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We start the show with a song “Heungbu and Nolbu” composed by songwriter Na Woon-young and written by children’s book author Kang So-cheon. The song is based on an old Korean tale about two brothers. In the story, goodhearted Heungbu cares for an injured swallow and becomes wealthy, while his older brother Nolbu, who is mean and greedy, breaks a swallow’s leg on purpose and ends up losing all of his fortune. 

In the first edition of Korea, Today and Tomorrow in 2023, we’ll learn about how The Tale of Heungbu, a happy story that tells good deeds bring you wealth, has been interpreted in South and North Korea from Dr. Lee Ji-soon at the Korea Institute for National Unification. 

The Tale of Heungbu had originally been passed on orally before being told by pansori singers and later created as a novel. Pansori is a Korean traditional narrative musical genre. That’s why The Tale of Heungbu is referred to as a pansori-based novel. 

The novel spread among the public in the form of a handwritten edition but woodblocks were used later to print the book. Major editions of the tale include the one published in Seoul, known as the gyeongpan edition. In the process, details of the story were added or omitted, resulting in dozens of different editions. 

Interpretations of the classic novel vary in South Korea. For example, Nolbu appears as a protagonist in a parody of the story in a South Korean version. But that’s not the case in the North.

In the course of rehabilitating traditional culture in the 1950s, North Korea reinterpreted old traditions and classic novels in a way to fit the socialist system and reflect ideology the country advocated. The North started a huge project of researching and discovering traditional cultural content in the 1980s. Since 1983, it has compiled the Collection of Classic Korean Literature until recently. The massive publication project has been led by the state. The Tale of Heungbu was published as Vol. 43 in the collection in 2005. It is a very popular story in North Korea, just like in the South. It has been used as the source for a children’s story, animated film, puppet show, opera, dance drama and more. 

Dozens of editions of this tale might be a little different in some parts, but most editions start with the explanation of the two brothers. Nolbu, the older brother, is really bad-tempered. 

The younger brother Heungbu is quite the opposite. He gets along well with his neighbors and is eager to help out people in need. Nolbu kicks his younger brother out of the house and takes all the inheritance for himself. 

The rap song “Heungbo is Shocked” is inspired by the scene of Heungbu getting thrown out of the home. The song coined a new term “pan-rap,” a combination of pansori and rap. Heungbu ends up out on the street in the frigid winter weather. He builds a hut for his family. 

The unimaginably poor life of Heungbu is described in both the gyeongpan(경판) edition and the North Korean version. Heungbu’s family members become talkative when listing food items they crave for. In the gyeongpan edition published in Seoul, the foods include noodles in the royal hot pot, grilled meat traditionally enjoyed by aristocrats, white rice with dog meat soup and the sweet glutinous rice and jujube cake. But royal cuisine or foods consumed by the noble class do not appear in the North Korean version, which only includes foods that ordinary people eat. In the North Korean edition, Heungbu’s children wish to eat pumpkin soup, noodles and rice, among others. 

One of the most interesting scenes in The Tale of Heungbu is probably Nolbu’s wife hitting Heungbu on the face with her rice paddle. One day, Heungbu visits his brother to ask for some food for his hungry family but is sent away. Heungbu then comes to Nolbu’s wife, who is cooking in the kitchen. 

When Nolbu’s wife sees Heungbu, she screams “No! A man in the kitchen!” and strikes him on the cheek with a rice paddle. This scene is found in both editions in South and North Korea. But from then on, the story unfolds differently in the two editions. 

In the North Korean version, Heungbu asks her to strike him again but there is no explanation for why. Beaten hard by Nolbu’s wife, Heungbu fights back tears and returns home, feeling resentful of the cruel world. 

The South Korean edition, on the other hand, explains the reason in an amusing way. After the severe blow to his cheek, Heungbu sees stars and feels dizzy. Touching his cheek, he finds rice. He scrapes off the sticky rice and eats it. He thanks the woman for giving him something to eat and asks her to hit him again on the other cheek so he can get a little more rice and take it home to feed his children. In the South Korean edition, Heungbu is portrayed as a humorous but helpless man. But the North Korean version uses the episode to describe Heungbu who harbors a grudge and resentment against the world. 

Heungbu does everything he can to feed his children. He helps others farm and change thatched roofs. He never hesitates to sweep other people’s gardens clean. Heungbu’s wife also does all sorts of odd jobs, such as pounding rice in a mortar, washing dishes at other people’s houses and gathering wild herbs. The couple struggles hard to stay afloat, but the situation gets worse and worse. Heungbu even decides to get whipped in place of someone else in return for money. But he can’t even do that because the state releases all the lawbreakers on a special occasion. 

In the South Korean edition, Heungbu and his wife lament their miserable situation, simply singing the blues. In the North Korean edition, Heungbu’s wife comforts her husband and urges him to work hard as a right-hearted man until bright days come. 

North Korea staged a performance of Korean traditional opera called changgeuk(창극) in August 1953, right after the end of the Korean War. Changgeuk in North Korea underwent many changes to incorporate ideological elements. In 1955, North Korea published changgeuk scripts written by author Park Tae-won, who had defected to North Korea. Park tried to recreate The Tale of Heungbu as a new type of changgeuk that shows socialist realism. In particular, the extremely difficult life of Heungbu’s family was described in detail. The work tried to reveal corruption and irregularities of the Joseon era by showing people exploited by those who have money and power, no matter how hard they work. 

Heungbu fails to borrow rice from the town office, although he belongs to the poorest. An official then suggests that Heungbu get lashes for a criminal and receives some money in return. This shows a depressing reality that wealthy people can avoid punishment even if they commit a crime, while poor people struggle to escape poverty even by getting whipped in place of others. 

Heungbu can’t find his way out of poverty, although he works really hard. But he has a great chance to turn his life around. 

In spring, a swallow builds a nest under the eaves of Heungbu’s house. One day, Heungbu sees a snake approaching the nest to eat baby birds. Surprised, he chases the snake away, but a baby swallow falls to the ground and breaks a leg. 

Heungbu and his wife look after the bird with great care. In autumn, the swallow safely flies south for the winter. Next spring, the swallow returns and drops a seed in Heungbu’s yard. He plants the seed. Before long, the plant yields huge gourds. Heungbu begins to cut them open. 

Miraculously, the gourds are filled with gold and jewels. Dr. Lee explains how the gourds are perceived in the North Korean version. 

In the North Korean edition, Heungbu’s wife wants to cook rice and make new clothes after finding treasures, household goods and fine fabrics in the gourds. But Heungbu persuades his wife not to become too greedy like his brother. While the South Korean edition shows Heungbu dancing joyfully after seeing treasures in the gourds, Heungbu in the North Korean edition is wary of unexpected luck, tries to control his greed and make plans to share the treasures with people around him. 

Heungbu who becomes rich is described differently in the South and North Korean editions. 

The rice, money and silk found in the gourds are what Heungbu wanted. Heungbu here represents North Korean people who dream of eating white rice and meat soup, living in a luxurious house and wearing nice clothes. But Heungbu is willing to share all of them with his neighbors. This symbolizes the socialist-style distribution of wealth. Unlike Nolbu who keeps the entire fortune to himself, Heungbu shows an ideal socialist society where the community shares everything and all the members lead a decent life together. 

Meanwhile, the rumor that Heungbu became rich reaches Nolbu. He is green with envy. He intentionally broke a swallow’s leg and fixes it. The following year, the swallow does come back with a gourd seed. Excited at the thought of becoming wealthy, Nolbu loses no time in splitting his gourds open. 

The gourds pour out all kinds of elements of destruction, like demons and goblins. As a result, Nolbu loses all his wealth. In the South Korean edition, Heungbu consoles his brother who becomes penniless, and Nolbu repents his past wrongdoings. The brothers reconcile and live together happily ever after. But the North Korean version has a different ending. 

The North Korean edition briefly tells that kindhearted Heungbu sends rice and money to Nolbu and builds a new house for his brother. But the scene of Nolbu changing his attitude is never mentioned. Heungbu continues to work hard, although he has enough money, finds pleasure in educating his children well and lives a happy life. That’s the ending. In the North Korean version, the two brothers do not live together in harmony. 

The North Korean version of The Tale of Heungbu is a satiric novel about Heungbu, a poor but diligent and honest farmer, and greedy and stingy Nolbu who belongs to the class of landowners against the background of the 18th century Joseon, when the gap between the rich and the poor was wide. While Heungbu represents working people, Nolbu symbolizes inhumane, immoral capitalists. They are not just brothers. They represent the exploited and the exploiter. Unlike the South Korean edition, in which the brothers reconciled eventually, the North Korean version focuses on class conflict—so bitter and hostile that it cannot be resolved through brotherly love. Heungbu shares what he obtained only with those who belong to his class, such as farmers and workers, and never reconciles with the landlord class.

Ideological elements are found in the North Korean version of The Tale of Heungbu, which seems a little different from the South Korean edition in some parts. But the two editions share the common didactic theme that good deeds are rewarded while evil deeds are punished. 

In the year 2023, we hope our listeners out there will all be blessed with wealth, just like Heungbu, and stay healthy.