Evergreen

Sim Hun, 1935 · Original title: 상록수

In the 1930s, two students who spent their summer teaching in the countryside meet at a gathering held by a newspaper: Park Dong-hyeok, a strong, earnest agriculture student, and Chae Yeong-sin, a slight but fearless theology student. Both believe that Korea's future depends on its farming villages, and both decide to put their studies aside and go live there. Their shared dream and growing love are tested by poverty, suspicious officials and powerful landlords.

Rural enlightenment and the dignity of farm laborDevotion to the communityLove that shares a common purposePerseverance that stays green through hardship

Read the original text ↗

Public domain: the author died in 1936 and the work was published in 1935, so its copyright has ended in Korea, the US and the EU. Everything written here is our own; no translation is copied.

How far have you read?

Characters only talk about what happens up to here, and the parts below open as you go.

Characters

Ask them about their choices. They remember only what you have read so far.

박동혁 Park Dong-hyeok A strong, earnest agriculture student who believes change begins by working the land beside farmers. Main character Appears in part 1
채영신 Chae Yeong-sin A slight but fearless theology student who wants to teach the children of a poor village. Main character Appears in part 1
백현경 Baek Hyeon-gyeong A well-known woman activist in Seoul whom Yeong-sin looks up to as a mentor. Appears in part 1
강기천 Kang Gi-cheon First appears in part 2. Read up to part 1 to meet them without spoilers.
박동화 Park Dong-hwa First appears in part 2. Read up to part 1 to meet them without spoilers.