@article{ART003314699},
author={park, heain},
title={A Study of Cheon Habek, a Lower-Class Female Hero in Namgarok(南柯錄) - Focusing on the Process of Establishing Her Status within the Patriarchal Order},
journal={The Research of the Korean Classic},
issn={1226-3850},
year={2026},
number={72},
pages={123-157}
TY - JOUR
AU - park, heain
TI - A Study of Cheon Habek, a Lower-Class Female Hero in Namgarok(南柯錄) - Focusing on the Process of Establishing Her Status within the Patriarchal Order
JO - The Research of the Korean Classic
PY - 2026
VL - null
IS - 72
PB - The Research Of The Korean Classic
SP - 123
EP - 157
SN - 1226-3850
AB - This article examines CheonHabeak in Namgarok, a Long Novel Written in Classical Chinese, in order to explore how a Lower-Class Female Hero secures and consolidates her position within a patriarchal society. As a Female Character who is simultaneously a Lower-Class Woman, CheonHabeak embodies the tension between social marginality and heroic agency.
In Namgarok, CheonHabeak first appears as one of three sisters living as bandits in the Oknyosan region, positioning her outside the patriarchal order. Although she demonstrates the qualities of a Female Hero, the narrative frames her and her sisters as women seeking marital ties with established male heroes. Consequently, their final reward culminates in their becoming secondary wives to elite male figures. In this context, concubinage functions as the only institutional position through which a Lower-Class Woman can be incorporated into the patriarchal system, while remaining an inherently unstable and socially vulnerable status.
In the latter half of the narrative, however, CheonHabeak transcends this limited position. After the death of her husband, Choi Seokhong, she succeeds him as Grand Commander and emerges as both savior and leader. Through these achievements, she receives apologies from royal and elite male figures, thereby attaining full recognition within the patriarchal order and inheriting her husband’s authority.
Thus, in Namgarok, CheonHabeak rises from a marginalized Lower- Class Woman to a recognized Female Hero. Her practice of female virtue (yeol) is not merely an act of submission but a strategic performance that enables her to appropriate upper-class authority and normative values. By mobilizing her heroic competence alongside the symbolic authority of male power, CheonHabeak consolidates her status within the existing system. Although she appears to be absorbed into the patriarchal family structure, she simultaneously exposes its ideological tensions, demonstrating the narrative possibility for a Lower-Class Female Hero to be acknowledged as a legitimate heroic subject.
KW - Namgarok;Long Novel Written in Classical Chinese;CheonHabeak;Lower-Class Female Hero;Lower-Class Woman;Female Hero;Female Character
DO -
UR -
ER -
park, heain. (2026). A Study of Cheon Habek, a Lower-Class Female Hero in Namgarok(南柯錄) - Focusing on the Process of Establishing Her Status within the Patriarchal Order. The Research of the Korean Classic, 72, 123-157.
park, heain. 2026, "A Study of Cheon Habek, a Lower-Class Female Hero in Namgarok(南柯錄) - Focusing on the Process of Establishing Her Status within the Patriarchal Order", The Research of the Korean Classic, no.72, pp.123-157.
park, heain "A Study of Cheon Habek, a Lower-Class Female Hero in Namgarok(南柯錄) - Focusing on the Process of Establishing Her Status within the Patriarchal Order" The Research of the Korean Classic 72 pp.123-157 (2026) : 123.
park, heain. A Study of Cheon Habek, a Lower-Class Female Hero in Namgarok(南柯錄) - Focusing on the Process of Establishing Her Status within the Patriarchal Order. 2026; 72 : 123-157.
park, heain. "A Study of Cheon Habek, a Lower-Class Female Hero in Namgarok(南柯錄) - Focusing on the Process of Establishing Her Status within the Patriarchal Order" The Research of the Korean Classic no.72(2026) : 123-157.
park, heain. A Study of Cheon Habek, a Lower-Class Female Hero in Namgarok(南柯錄) - Focusing on the Process of Establishing Her Status within the Patriarchal Order. The Research of the Korean Classic, 72, 123-157.
park, heain. A Study of Cheon Habek, a Lower-Class Female Hero in Namgarok(南柯錄) - Focusing on the Process of Establishing Her Status within the Patriarchal Order. The Research of the Korean Classic. 2026; 72 123-157.
park, heain. A Study of Cheon Habek, a Lower-Class Female Hero in Namgarok(南柯錄) - Focusing on the Process of Establishing Her Status within the Patriarchal Order. 2026; 72 : 123-157.
park, heain. "A Study of Cheon Habek, a Lower-Class Female Hero in Namgarok(南柯錄) - Focusing on the Process of Establishing Her Status within the Patriarchal Order" The Research of the Korean Classic no.72(2026) : 123-157.
