The Memoirs of Lady Hyegyong: The Autobiographical Writings of a Crown Princess of Eighteenth Century Korea

Rating:
Summary: The Korean Hamlet
Review: "The Memoirs of Lady Hyegyong" is actually four different works written by one woman, a circumspect, scrupulous, unfortunate 18th Century Korean aristocrat. The memoirs are, successively, a family injunction, a memorial, a biography, and a historiography. At the center of the collection sits Hong Hyegyong and her husband, Crown Prince Sado. "The Memoirs" span the reigns of Yongjo, Chongjo, and Sunjo, and the careers of Lady Hyegyong's father, Hong Ponghan, and her older brothers.

Lady Hong Hyegyong was the wife of Crown Prince Sado, who in 1762, was ordered by his father, King Yongjo, to step into a rice chest, which was susequently bound and covered in sod. Crown Prince Sado had been punished by his father for a series of heinous murders caused by Sado's mental illness. Lady Hyegyong and her family, including her son, the future King Chongjo, then became the focal point of factional quarrels at court, each side using the execution of the Crown Prince, to its own political advantage.

Lady Hyegyong, in the first three memoirs, strives to defend her father and brothers against chages of treason and complicity in Sado's execution. The last memoir is a defense of her husband. All four are addressed to her grandson, King Sunjo, to restore the honor of her family.

Although Lady Hyegyong nor Haboush could ascertain the specific cause of Crown Prince Sado's illness, and Lady Hyegyong's anecdotal evidence is hardly scientific, I would like to offer ''hwabyong'', or, in Korean, ''fire disease'' or ''anger disease''. ''Hwabyong'', as offered by Alford in "Think No Evil: Korean Values In The Age Of Globalization" (see review), is ''...a unique Korean folk syndrome...'' characterized by ''...anxiety, panic,...and the suppression of anger...'' (p. 77). Korean fire disease's ''...symptoms reflect[s] the constraints of the culture: not just on the expression of of emotion, but the lack of opportunity...to change...''(p. 79). Only Crown Prince Sado,and the evidence offered in "The Memoir of 1805", can affirm this conjecture.

The last work, "The Memoir of 1805", is a brilliant psychological portrait of Crown Prince Sado. It is a revealing exercise in historical writing, and also reveals the mind of an extraordinary woman trying to understand some of the most harrowing personal tragedies any spouse or daughter might face.

"The Memoirs" can be compared to Lady Murasaki Shikibu's "The Tale of Genji", "Hamlet", and the lives of the Roman Emperors. One major failing of Haboush's''Introduction'' is, that she does not place the incidents in a broader historical and international context. But she does manage to argue against abridging and collecting each work into a longer historical novel. A broader focus would further aid in understanding Lady Hyegyong's dedication in defense of her brothers and father.

This is not only a valuable history, but it is also another demonstration of the narrative powers of Asian women authors operating in a patriarchical, almost misogynistic, culture.

Rating:
Summary: A Tragic Saga of Shakespearean Proportion!
Review: Chosen to become the crown princess of Choson Dynasty in the 18th century Korea, Lady Hyegyong's life would change from a quite, cloistered life of an aristocrat to that filled with tragedy. Indeed, only the most tragic of Shakespear's tragedies could possibly match the sad story of Prince Sado. Lady Hyegyong watched with anguish as her husband progressively fell deeper into his own twisted world. King Yongjo--a monarch obsessed in cultivating himself as the most Confucian ruler of his day--frustrated and angry over his son's increasingly bizaare behavior orders his son death by confining Prince Sado to a rice chest.

Jahyun Haboush has done a commendable job of introducing this compelling story to wider readers. As a fine scholar of premodern Korean history, Haboush leads the reader through not only Lady Hyegyong's heartwrenching memoir but provides the historical context in which the tragedy take place. Indeed, this book is an important scholarly and literary work that will undoubtely raise interest in Korean history.

Rating:
Summary: an interesting view of Court life in ancient Korea
Review: Lady Hyegyong was the crown princess of the Korean court in the 18th century. That is until her husband, crown prince Sado was killed at his father's orders.

This book is an excellent translation by the author of Lady Hyegyong's memoirs. They are a unique historical document. They are also the first true autobiographical writings by a woman to come out of Korea.

The translator has used the earliest versions of these memoirs available to base his translation (oddly enough these are found in the USA, not Korea - the koreans must be annoyed over this!)

The memoirs were acutally written in 4 parts and the translator has preserved this breakage. In many ways the first part (written in 1795) and the last part (written in 1805) are the most interesting sections of this book. The first memoir movingly depicts the author being chosen as wife to the crown prince and her distress at her success. The middle memoris of 1801 & 1802 cover much of what is in the 1795 section. These mostly elaborate on themes in the earlier one, and are principly a justification/explantion of her families 'bad luck' over the years and why it is her fault. It also brings home the old saying that "power corrupts - absoult power corrupts absolutly".

The last part, written in 1805 descibes the events leading up to her husbands death. It is written with great character insight and is of great historical value. The writer was obviously a lady of intelligence.

This book only gets 3 stars, because while it is interesting, the middle section of the book is quite slow to get through because it is so repetitive. Parts 1 & 4 offer the real vale here. I'm suprised no-one has written a novel of this ladies life with this great source material.