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.

• Brother Anthony, Translator

  Brother Anthony of Taizé, who also goes by his Korean name An Sonjae, is a literature scholar and translator and is professor emeritus of English language and literature at Sogang University in Seoul.