@article{ART003314683},
author={KO EUNIM},
title={Variations of the Heaven-Ordained Union(天定緣) in Classical Korean Fiction : Focusing on Ssangcheongibong and Myeonghaengjeonguirok},
journal={The Research of the Korean Classic},
issn={1226-3850},
year={2026},
number={72},
pages={5-30}
TY - JOUR
AU - KO EUNIM
TI - Variations of the Heaven-Ordained Union(天定緣) in Classical Korean Fiction : Focusing on Ssangcheongibong and Myeonghaengjeonguirok
JO - The Research of the Korean Classic
PY - 2026
VL - null
IS - 72
PB - The Research Of The Korean Classic
SP - 5
EP - 30
SN - 1226-3850
AB - This article analyzes variations of the heaven-ordained union(天定緣), a recurrent narrative motif in classical Korean fiction traditionally associated with marital destiny and harmonious resolution, focusing on Ssangcheongibong and Myeonghaengjeonguirok. In earlier scholarship, the heaven-ordained union has been understood primarily as a narrative device that legitimizes romantic relationships by transcending parental opposition and social or status-based constraints, thereby ensuring the successful culmination of marriage. However, these two late Joseon- period works present distinct departures from this conventional function. In Ssangcheongibong(18th century), the heaven-ordained union compels the female character Sowolhye to enter and sustain an unwanted marriage, producing a prolonged experience of conjugal suffering rather than emotional fulfillment. The motif thus operates as a narrative mechanism that restricts female agency and frames marital hardship within a fatalistic logic. By contrast, Myeonghaengjeonguirok (19th century) depicts the female character Soyeoju’s deliberate fabrication and appropriation of a heaven-ordained union in order to achieve self- arranged marriage(自媒), a practice normatively prohibited for upper- class women. In this case, the heaven-ordained union functions not as an unquestioned expression of transcendent will but as a manipulable discourse mobilized to authorize individual desire. Through comparative analysis of these two works, this article demonstrates that the heaven-ordained union is not a fixed ideological construct but a flexible narrative element subject to transformation. The observed variations highlight how classical Korean fiction generates new meanings through the repetition and modification of familiar motifs, while also engaging with contemporary marital norms and gendered social constraints.
KW - classical Korean fiction;heaven-ordained union;variation;parody;female characters;marriage narrative;suffering;appropriation
DO -
UR -
ER -
KO EUNIM. (2026). Variations of the Heaven-Ordained Union(天定緣) in Classical Korean Fiction : Focusing on Ssangcheongibong and Myeonghaengjeonguirok. The Research of the Korean Classic, 72, 5-30.
KO EUNIM. 2026, "Variations of the Heaven-Ordained Union(天定緣) in Classical Korean Fiction : Focusing on Ssangcheongibong and Myeonghaengjeonguirok", The Research of the Korean Classic, no.72, pp.5-30.
KO EUNIM "Variations of the Heaven-Ordained Union(天定緣) in Classical Korean Fiction : Focusing on Ssangcheongibong and Myeonghaengjeonguirok" The Research of the Korean Classic 72 pp.5-30 (2026) : 5.
KO EUNIM. Variations of the Heaven-Ordained Union(天定緣) in Classical Korean Fiction : Focusing on Ssangcheongibong and Myeonghaengjeonguirok. 2026; 72 : 5-30.
KO EUNIM. "Variations of the Heaven-Ordained Union(天定緣) in Classical Korean Fiction : Focusing on Ssangcheongibong and Myeonghaengjeonguirok" The Research of the Korean Classic no.72(2026) : 5-30.
KO EUNIM. Variations of the Heaven-Ordained Union(天定緣) in Classical Korean Fiction : Focusing on Ssangcheongibong and Myeonghaengjeonguirok. The Research of the Korean Classic, 72, 5-30.
KO EUNIM. Variations of the Heaven-Ordained Union(天定緣) in Classical Korean Fiction : Focusing on Ssangcheongibong and Myeonghaengjeonguirok. The Research of the Korean Classic. 2026; 72 5-30.
KO EUNIM. Variations of the Heaven-Ordained Union(天定緣) in Classical Korean Fiction : Focusing on Ssangcheongibong and Myeonghaengjeonguirok. 2026; 72 : 5-30.
KO EUNIM. "Variations of the Heaven-Ordained Union(天定緣) in Classical Korean Fiction : Focusing on Ssangcheongibong and Myeonghaengjeonguirok" The Research of the Korean Classic no.72(2026) : 5-30.
