The Aspects and Meanings of Gwak Bunyang in the Mongokssangbongyeonrok and GwakJangYangmunrok Series

This study aims to analyze the reception and significance of the character Gwak Bunyang in the Mongokssangbongyeonrok and GwakJangYangmunrok Series. This series is a Korean full-length novel depicting the story of Jang Hong and his descendants. Its literary and historical value is underscored by the fact that Lady Seong, a royal concubine of King Jeongjo, transcribed GwakJangYangmunrok, which enables scholars to estimate the time of its transcription and offers insight into the appreciation of Korean long novels within the royal court. The series consists of two parts: Mongokssangbongyeonrok, which centers on the heroic deeds and marriage of Jang Hong, and GwakJangYangmunrok, which focuses on the marriages of his descendants. Since Gwak Bunyang’s family is portrayed as one of the key families connected to Jang Hong and his descendants through marriage, it is essential to examine how Gwak Bunyang is depicted in the narrative. The modes of reception of Gwak Bunyang in Mongokssangbongyeonrok and GwakJangYangmunrok differ. In Mongokssangbongyeonrok, he is framed chiefly as a military hero. On the other hand, in GwakJangYangmunrok, he is cast as the head of the lineage. This contrast aligns with late-Joseon patterns of cultural enjoyment in the court and literati households. The shift visible in Gwak Bunyang Haengnakdo—from emphasizing martial prowess to highlighting prosperity and blessing—parallels the series’ separate narrativization of “heroic” and “prosperous” Gwak Bunyang. Haengnakdo was especially popular at court and among elites, a fact that resonates with the palace transcription of the Mongokssang- bongyeonrok-GwakJangYangmunrok series. This indicates that the cultural code centered on Gwak Bunyang operated not only in painting but also in narrative; the series likely mobilized that code as a narrative strategy. Whereas paintings and short fiction tend to isolate a single code, the linked form of the series keeps the “military” and “prosperity/blessing” strands apart at the work level yet integrates them as a dual code at the level of the whole. Accordingly, the series is significant not only to the history of the Korean long novel but also to broader cultural-historical currents.