This paper takes notice of knowledge as a motivator of novels in the 19th century. Thus, in this paper, various aspects of knowledge in novels have been investigated at first. Then, Samhanseupyu[三韓拾遺] is mainly referenced to show facets of the novel as a field of knowledge formation and thinking.
In the 19th century, knowledge has been accepted in many novels, not only novels written in Chinese characters such as Samhanseupyu, Oksunmong[玉仙夢], but also in long term novels written in Korean character such as Myunhangjeongyilok[明行正義錄] and fable novels such as Dukkupjeon[두껍전]. This phenomenon is related to the trend of the era, which can be explained as "distribution and arrangement of knowledge". This research do not simply focus on the amount of knowledge accepted in the novel, but aims to prove that novel itself became the field that both accepts existing knowledge and forms a new knowledge, and accordingly, it activates the implosion of the medieval ideology.
The main text, Samhanseupyu, adopts a traditional format, Yŏlnyo biography[烈女傳], however, it creates a brand new plot which ends up with the remarriage of Yŏlnyo[烈女]. The factor that makes the new kind of plot persuasive is the logic, based on knowledge. In this point, knowledge in Samhanseupyu can be evaluated as a motivator to the creation of a new plot. In other words, Samhanseupyu shows an example of implosion of the medieval ideology through medieval knowledge. As the novel encounters with knowledge, this kind of implosion was possible, so Samhanseupyu is an important literary achievement in the 19th century. Furthermore, Samhanseupyu is also important in a sense that this phenomenon contributes to the rise of modern novel.