium of contemporary cinema, with English subtitles.

That the tale of Chun-hyang was written during the reign of King Sukjong (1674-1720) of the Choson Dynasty was quickly forgotten as soon as I was engrossed in several universal and perennial themes. They knew no national or cultural boundaries. These themes included love and passion across the chasm of rigid class distinctions, faithfulness of a helpless girl against the capricious advances of a powerful and corrupt magistrate, the suspense, the last minute rescue by her true love who became a secret royal censor, and a happy ending.

These were some of the themes that resonate in the hearts and minds of people in all cultures across the centuries.

My quick appraisal of the audience in the bistro lounge confirmed this. There were more Caucasians than Asians. Further, some issues raised in the 18th century, e.g., power and corruption, devotion, and the eventual triumph of justice, transcend time, and had contemporary meanings for me.

The Washington Post movie critic exclaimed that it was "More than a romance. A perfect marriage between traditional form and contemporary issues."

Unlike the story of Romeo and Juliet, a romantic tragedy written by William Shakespeare (1564-1616), the identity of the author of the Tale of Chun-hyang is unknown, according to ``The History of Korea'' by Han Woo- keun (East-West Center Press) and ``A History of the Korean People'' by Andrew C. Nahm (Hollym Press).

It is possibly because an apparently gifted story teller, probably a member of the aristocratic (yangban) class, did not wish to be identified as a writer of commoners' literature in hangul, the Korean vernacular used by lower class people and women.

The author might have been a scholar who had failed the royal examinations mostly on Confucian classics required for appointment to official positions. These examinations were written completely in Chinese characters, just as French was the lingua franca in the diplomatic world.

The anonymous author's knowledgeable treatment of both the scholar official family and the former courtesan and her daughter, Chunghyang, indicate that he, or she, knew worlds of both the privileged aristocracy and the aging and still unattached courtesan and her pretty offspring. The loss of a literary talent from Korean officialdom probably resulted in a lasting gift of a folk literature to the Korean people - and now to the world.

Lee Hyo-jung and Cho Seung-woo attractively portrayed love and youthful passion.

Director Im had them engage in passionate love making - each daringly pursuing the other, slithering together from room to room, exposing erotic coupling for fleeting seconds. There was even a brief all-nude scene that was shot from the young lovers' curvaceous backs against a crimson bed sheet under full illumination. However, there was nothing prurient in the fairly long love scenes.

The heroine and the ardent lover appeared a bit too young to me to be such skillful love makers. But my notions about these love affairs in the 18th century Korea might have been outdated, and the movie producer probably had an eye on the box office, in Korea and abroad.

The movie exposed the harsh class separation between the aristocratic official's family and that of a former courtesan and her daughter. As in so many Western novels, it is love at first sight as the governor's young son, Mong-ryong, falls in love with a beauteous young maiden.

Unlike in Western literature in which a period of courtship would usually follow, however, the governor's son visits the commoner's house one night and tells the courtesan and her daughter that he desires her.

After writing several Chinese characters professing his devotion to her on her skirt, he frolics with her right there at the courtesan's home during his very first visit. What privilege for the young man!

But he was soon sent away to the capital to study for the state examination by his father who was posted to the royal court. As Juliet said, parting was such sweet sorrow for the young lovers, and Chun-hyang swore her fidelity to him and he pledges his return to her after passing the state examination.

The new magistrate who replaced Mong-ryong's father was a stereotypical local tyrant.

He capriciously demands that Chun-hyang serve him in his bedchamber. As Chun-hyang pleads with him in the name of her fidelity, the vindictive magistrate has her beaten savagely.

A pansori (folk music) singer masterfully narrates these long epic drama lines in the Korean commoners' music form. In scenes where a master pansori cantor superbly narrates the caning of hapless Chun-hyang, the movie shows how the audience is moved to tears. It was a Korean theater scene in a Korean movie, but the empathy with the suffering maiden was universal. Still, Chun-hyang is imprisoned.

When Mong-ryong, now the secret royal censor, appears at the old courtesan's house, disguised as a beggar, Chun-hyang's mother is a picture of pitiful disappointment and resentment with this failed young man who returned to her house in rags, instead of silken official robes as she hoped.

Upon seeing Mong-ryong, however, Chun-hyang simply rejoices at his return to her despite her knowledge that the brutal magistrate at the end of his birthday party would execute her. Tension and suspense mount accompanied with music by Kim Jung-gil.

In the midst of the most opulent birthday banquet that boasts ``a pond of wine and forests of meat,'' soldiers of the central government suddenly surround the elegant banquet hall, and Mong-ryong materializes as imperial secret censor. Thus comes the happy ending - thanks to the power of imperial authority. In the end, it is more of a victory of a just imperial authority rather than the triumph of love and devotion of two individuals. That was the limitation of the Tale of Chun-hyang.

Having suffered through several crudely produced Korean movies in the past, it was an unadulterated pleasure to see this Korean masterpiece. The Los Angles Times exclaimed ``Stunning! Exquisite! Triumphant!''

Chun-hyang remains a lovely and desirable maiden in every man's heart. Chun-hyang was lovelier in Washington.



11-21-2002 17:20

Manwha or Manga

The comparison of The Legend of Chun Hyang and Goong Vol. 1 is very similar yet complex. In Goong, the female character is portrayed as “nimble”, quiet, confused and thrust into the most unfamiliar possible for a girl of her class in a modified modern day Korea. In The Legend of Chun Hyang, we find a polar opposite character; overzealous, heroic and headsprung. However, they share the same situation of being out of place in their society. Part of this is irony setup by the authors which makes each tale even more interesting and is the center of each drama. Even more though, the gender role of each is perhaps more striking. In Goong it is not as evident but it is the dream of becoming royalty, and in Legend of Chun Hyang; Chun defies the gender roles of being quiet and reserved, not to mention her mastery of martial arts. CLAMP clearly states her position and how out of place she is with the norm of society on page 25. Chun’s mother says “I’m sure you used your martial arts in the name of good, BUT YOU ARE A GIRL!” Furthermore, Chun is in a time when gender roles and inequality were even more widened than in the modern drama of Goong. This is what makes such a successful manhwa. There are so many manhwa (and manga) that deal with everyday life with twists and turns but I think that when gender is involved it not only attracts more readers but challenges the current gender roles of the status quo. It makes people question how gender stereotypes and positions are now and wonder what things could be like or if they should be challenged further.

One cool part that I found in the Legend of Chun Hyang as well was the use of Japanese characters in many frames. As we discussed in class, globalization has led to the spread of manga/manhwa outside of its native authorship. I think it is interesting that the translator kept the Japanese characters in the manhwa. I don’t know if this was intentional or if it was just too hard to remove them from each frame. Also on one page we can see Korean, English, and Japanese writing all in one frame; talk about cross-culturalism!

Legend of Chun Hyang and My Sassy Chun Hyang

Legend of Chun Hyang by CLAMP and the TV drama My Sassy Chun Hyang are derivatives of the tales of Chun Hyang. Although the two works integrated the folktale as the underlying plot line, they present the story from different views.

While I was reading the manga, I could not disengage from the inherent “Japanese”-ness of the book. Despite the adaptation of a Korean folktale as the foundation of the story, I thought that CLAMP’s version of the legend engendered a different. The manga, in my opinion, used the story only as a vehicle to propel the story forward. In other words, I felt like most of the emphasis was placed on the martial and supernatural abilities of the characters rather than engaging in the essence of the folktale itself. All the fighting sequences and elaborate drawings of the dance are the all I remembered after reading the manga. In this case, the folktale came secondary to the actual activities that the characters endured/performed. Although the manga did contain comical drawings, this one differs from the manhwa we read for last week. The emphasis on martial arts and mystic and magical abilities of the characters seemed to trump the comical spin of the manga. Therefore, the focalization of this manga differed from Goong because Goong not only dealt with more lighthearted subject but also utilized lighter shades of black.

In the TV drama, it focused more on the development of romantic relationships among the characters than the resurgence of cherished Korean folktale. Hence, the folktale was at the backdrop, once again, similar to the manga. Although the parodies of the actual story at the end of each episode did provide a comic touch, I also felt that it diminished the value of the story because they focused on the character flaws. It portrayed Mong-ryong as an incompetent Am-hang-osa who simply pretends to be an honorable official.

After reading the manga and watching the drama, I felt that the artists and producers used the folktale as a vehicle to propel the stories with different agendas forward. Although the usage of the tale helps brand the folktale as a cultural object, it could leave distorted images and representations of the tale for those who are unfamiliar with the story. Hence, it is important to market and package Korean culture in a way that preserves the integrity.

Continuation on Korean Wave

This is an article I found about the rising Korean Wave. Just as we have talked about many times in class about the Korean Wave hitting many countries worldwide, this article talks about Korean products being sold all over China. The Korean market is trying to expand into China and bringing their pop culture is just a start. This article talks about missionaries for Christianity are also trying to spread their scriptures to China. I think it is interesting how many of the things that have influenced Korea started with the U.S. Not only has music, movies, and pop culture made a great impact on Korea, but religion and the missionary movements have also been passed on.


By Norimitsu Onishi The New York Times

At Korea City, on the top floor of the Xidan Shopping Center, a warren of tiny shops sells hip-hop clothes, movies, music, cosmetics and other offerings in the South Korean style.
To young Chinese shoppers, it seemed not to matter that some of the products, like New York Yankees caps or Japan's Astro Boy dolls, clearly have little to do with South Korea. Or that most items originated, in fact, in Chinese factories.
"We know that the products at Korea City are made in China," said Wang Ying, 28, who works in sales for the local branch of a U.S. company. "But to many young people, 'Korea' stands for fashionable or stylish. So they copy the Korean style."
From clothes to hairstyles, music to television dramas, South Korea has been defining the tastes of many Chinese and other Asians for the past half decade. As part of what the Chinese call the Korean Wave of pop culture, a television drama about a royal cook, "The Jewel in the Palace," is garnering record ratings throughout Asia, and Rain, a 23-year-old singer from Seoul, drew more than 40,000 fans to a sold-out concert at a sports stadium in Beijing in October.
But South Korea's "soft power" also extends to the material and spiritual spheres. Samsung's cellphones and television sets have grown into symbols of a coveted consumerism for many Chinese.
Christianity, in the evangelical form championed by South Korean missionaries deployed throughout China, is finding Chinese converts despite Beijing's efforts to rein in its spread.
For a country that traditionally received culture, especially from China but also from Japan and the United States, South Korea finds itself at a turning point in its new role as exporter.
The transformation began with South Korea's democratization in the late 1980s, which unleashed sweeping domestic changes. As its democracy and economy have matured, its influence on the rest of Asia, negligible until a decade ago, has grown accordingly. Its cultural exports have even caused complaints about cultural invasion in China and Vietnam.
South Korea is also acting as a filter for Western values, experts say, making them more palatable to Chinese and other Asians.
Historically, Christianity made little headway in East Asia, except in South Korea, whose population is now about 30 percent Christian and whose overseas missionary movement is the world's second largest after the United States.
Today, in China, South Korean missionaries are bringing Christianity with an Asian face. South Korean movies and dramas about urban professionals in Seoul, though not overtly political, present images of modern lives centering on individual happiness and sophisticated consumerism.
They also show enduring Confucian-rooted values in their emphasis on family relations, offering Chinese both a reminder of what was lost during the Cultural Revolution and an example of an Asian country that has modernized and retained its traditions.

"Three Guys and Three Girls" and "Three Friends" are South Korea's homegrown version of the American television show "Friends." As for "Sex and the City," its South Korean twin, "The Marrying Type," a sitcom about three single professional women in their 30s looking for love in Seoul, was so popular in China that episodes were illegally downloaded or sold on pirated DVDs.
"We feel that we can see a modern lifestyle in those shows," said Qu Yuan, 23, a student at Tsinghua University in Beijing. "We know that South Korea and America have similar political systems and economies. But it's easier to accept that lifestyle from South Koreans because they are culturally closer to us. We feel we can live like them in a few years."


Jin Yaxi, 25, a graduate student at Peking University, said, "We like American culture, but we can't accept it directly."
"And there is no obstacle to our accepting South Korean culture, unlike Japanese culture," said Jin, who has studied both Korean and Japanese. "Because of the history between China and Japan, if a young person here likes Japanese culture, the parents will get angry."

Politics also seem to underlie the Chinese preference for South Korean-filtered American hip-hop culture. Messages about rebelliousness, teenage angst and freedom appear more palatable to Chinese in their Koreanized versions.
Kwon Ki Joon, 22, a South Korean who attends Peking University and graduated from a Chinese high school in Beijing, said his male Chinese friends were fans of South Korean hip-hop bands, like HOT, and its song "We Are the Future."
"It's about wanting a more open world, about rebelliousness," he said. "Korean hip-hop is basically trying to adapt American hip-hop."
Like many South Koreans, Oh Dong Suk, 40, an investor in online games in Beijing, said he believed South Korea's pop culture was a fruit of the country's democratization. "If you watch South Korean movies from the 1970s or 1980s, you could feel that it was a controlled society," Oh said.

Hwang In Choul, 35, a South Korean missionary in Beijing, also sees a direct link between South Korea's democratization and its influence in China. After restrictions on travel outside South Korea were lifted in the late 1980s, South Korea's missionary movement grew from several hundred into its current size of 14,000.
Hwang, who since 2000 has trained 50 Chinese pastors to proselytize, is among the 1,500 South Korean missionaries evangelizing in China, usually secretly. "Under military rule, it was simply not possible to come out of South Korea, and even our activities inside the country were monitored," Hwang said. "We had the potential to be missionaries out in the world, but we were constrained."
Until South Korea and China, enemies during the Korean War, normalized relations in 1992, North Korea had a stronger presence in Beijing, with its embassy, restaurants and shops. Back then, South Korea remained unknown to most Chinese, or suffered from a poor image.
The Korean Wave has been gathering for some time. Its roots are traceable to democratization, which kicked off with the South Korean elections in 1987, and the Seoul Olympics in 1988. Social changes that took decades elsewhere were compressed into a few years.