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The Shifting Role of the Family in Korean Classical Novels Set During Dynastic Transitions - Focusing on Hwaseon Seongyerok

  • The Research of the Korean Classic
  • 2025, (69), pp.61~96
  • Publisher : The Research Of The Korean Classic
  • Research Area : Humanities > Korean Language and Literature > Korean Literature > Korean classic prose
  • Received : April 14, 2025
  • Accepted : May 19, 2025
  • Published : May 31, 2025

KIM KANG EUN 1

1성균관대학교

Accredited

ABSTRACT

This study examines the narrative function and significance of the family that assumes a central role in place of state authority in the Korean classical novel Hwaseon Seongyerok, set during a dynastic transition. While most Korean long novels focus on the prosperity of noble families and the personal success of protagonists, using national crises merely as a background device, Hwaseon Seongyerok uniquely foregrounds the dynastic change as a major narrative axis and depicts in detail the process by which a single family substitutes for the functions of a failing state. The Wi family not only contributes to the legitimacy of the new dynasty through its close relationship with the founder Jo Gwang-yun, but also integrates displaced royal descendants and refugees, reconstituting fragmented communities and restoring social order. In this respect, the Wi family functions not merely as a loyal subject or collaborator, but emerges as an ethical and political agent that temporarily replaces the state during its absence. However, the family’s active intervention is not simply a source of honor. Once the new dynasty stabilizes, the very acts that supported its founding are reinterpreted as signs of treason, placing the Wi family’s survival in jeopardy. That a founding family and key contributor to dynastic legitimacy can so swiftly become a target for political elimination reveals the ambivalence embedded in the narrative toward state power. The protagonist Wi Hyeon’s decision to retreat from politics and return to seclusion in Mount Hwasan is thus not a mere withdrawal, but a strategic act of preservation. This motif echoes the earlier narrative of Cheonsuseok, the preceding work, where the Wi family, despite its proximity to the throne, is similarly exiled after falling victim to palace intrigue. Both novels suggest that intimate involvement with public power carries inherent risk and that maintaining a measured distance from the state may be the only viable path to survival. Such narratives signal an attempt by Korean long novels to critically reimagine the relationship between state and family. Hwaseon Seongyerok explores the political potential of the family as a substitute for the state while at the same time rendering the tensions and vulnerabilities that arise from such substitution. In doing so, the family is portrayed as a self-governing and adaptive entity that must continually assess its position and make decisions for its own preservation. Given the prevalence of narratives involving the decline and recovery of noble families in 19th-century Korean fiction, Hwaseon Seongyerok reflects a historical consciousness in which public authority is no longer seen as an unquestionably reliable force. Ultimately, this novel is not merely a story of familial glory, but a meaningful narrative experiment that probes how the institution of the family is redefined and restructured within the volatile dynamics of state power.

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