“Tangeum,” the punishment of having to swallow gold until death!

A masterful novel with poignancy and cruelty embroidered on every page

Shim Yeol-guk is a Joseon tycoon known as the “Money King” for trading expensive art. One day, his only son, eight-year-old Hong-rang, goes missing. Yeol-guk and his wife, Mrs. Min, spend countless fortunes and send out people to find their son and even offer a reward for finding his body, only to be left clueless. Their nine-year-old daughter Jae-yi is locked up in an outbuilding for stealing Hong-rang’s protective talisman, and Mu-jin, an eleven-year-old boy from a yangban family is adopted as their new son. The two children become brother and sister overnight due to a family disaster and grow up while relying solely on each other in the cut-throat merchants’ guild. A decade later, Dok-gae, a slave hunter, tracks down Hong Lang and brings him home. The guild holds a grand feast, but only Jae-yi and Mu-jin are convinced that Hong-rang is a fraud and hurls scornful words in his face. However, as time passes, Jae-yi gets confused by Hong-rang’s sincerity and eventually recognizes him as her birth brother, all the while also finding herself falling for his charms. Her excitement over her brother’s return is only short-lived, and Jae-yi grieves over her love that shall not come true. Meanwhile, Mu-jin is desperate to figure out Hong-rang’s scheme as the newcomer has stolen his place and Jae-yi’s heart. What is Hong-rang’s true identity? The story continues to walk on a tricky tightrope between what the characters want and don’t want to believe, and once it reaches the biggest plot twist where ugly taboos and contradictions of the times are revealed, the whole situation is immediately overturned. Who is the one who swallowed the gold?

The fun of period drama lies in the various constraints and limitations present in the times, leading to greater conflicts and misunderstandings. Tangeum also bases its story on the main themes of Hong-rang’s disappearance and return and the beliefs and suspicions surrounding him, while introducing unique and intriguing characters only possible in the Joseon era—a son-in-law moving into his wife’s family, a surrogate woman, an adopted son to carry on the family name, a shaman, a slave hunter, a warrior, and a leathersmith—to unfurl the complicated events of the past. The author borrows the 24 solar terms to create a tightly woven narrative structure using such complex events and emotions, creating a work unlike anything readers have ever seen. What is most surprising is that this highly polished historical drama is the author’s first book.

The author, Jang Da-hye, studied hotel-related majors in France and the U.K. and worked as a hotelier in both countries. She loved reading from a young age, and after working as a lyricist in her early twenties (Lee So-eun’s “I Love You,” Park Hye-kyoung’s “A Lover’s Concerto,” and Lee Soo-young’s “Tears”) and an essayist in her thirties, she wrote her first novel Tangeum in her forties. Jang said she never pushed herself and wrote only when she felt like it; she revisited her work several months later with an objective perspective, refining the emotional development of the main characters and revising her writing. After several revisions over five years, Tangeum, the historical suspense romance that will bring a fresh shock to the Korean literary scene is finally complete and out in the world.

A deadly love song from a first-time writer to Korean readers!

A suspense romance in the Joseon era that sheds light on the other side of history

Inspired by real events that took place in France in the early 1980s, Tangeum offers a unique fun of a period drama. It also showcases old-style dialogues unique to historical works and solid plot development. The beautiful traditional Korean words and exquisite sentences in heart-warming dialects will make readers reflect on and refresh their impression of Korean writing, engrossing them more as they read on.

Tangeum doesn’t feature a king ushering in a new era, a great commander on the battlefield, or court ladies manipulating the country’s fate; there are only crumbs of the times who must fight against despair fueled by the very despair. The author delicately recounts the downfall and revenge of humans swept away by the hardship in life against the creative backdrop of an art-trading merchants’ guild, recreating the vanishing folk religion to reveal a hidden aspect of Joseon.

In between, I tried to capture the things that no longer exist. I have done my best not to neglect the tender romance of endless waits, broken promises, and undelivered letters, as well as the forbidden tension in gazes exchanged under strict rules and the flesh revealed beneath the tightly wrapped clothes. The part that I put the most effort into was constantly monitoring and revising Hong-rang, who leads the mystery, to make sure he doesn’t become a one-dimensional character who dreams of a clichéd revenge. […] That’s how Hong-rang, a mysterious figure with many names, was born. As this is a historical piece, Jae-yi was the most challenging to create as she was a woman, but Mu-jin was the one I had a soft spot for. – From the Author’s Note

Characters brought to life with aesthetic language and several layers of emotion

Human desires and secrets hidden between the 24 solar terms

Interspersed with the joy of period drama, this novel demonstrates the care and thought that went into every choice of names. Starting from Jipmujae (執務齋) where Shim Yeol-guk works, Jae-yi’s residence is called Yoamjae (?陰齋), meaning a corner of the shade, while Hong-rang’s is Gwangmyeongjae (光明齋), facing the bright east like a palace, and Mu-jin’s is Mumyeongjae (無名齋), which literally means “no name.” The characters’ names also have profound meanings behind them. Jae-yi’s name has a worthless meaning when Hong-rang’s means “bright rainbow,” suggesting their difference in birth even though they are siblings. As for Mu-jin, the adoptive son, his name consists of characters that mean “none (無)” and “exhaust (盡),” foreshadowing his rough future ahead.

Jae-yi’s grass-stained skirt was so tattered that her underwear could be seen through in the sunset. Her rough cheeks were flushed as if she survived the whole winter without any warmth of firewood, and her disheveled hair, covered in plant thorns, reeked of grassy smell. Her red daenggi ribbon, dangling from her firm head, was rather the color of red bean porridge. All the silver foils had peeled away and left only blotchy marks, making the ribbon look older than its owner. Even though the brother and sister were clearly blood kins, their skin color was the decisive reason for the misunderstanding. The sister, who dances around and sticks her nose in all over the place, was as tanned as a grain of barley, while her brother, who sat in his room poring over books, was as pale as a grain of freshly threshed rice. The contrast didn’t result from a mere difference in personalities; it was from the difference between the life of a girl who no one cared about even when she wandered around all day without anyone caring, and that of a precious child who was overprotected, with every touch and breath that lands on him was with extreme care. Even though Jae-yi was born a year earlier, a girl with an insignificant name of waning (Jae, ?) and leaving (Yi, 離) had no chance against a golden child named rainbow (Hong, 虹) and bright (Rang, 朗). (p. 13-14)

Hong-rang and Jae-yi, the male and female protagonists, respectively, and Mu-Jin, who has withered away as only a peripheral role; the owners of the merchants’ guild, Shim Yeol-guk and Mrs. Min, Shim’s subordinate Bang Ji-ryeon, and Mrs. Min’s henchman Yuk-son; Bu-yeong, Mu-jin’s attendant, and In-hoe, a mute who is Hong-rang’s sworn brother; Gui Gok-ja who manipulates Mrs. Min, blinded by her own greed, and the Songwol trader; and Eul-bun’s mother and Eul-bun who helps Jae-yi at the closest distance—not a single character is left out in this intricately intertwined story. The plot is elaborate and solid, and the story is rich and colorful to the point where every character holds the key to a plot twist. Especially toward the end, completely unexpected events get revealed, stunning the readers. These twists and turns are just one of the many delights this novel offers. Each character’s description gives a glimpse into their personality and enlivens the narrative, which unfolds with a dizzying tension.

With disdain in her eyes, Mrs. Min looked at her stepdaughter, who looked like a drowned mouse. Her blood burned with anger when she thought of the surrogate, Ms. Ha. Her husband was devastated for three years because of that wretched woman dropping down dead. She was an unsightly wench with a narrow forehead and ill-defined features, who all Mrs. Min knew about was only her name. Mrs. Min would have rather sent the filthy daughter to the netherworld as well, but Gui Gok-ja convinced her that harming the girl would bring bad luck, which gave her no choice but to wait for Jae-yi to snap on her own and wither away. (p. 110)

That night, Hong-rang, who had been lighting up the campfire, finally jumped into the river and waded against the cold current until the day broke. He held back the rage that had been boiling inside him like it had in the past. He couldn’t dare covet her as much as he pleased. The fragile, delicate petals were lethally poisonous; they were only disguising to be plaintive, like the falling flowers that swirled and fluttered. Hong-rang frowned at the deadly scent. This is it; this is where it ends, he thought. If he didn’t get back to his senses, he would truly be in trouble. After granting his last breath, he pulled the woman away so that he wouldn’t get pierced by the poisonous thorns. (p. 314)

A shocking twist where poignant narrative meets bloody cruelty

A snow-white love story that resembles a camellia in a snowy springtime

“I’ll bring lots of your favorite red camellia, Sister. I’ll also pick some hazelnuts.”

The younger brother, who disappeared after the night he promised his nine-year-old sister that he would bring camellias for her, returns ten years later as a brutal swordsman with no memory of his childhood. Despite denying dozens of times that he is not her real brother, Jae-yi cannot help but feel drawn to Hong-rang, and her longing for him as a sister as well as a woman forces her to acknowledge his place in her heart, torn between friendship and love. Mu-jin, who also couldn’t open himself up to anyone, suffers from being unable to sever his love for Jae-yi, his adoptive sister. Along with the sorrowful yet heart-throbbing emotional development, a miserable and cruel narrative about the corruption in the merchants’ guild unfolds. Irreparable wrongs lead to greater sins and evil, and those who bear the karma meet a cruel and painful fate. Tangeum visually stuns with beautiful poignancy and brutality coexisting.

The novel captivates the readers with suspense, making them clench their fists from tension. As a popular fiction, it naturally emphasizes the entertainment value of the plot, but it also delivers the profound subject matters that lie within. The injustice of the social hierarchies, the tyranny of corrupt officials, and the bloody swordfight scenes overlap with the heart-breaking story of a love that cannot be fulfilled, elevating the book. The shocking plot twist from intertwined characters and the fast-paced plot will keep the readers on the edge of their seats. By the end of the novel, they will understand why the book is titled “Tangeum” (which means “to swallow gold”; a brutal ancient Chinese punishment). The novel will leave the readers with the characters’ sad and mournful fate and wistful emotions that are hard to shake off.

To become a TV Series, Hong Rang!

Original story by Jang Da-hye, screenplay by Kim Jin A, directed by Kim Hong-seon

After its publication in Korea, Jang Da-hye’s original novel Tangeum, published by Book Recipe, attracted the attention of more than 20 big and small production companies and received several offers. After fierce competition, ACEMAKER, one of Korea’s five content investment distributors, was determined to be the producer of the upcoming television series.

The script for the 16-episode series was written by Kim Jin A, who also penned the script for the thriller series Dr. Brain, the first Korean content to air on Apple TV starring Lee Sun-kyun. Director Kim Hong-seon will direct the production, whose credits include the film The Age of Blood and the TV series Voice, The Guest, L.U.C.A.: The Beginning, Money Heist: Korea – Joint Economic Are Part 1, and Decoy, which is currently airing on Coupang Play. With four episodes already scripted, Hong Rang the drama is currently in development for a mid-2024 premiere.

Support from bookrecipe.