Heo Gyun et al.: The Tale of Hong Gil-dong, The Imjin War

The "Tale of Hong Gil-dong" in *The Tale of Hong Gil-dong: Imjinrok* holds great significance in the history of Korean literature as the first work written in Hangul in Korea. Unlike most ancient Korean novels, where the author and publication date are unclear, the author (Heo Gyun) and the era (King Gwanghaegun) of this work are clearly identifiable. Furthermore, considering that most ancient novels are set in China, this work takes Korea as its stage; it was written to be easily understood by anyone by avoiding Chinese historical anecdotes and Sino-Korean words as much as possible, which are commonly found in other novels. The "Imjinrok" in *The Tale of Hong Gil-dong: Imjinrok* is a work of literature on spiritual victory, as it fabricates a battle that was realistically lost as a spiritual victory in order to boost the morale of the people dispirited by the Imjin War and to heighten national hostility toward the Japanese forces. Written entirely in Hangul, this novel takes on the character of folklore literature with an unknown author; however, it is more than just a creation by a single writer and can be seen as a concentrated expression of the aspirations and struggles of the entire nation. The author attempted to vent the nation's pent-up anger by featuring real historical figures such as Admiral Yi Sun-sin and Kim Deok-ryeong, while introducing Samyeongdang and Seosan Daesa as fictional characters who annihilated Japanese soldiers throughout the country using superhuman methods.

Korean title: 홍길동전 임진록

Korean author: 허균 외

Korean publisher: 범우사

ISBN-13: 9788908063037