Legend of Chun Hyang
| Legend of Chun Hyang | |
The bunko version of the manga featuring Mong Ryong (left) and Chun Hyang (right)
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新・春香伝 (Shin Shunka-den) |
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| Genre | Adventure, Fantasy, Historical |
| Manga | |
| Written by | Clamp |
| Published by | Hakusensha |
| English publisher | |
| Demographic | Josei |
| Magazine | Serie Mystery Special |
| Original run | October 20, 1992 – February 20, 1994 |
| Volumes | 1 |
Legend of Chun Hyang (Japanese: 新・春香伝 Hepburn: Shin Shunka-den) is a manga by Clamp. Its story and characters are loosely based on a well known Korean folktale of the same name
Shin Shunkaden was first published in 1996 by Hakusensha in Japan.
Tokyopop licensed the manga in English as The Legend of Chun Hyang but the project was dropped after a few chapters.
The story follows Chun Hyang (춘향), the spirited, beautiful, yet headstrong daughter of a mudang in a Korean village. Her name means "spring fragrance" (the shun-ka in the original Japanese title; Chinese: Chūn-Xiāng). A master of martial arts, Chun Hyang rises to the occasion when the Yangban, a tyrannical warlord, takes control of her village. He tried to kidnap one of her friends despite Chun Hyang's bold nature and formidable abilities, but there is little hope of freeing her village unless the amhaeng'eosa, a secret Korean government agent, arrives and catches the Ryanban in the act of abusing his powers.
When Mong Ryong, a somewhat lecherous but enchantingly handsome traveler appears, and apparently has fallen heads over heels with Chun Hyang, she reluctantly accepts his help to rescue her mother, who has been captured by the Ryanban.
Unfortunately, they are too late; Chun Hyang's mother has already killed herself to preserve her honor. Mong Ryong reveals himself the amhaeng'eosa and passes judgment on the Ryanban, though remains rueful that he could not do so before Wall Mae's death. Devastated, Chun Hyang does not know what else to do with her life, but Mong Ryong asks her to continue traveling with him. She agrees and they continue on, meeting many more people.
Clamp—a creative team consisting of Satsuki Igarashi, Ageha Ohkawa, Tsubaki Nekoi and Mokona—wrote and illustrated the Legend of Chun Hyang, after receiving a request for a mystery series that did not necessarily have to be a detective story. Ohkawa had been familiar with the original Korean folktale since kindergarten. The group had obtained some Korean books while in Osaka, and after reading the folktale, Ohkawa wanted to create a manga based on it. As the original heroine of the folktale represented an ideal, "faithful wife" and did not really appeal to Ohkawa, the group thought that it would not translate well into a manga; they gave their Chun Hyang a different personality, with her mother's being more faithful to the original. The group felt that the second chapter was more accurate than the first, after they had worn traditional Korean clothing and obtained reference material.
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