The Story of Hong Gildong (16 page)

42
.
Taesobaek Mountain:
A fictional mountain that combines the names of two actual mountain ranges in southern Korea, the Taebaek in North Gyeongsang Province and the Sobaek that splits off from the Taebaek to the southwest to stretch out between Gyeongsang and Jeolla Provinces.

43
.
Gyeongseong:
One of several names for the capital city of Joseon (see note
2
).

44
.
geun
:
A unit for measuring weight. One
geun
is about six hundred grams or
1
.
3
pounds.

45
.
Haein Temple in Hapcheon County:
The most famous Buddhist temple in Korea, located in South Gyeongsang Province on Gaya Mountain. Built in the ninth century, it is one of the most important cultural sites in the country (designated a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in
1995
). It houses the
Tripitaka Koreana
, the complete Buddhist scriptures carved into over eighty thousand individual wooden printing blocks.

46
.
eum
and
yang
:
Korean for the Chinese
yin
and
yang
, the two fundamental forces of the universe that represent the dark, the female, the low, and the cold on the one hand (
yin
), and the light, the male, the high, and the hot on the other (
yang
). To have studied and mastered the ways of
yin
and
yang
means to have gained an understanding of the essential workings of nature, possibly to the extent of knowing how to manipulate it at will. Hong Gildong possesses such a power of elemental magic.

47
.
Sonja and Oja:
Korean names for the Chinese military theorists Sunzi (traditional dates,
544
–
496
BCE) and Wuzi (
440
–
381
BCE). The former's treatise, better known in the West by the incorrectly translated title
The Art of War
(a better rendering of
Bing Fa
is “Military Rules”), is one of the major classics of Chinese military strategy. For English translations of the treatises of Sunzi and Wuzi, see Sawyer, trans.,
The Seven Military Classics of Ancient China
,
157
–
86
and
206
–
24
.

48
.
three armies:
(
samgun
) A term meaning the entire military force of the country. After Yi Seonggye founded the Joseon dynasty in
1392
, he formed the Three Armies Office (
uiheung samgunbu
, literally “Office of the Righteous and Flourishing Three Armies”), composed of his most loyal officers and soldiers, as the central military command of the kingdom. It played an important role in the stabilization of the new dynasty until it was reorganized under a different name in the mid-fifteenth century.

49
.
Girin House:
See note
15
.

50
.
come to study:
Young men of
yangban
families often went to out-of-the-way places like Buddhist temples to concentrate on their studies before taking the civil service examinations. Even today many temples in isolated locales have facilities available for students studying for college entrance or other types of examinations.

51
.
qualifying examination:
(
gyeongsi
) The first part of the civil examination one had to pass before one could move on to higher stages of the grueling literary examinations (
mungwa
).

52
.
seok
:
A unit for measuring volume. Traditionally, one
seok
was about
180
liters (around forty gallons).

53
.
official announcement of the gift:
The announcement is sent to the government office in Hapcheon County to make the generous gift known to the public as a demonstration of noblesse oblige.

54
.
name of Hwalbindang:
Hwalbindang is the famous name of Hong Gildong's group of bandits. In this text, the name is written in two alternative sets of Chinese characters, which give it slightly different meanings. The first two characters,
hwal
and
bin
, mean, respectively, “save” and “poor,” and together they can mean “help the impoverished.” The last character,
dang
, is signified in this instance by the character 堂, which denotes a location, a home, or a resting place. A few paragraphs down, however,
dang
is signified by the character 黨, which denotes an organized group of people, as in a faction or a league. So
Hwalbindang
could alternatively be understood as the name of the bandits' hidden village with the literal meaning of “the home of those who help the impoverished,” or the name of the bandit group itself with the meaning of “a league of those who help the impoverished.”

55
.
eight provinces of Joseon:
Joseon was divided into eight provinces, each with an administrative center overseen by a governor who was appointed by the central government. The provinces were Pyeongan, Hamgyeong, and Hwanghae in the north; Gangwon and Gyeonggi (which contained the capital) in the center; and Chungcheong, Jeolla, and Gyeongsang in the south.

56
.
money and grain being collected by the government:
Hong Gildong does not want to interrupt the regular and legitimate collection and dispersal of tax money and goods that are essential to the functioning of the kingdom.

57
.
all members of Hwalbindang:
In this passage, Hwalbindang denotes “a league of men who dedicate themselves to helping the impoverished.” (See note
54
.)

58
.
Hamgyeong Province:
Province in the northeastern part of the Korean peninsula.

59
.
third watch:
(
gyeong
, see note
34
) Roughly between eleven o'clock at night and one o'clock in the morning.

60
.
royal tomb:
The administrative center of Hamgyeong Province was in the city of Hamheung, which was the hometown of Yi Seonggye, who founded the Joseon dynasty in
1392
. The royal tomb is a reference to the gravesite of his ancestors, which was elevated to the status of a royal burial site after Yi's ascendance to the throne. Since one of the most important duties of the governor of Hamgyeong was to take care of the place, the idea of the site going up in flames would terrify him.

61
.
“I will reward whoever catches Hong Gildong”:
The sentence in the original translates literally as “I will reward whoever fails to catch Hong Gildong,” which makes no sense, so it must be a textual error.

62
.
gift treasures:
(
bongsong
) Gifts that provincial officials sent to influential people in the capital to curry favor with them. The sending of
bongsong
was regarded as part of an official's duty, but they often functioned as bribes paid for appointments to higher positions in the government, so Gildong sees them as legitimate targets.

63
.
Supreme King of Cho:
The Chinese ruler Xichu Bawang (the Supreme King of Western Chu, the royal title of Xiang Yu,
232
–
202
BCE). When Hong Gildong mentioned him previously (see note
37
), he alluded to the king's tragic end, committing suicide on the shore of Wu River. Here, however, the reference is to the figure's renowned martial prowess and to the magnificence of his army.

64
.
Jegal Gongmyeong:
Korean name for the legendary statesman, scholar, and military strategist Zhuge Kongming (Zhuge Liang,
181
–
234
) of the Shu Han state. He is famous as the greatest military genius of his time and appears as a major character in the epic novel
The Three Kingdoms
.

65
.
Palace of the Ten Kings:
In the Chinese Buddhist view of the afterlife (an amalgam of beliefs that developed from the seventh to the ninth centuries from Indian Buddhism and traditional Chinese mythology), the souls of the dead were taken to the Palace of the Ten Kings, where they were judged and punished for the acts of their lifetime by ten supernatural monarchs, before being sent on to be reincarnated in the living world. For details on the history and theology of the afterlife in Chinese Buddhism, see
Stephen F. Teiser,
The Scripture on the Ten Kings and the Making of Purgatory in Medieval Chinese Buddhism
(Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press,
1994
).

66
.
the Mansion of the Underworld, the Palace of the Ten Kings, and the House of Darkness:
(
jibu
,
sipjeon
, and
myeongbu
) Alternative names for the underworld of the afterlife.

67
.
Bugak Mountain:
Mountain just north of the capital city. In today's Seoul, it is at the north end of the city center, above Gyeongbok Palace, the residence of the first Joseon dynasty kings.

68
.
one-wheeled cart:
(
choheon
) A rickshaw on one wheel that held a high seat for a single rider. It was carried by four servants, two on either end, and was an official mode of transportation reserved for high-ranking government officials of junior second grade or above.

69
.
two-horse litter:
(
ssanggyo
) A litter carried by two horses, one at the front and the other at the back. It was also reserved for people of high status.

70
.
government inspector:
(
eosa
) Government inspectors were regularly dispatched to the provinces, where they sometimes traveled incognito to observe the implementation of state policy or to investigate corruption and incompetence on the part of local officials. In popular culture, they are often portrayed as heroic champions of justice, appearing deus ex machina at the end of a story to punish the wicked and to relieve the oppressed. The best example of this can be found in the ending of
The Story of Chunhyang
.

71
.
state councilor of the right:
(
usang
, short for
u
uijeong
) The third-highest position in the government below the king, a high minister position of senior first rank. (See note
4
.)

72
.
currently the third minister:
(
chamui
) A government position of senior third rank. Within an individual ministry,
chamui
was the third highest position, below that of minister (
panseo
) and deputy minister (
champan
). Since the time Gildong left home, his half brother, Inhyeon, has been promoted three grades (
pum
), or six ranks.

73
.
Office for the Deliberation of Forbidden Affairs:
(
geumbu
, short for
uigeumbu
) A government office, directly overseen by the king, which investigated and meted out punishment for the most serious crimes, including treason.

74
.
Injeong Hall:
The throne room at Changdeok Palace, which was built in
1412
as the second royal residence, after Gyeongbok Palace, in the newly established capital of the Joseon dynasty. Both palaces were destroyed during the Japanese invasion of
1592
–
98
,
but Changdeok Palace was rebuilt in
1609
, becoming the primary royal residence and governing center of the kingdom until
1872
, when Gyeongbok Palace was rebuilt by order of the regent Lord Daewon.

75
.
granted the third minister:
Hong Gildong's older brother, Hong Inhyeon, is now referred to as the third minister (
chamui
), his newly acquired position in the government.

76
.
five relationships:
(
oryun
) One of the central concepts of Confucian philosophy, it refers to the five essential and sacred relationships that bind a society together. They were enumerated by the philosopher Mengzi—“love between father and son, duty between ruler and subject, distinction between husband and wife, precedence of the old over the young, and faith between friends” (Book III, Part A,
4
).
Mencius
, trans. D. C. Lau (New York: Penguin Classics,
2005
),
60
.