The short answer
The composition of Guunmong (九雲夢) narrows to 1687, the period of his exile in Seoncheon. The Encyclopedia of Korean Culture notes that the appearance of the Seopo yeonbo (西浦年譜), a copy held at Tenri University in Japan, settled the date on the Seoncheon exile period. The same encyclopedia holds that the work was probably completed during his exile on Namhae. This article covers the dating controversy, the question of whether the Chinese or the Korean text came first, and the opening scene of chapter 1. It is the first of three parts.
The order of the editions also leans one way. Kim Tae-jun (金台俊) concluded that Kim Man-jung (金萬重) had written the work in Korean and that Kim Chun-taek later translated it into Chinese. Jeong Gyu-bok (丁奎福) questioned this theory of a Korean original. He found the Chinese "Nojon text," which is the parent text of the Chinese "Eulsa text" and the oldest extant version. The Encyclopedia of Korean Culture reports that Jeong proved the Korean "Seoul National University text" and the Korean "Nojon text" to be translations of the Chinese Nojon text.
The opening of chapter 1 can be read as a preview of the whole story in the single scene of Seongjin's (性真) fall. The setting is Lotus Peak on Mount Heng (衡山) in China. On his way back from an errand for his master, Seongjin flirts with the eight fairies. The Great Master Yukgwan (六觀大師) orders that he be sent to the King of the Dead in Pungdo (酆都). Seongjin is assigned to be reborn in the house of Yang Cheosa in Suju, Huainan Circuit, in Tang China.
Kim Man-jung's life and the Seopo manpil
Kim Man-jung was a late Joseon official and novelist. The Encyclopedia of Korean Culture gives his birth in 1637 (the fifteenth year of Injo) and his death in 1692 (the eighteenth year of Sukjong). The same encyclopedia notes that he became Grand Academician in 1686 (the twelfth year of Sukjong), and that his poems come to 363. Sassi namjeonggi and Guunmong are both attributed to him.
The Seopo manpil (西浦漫筆) is a collection of his writings. The Encyclopedia of Korean Culture describes it as a manuscript in two volumes bound as a single book, with 104 entries in the first volume and 161 in the second. The same entry notes that the author's favourable view of Buddhism surfaces repeatedly in the book, and that it was never printed and so circulated in manuscript. Among the variants are the mimeographed Mullimsa copy and the Korea University Library copy, along with hand-copied versions held by Jo Yun-je, Yi Ga-won and Im Chang-sun and one in the National Library of Korea. Tongmun'gwan issued a facsimile bound together with the Seopojip in 1971; Hong In-pyo published an annotated translation with Iljisa in 1987, and Sim Gyeong-ho one with Munhakdongne in 2010.
The book also records his thinking about language. The Encyclopedia of Korean Culture reports that he compared abandoning one's own language to write poetry and prose in a foreign tongue to a parrot speaking human words. The same encyclopedia notes that he regarded Chinese as "the language of another country" (他國之言) and set the Hangul verse of Jeong Cheol (鄭澈), such as "Samiingok," beside Qu Yuan's (屈原) "Li Sao." The entry on the Seopo manpil sums up his argument that Koreans should write in the Korean language. That argument and the question of which language the text of Guunmong was first written in, however, belong to different levels.
Reference works put the date of the novel slightly differently. The Encyclopedia of Korean Culture introduces Guunmong as a classical novel written by Kim Man-jung in the reign of King Sukjong and gives 1687 as the year of composition. The Sekai Dai-hyakka Jiten on Japan's Kotobank says he was exiled to Namhae in 1690 (the sixteenth year of Sukjong) over the investiture of a crown prince, and that he wrote the work during that period to console his aged mother back home. Encyclopedia Nipponica, on the same site, classifies Guunmong as a Hangul novel of the mid-Yi dynasty in the late seventeenth century and names Kim Man-jung as the author. The date and the language of composition thus vary from one reference work to the next.
The "Soseol byeonjeungseol" in the Oju yeonmun jangjeon sango, and the Seopo yeonbo
The best-known account of how the novel came to be written is a later tradition. It appears in the "Soseol byeonjeungseol" (小說辨證說) of Yi Gyu-gyeong's (李圭景) Oju yeonmun jangjeon sango (五洲衍文長箋散稿). The Encyclopedia of Korean Culture renders the passage in its entry on Guunmong as follows: "Kim Man-jung is said to have written this work in a single night, at his place of exile, to relieve his mother's idle hours and her worries." The tradition speaks to the motive and the speed of the writing but names no particular place of exile. On its own, then, it cannot fix the date.
There were two candidate years. The Encyclopedia of Korean Culture's entry on Guunmong put it this way: "It is not certain whether it was 1687 (the thirteenth year of Sukjong), when he was exiled to Seoncheon for opposing the investiture of Yi Yun (李昀), the son of Royal Consort Jang (張嬉嬪), as crown prince, or 1689 (the fifteenth year of Sukjong), when he was exiled to Namhae because of the Gisa purge, in which Royal Consort Jang was made queen in place of Queen Inhyeon (仁顯王后)." The two candidates differ in both the place of exile and the political event behind it. The author's chronology contains both moments. The question therefore has to be weighed by setting the tradition and the chronology side by side.
Kim Man-jung's chronology runs as follows. In 1687 (the thirteenth year of Sukjong) he was implicated in an affair over remarks about the family of Royal Consort Jang (張淑儀), interrogated by the State Tribunal and imprisoned, then exiled to Seoncheon. The two encyclopedia entries thus give different reasons for the exile. In November 1688 (the fourteenth year of Sukjong) he was released from his place of banishment. In February 1689 (the fifteenth year of Sukjong) he was impeached by Executive Inspector Park Jin-gyu (朴鎭圭) and Inspector Yi Yun-su (李允修), among others, and confined behind a thorn hedge on Namhae (南海). In 1692 (the eighteenth year of Sukjong) he died at his place of banishment on Namhae at the age of fifty-six.
New material settled the argument. The Encyclopedia of Korean Culture notes that the appearance of the Seopo yeonbo held at Tenri University in Japan fixed the composition in the Seoncheon exile period, and it takes the work to have probably been completed during the Namhae exile period. The Seopo manpil, judging from the phrase "while I was at the western frontier" (余在西塞時) in its text, is also thought to have been written late in his life, after the 1687 exile to Seoncheon. Korean Wikisource's note on the Korean-language Guunmong, meanwhile, dates the work to 1689 and says Kim Man-jung is held to have written it during his exile on Namhae to relieve the idle hours and worries of his mother, Lady Yun. Setting sources that give different dates side by side, one may say, brings out why the tradition and the chronology have to be read separately.
Kim Tae-jun's theory of a Korean original and Jeong Gyu-bok's Nojon text
The argument over the language of the original unfolded in two stages. Kim Tae-jun treated Guunmong exactly as he treated Sassi namjeonggi. He concluded that Kim Man-jung wrote it in Korean and that Kim Chun-taek translated it into Chinese. On this view the Korean text comes first and the Chinese text follows. The Korean "Seoul National University text" and the Korean "Nojon text" had until then been taken for the versions closest to the original.
Jeong Gyu-bok questioned this theory of a Korean original. He found the Chinese "Nojon text," which is the parent text of the Chinese "Eulsa text" and the oldest extant version. He proved that the Korean "Seoul National University text" and the Korean "Nojon text" belong to the same line as the Chinese Nojon text and are translations of it. On that basis he argued that the original was written in Chinese. The Encyclopedia of Korean Culture notes that the "Seopo family tradition" (西浦門中說話) has also been offered in support of a Chinese original.
Knowing the shape of the argument changes how one reads the opening scene. The Sekai Dai-hyakka Jiten on Kotobank places the setting at Lotus Peak on Mount Heng in China. The same account says the hermit, the Great Master Yukgwan, is trying to awaken his disciple Seongjin to the impermanence of life and the idea of transmigration. Encyclopedia Nipponica, on the same site, says that Seongjin, returning from an errand for his master to the Dragon King of Lake Dongting, flirts with the eight fairies, cannot settle back into his practice, and is driven out of heaven along with them. Because the opening is so compact, comparing only a few sentences of the two texts is enough to gauge which line they belong to.
From the Nojon text to the Eulsa text, and from the Eulsa text to the Gyehae text
The editions are many. The Encyclopedia of Korean Culture begins with the Geumseong (錦城板) woodblock edition in Chinese, printed in 1725 (the first year of Yeongjo). The same entry notes that more than fifty variants survive, including commercial woodblock editions in Korean, Korean manuscripts, Korean movable-type editions, Chinese manuscripts and Chinese texts with Korean reading marks. What stands out is that the variant lines run through both languages.
The order of the Chinese editions comes down to three names. The Encyclopedia of Korean Culture notes that the Chinese text has been shown to develop from the Nojon text into the Eulsa text, and from the Eulsa text into the Gyehae text. The Nojon text is dated before 1725, the Eulsa text to 1725 and the Gyehae text to 1803. The Korean versions are classified as translations belonging to one or another of those lines. Keeping the three names and the three dates in mind makes the list of variants much easier to read.
For all the variants, the broad shape of the story is shared. Encyclopedia Nipponica on Kotobank says that Seongjin, reborn into the human world, rises to great success. The same account says he is united in turn with the eight fairies, reborn alongside him, and enjoys a life of splendour. It adds that in his old age the sermon of an eminent monk brings him to understanding, that he and the fairies return to their original selves, and that they return to the Pure Land. The expulsion scene in chapter 1 stands at the entrance to that larger arc.
The five sacred mountains and the Great Master Yukgwan in chapter 1 of the Chinese text
Chapter 1 of the Chinese text establishes the space first. The opening sentence of chapter 1 of 「九雲夢」 on Chinese Wikisource reads: '天下名山曰有五焉：東曰「東岳」，即泰山；西曰「西岳」，即華山；南曰「南岳」，即衡山；北曰「北岳」，即恆山。' In English, it declares that there are five famous mountains under heaven and then names them in turn: Mount Tai as the Eastern Marchmount, Mount Hua as the Western, Mount Heng (衡山) as the Southern and Mount Heng (恆山) as the Northern. The names of the mountains come before any character. The opening can be read as clearing the ground in advance for the narrowing of the story to Lotus Peak on Mount Heng.
The characters come next. The same chapter introduces the old monk as follows: '其和尚惟手持金剛經一卷，或稱「六如和尚」，或稱「六觀大師」，弟子五六百人中，修戒得神通者，三十餘人。' The monk holds a single copy of the Diamond Sutra in his hand and is called either the Monk Yukyeo or the Great Master Yukgwan. Of his five or six hundred disciples, the text puts the number who have kept the precepts and attained supernatural powers at a little over thirty. The same chapter describes Seongjin as '有小闍利名「性真」者，貌瑩冰雪，神凝秋水，年僅二十歲。', giving his age as twenty. With the numbers stacked up like this, the opening presents its space and its community on a concrete scale.
Seongjin's character emerges in a single line. Chapter 1 of 「九雲夢」 on Chinese Wikisource contains this passage: '性真固讓曰：「酒者伐性之狂藥，即佛家大戒，賤僧不敢飲也。」' Seongjin calls wine a maddening drug that ruins one's nature, and refuses it as something forbidden by a cardinal Buddhist precept. The refusal shows that he already knew the precept. Set beside the expulsion that follows, the opening places two faces of one character within a very short span.
The rebuke and the sentence are also laid out item by item. The same chapter reads: '修行之功其目有三；日身也，日童也，日心也。' The wording is reproduced exactly as it stands in the Chinese Wikisource text, and the passage counts the work of religious practice under three heads: body, speech and mind. The Encyclopedia of Korean Culture summarises what follows: back in the meditation hall, Seongjin is so taken with the beauty of the eight fairies that he begins to doubt the stillness of the monastic life and to want the wealth and fame of the world, and the Great Master Yukgwan has him banished to hell along with the fairies. In the same chapter the master gives the order '大師吩咐曰：「汝領此罪人往酆都，變付於閻王而回。」', and the place of rebirth is specified as '此地即大唐國淮南道秀州縣也。此家即楊處士家也。' The rebuke, the order to escort him away and the assignment of his next birth follow one another in a single movement.
The Korean text's opening set against chapter 1 of the Chinese text
The Korean text is organised differently. The Korean-language Guunmong on Korean Wikisource is divided into a first and a second volume rather than into chapters. The text is written in archaic Hangul, so some characters appear as broken glyphs without the relevant fonts. The Chinese text is divided into chapters, and Chinese Wikisource carries chapter 1 of 「九雲夢」. The total number of chapters in the Chinese text cannot be confirmed from the sources used here.
The opening sentences follow the same order in both texts. The first passage of the Korean-language Guunmong on Korean Wikisource reads: '천하 명산이 다셧시 잇스니 동의는 동악 태샨이오, 셔의는 셔악 화샨이오, 남의는 남악 형샨이오, 북의는 북악 항샨이오, 가온대ᄂᆞᆫ 즁악 슝샨니라.' — there are five famous mountains under heaven: Mount Tai as the Eastern Marchmount, Mount Hua as the Western, Mount Heng as the Southern, Mount Heng as the Northern, and, in the centre, Mount Song as the Central Marchmount. The Korean text lists all five, down to Mount Song in the middle. The passage quoted from the Chinese text here runs only as far as the Northern Marchmount, leaving the central mountain outside the quotation. That both texts establish their space in the same place and in the same way is clear enough.
Lining up the individual details makes the correspondence plainer. The old monk's titles are '六如和尚' and '六觀大師' in the Chinese text, and in the Korean text the passage reads '졔ᄌᆞ 오육ᄇᆡᆨ 인을 ᄃᆞ리고 년화봉샹의 볍당을 크게 지어시니, 혹 왈 육여화샹니오, 혹 왈 육관대ᄉᆞ라' — he built a great dharma hall on Lotus Peak with five or six hundred disciples, and was called either the Monk Yukyeo or the Great Master Yukgwan. The refusal of wine appears in the Korean text as '슐은 광약이라. 불가의 큰 경게온이 감이 먹지 못하리로소이다.' — wine is a maddening drug, forbidden by a cardinal Buddhist precept, and he dare not drink it. The order to escort him away reads '이 죄인을 영거ᄒᆞ여 풍도의 가 염왕ᄭᅴ 부치라.' — take this sinner to Pungdo and hand him over to the King of the Dead — and the place of rebirth reads '이 ᄯᅡ은 곳 당나라 회남도 슈쥬 고을이오, 이 집은 냥쳐ᄉᆞ의 집이라.' — this land is Suju in Huainan Circuit in Tang China, and this house is the house of Yang Cheosa. Since the titles, the refusal, the order and the place of rebirth all correspond, nothing here conflicts with the account that the two texts share a common line.
In the Korean text Seongjin says he will offer his string of 108 prayer beads as payment, then tosses a branch of peach blossom. While the eight fairies are admiring the flowers, the blossoms turn into four pairs of jewels. Readers who want to go to the texts themselves can open chapter 1 of 「九雲夢」 on Chinese Wikisource alongside the Korean-language Guunmong on Korean Wikisource. The Encyclopedia of Korean Culture provides entries that sort out the author, the variants and the lines of transmission. Comparing the texts is the simplest way to follow the argument about editions.
Okrumong and the reception of Guunmong
The spread of the variants is a clue to who was reading the novel. The Encyclopedia of Korean Culture points out that the Chinese and Korean versions of Guunmong are present in almost equal proportion. The same entry reads this as a sign that Guunmong could be received across divisions of class and gender. In other words, the breadth of its reception becomes visible only when both the Chinese and the Korean versions are counted.
There is also an account of the works that came after it. The Sekai Dai-hyakka Jiten on Kotobank says the novel drew a great response on publication. The same account says it produced many imitations, among them Okrumong and Okryeonmong. The dates and authors of those works cannot be confirmed from the sources used here.
The sources also assess the character of the novel. The account on Kotobank says it pioneered the Joseon novel built around the device of a dream, and that publishing it under a named author was itself significant. The same source finds in it a rationalisation of polygamy, a seamless fusion of the three teachings of Confucianism, Buddhism and Daoism, and an optimistic delight in pleasure. That assessment is something to examine by reading the expulsion scene of chapter 1 together with the awakening at the end.
Related reading: Why do the Samguk Yusa and Jewang Ungi name different mothers for Dangun?
Summary
Three points remain. First, the appearance of the Seopo yeonbo held at Tenri University in Japan fixed the composition in the Seoncheon exile of 1687, and the completion is thought to belong to the Namhae exile. Second, the Chinese text runs from the Nojon text to the Eulsa text and from the Eulsa text to the Gyehae text, and Jeong Gyu-bok proved that the Korean "Seoul National University text" and the Korean "Nojon text" are translations of the Chinese Nojon text. Third, the opening of chapter 1 begins with the five sacred mountains, sets up the Great Master Yukgwan and Seongjin, and closes with the escort to Pungdo and the assignment of Yang Cheosa's house.
What a reader can do is compare the texts. Chapter 1 of 「九雲夢」 on Chinese Wikisource and the Korean-language Guunmong on Korean Wikisource record the same items in the same places. It is also clear that sources giving a different date of composition survive alongside them. What belongs to parts two and three is not covered here.