Greenroom

A Tale of Rice Paddies

Chae Man-sik, 1946 · Original title: 논 이야기

Old Han, a poor tenant farmer nearing seventy, did not bother to cheer when Korea was liberated in 1945. But when he hears that the Japanese must leave behind all their land and go home with a single bundle, he is suddenly overjoyed: the paddy he once sold to a Japanese landowner, he is sure, will now come back to him. Why did he sell it, and why has he never trusted any kind of 'nation'?

What a 'nation' means to a poor farmerPeasants exploited under every regime, old and newSatire of the confused land question after liberationLand as a farmer's life and livelihood

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Public domain: the author died in 1950 and the work was published in 1946, so its copyright has ended in Korea, the US and the EU. Everything written here is our own; no translation is copied.

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Characters

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  • 한생원 Old Han (Han Deok-mun) An old tenant farmer who shrugged at independence but is sure his old paddy is coming back to him. Main character Appears in part 1
  • 송생원 Old Song Han's old neighbour, who listens to his boasting with a dry, unimpressed shrug. Appears in part 1
  • 영남이 Yeongnam First appears in part 3. Read up to part 2 to meet them without spoilers.
  • 구장 The Village Head First appears in part 3. Read up to part 2 to meet them without spoilers.

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