[FICTION VS. HISTORY] 'The Book of Fish' combines facts with mostly fiction

Korean Heritage

Published: 18 Jul. 2022, 15:13 Updated: 18 Jul. 2022, 17:55

[FICTION VS. HISTORY] 'The Book of Fish' combines facts with mostly fiction

In film and television, historical dramas have never gone out of style. Fans of period dramas, both in Korea and abroad, like to be transported to a different time and learn about the stories that swept up — or were put in motion by — our ancestors. Some watch to see how the present compares with the past. Others watch to see progress. Foreign Korea-philes can get a crash course in Korean history while watching historical films. But all historical dramas create characters, add romantic plots and conflate or invent events to make sure viewers don’t lose interest. With Fiction vs. History, the Korea JoongAng Daily attempts to distinguish fact from fiction in popular period dramas and films for clarification and to dispel misunderstandings.

A still image of director Lee Joon-ik's historical film "The Book of Fish" featuring actor Byun Yo-han as Chang-dae. [MEGABOX PLUS M]

The set of Mrs. Gageo's house is located not on Heuksando but on Bigeum Island's Shinan County near Heuksando in South Jeolla. [JOONGANG ILBO]

“The Book of Fish,” a black-and-white historical film by Lee Joon-ik (2021), which was released on Netflix last May, reappeared on the streaming platform’s top 10 list early last month.

Netflix Korea said that its top 10 list reemergence may be due to more people choosing to stay at home during the summer holidays because of recent downpours.

The historical flick appears to be one of the popular films on the platform since it won the grand prize at the 57th Baeksang Arts Awards last year, Netflix Korea explained. The film was also a hit among foreigners with English subtitles provided at several Megabox Theaters last April. The film is currently included on the list of movies on many Asiana and Korean Air flights.

The front cover of "Jasaneobo" [CULTURAL HERITAGE ADMINISTRATION]

Most Koreans are familiar with Dasan Jeong Yak-yong (1762-1836) of the Joseon Dynasty (1392-1910), who wrote some 500 works including masterpieces like “Heumheumsinseo” (1819) which centers on legal theory, “Aeongakbi” (1819) which centers on linguistics, “Sadekoryesanbo” (1820) on diplomacy and the famous “Mongminsimseo” (1818), during and after living in exile in Gangjin County, South Jeolla from 1801 to 1818 for being involved in Catholicism. "Mongminsimseo" describes the harsh living conditions of poor, hardworking people and the tasks local administrators were bound to perform for them for moral and legal reasons. His poems and works are featured in school textbooks for students to memorize.

The film drew interest as the story did not revolve around Dasan Jeong Yak-yong, the already universally recognized figure, but his less popular brother Jeong Yak-jeon (1758-1816). Veteran actor Seol Kyung-gu plays Yak-jeon in the film.

A painting depicting a scene of Joseon scholars who led Koea's Catholic movement in 1780s includes the Jeong brothers - Yak-jeon, Yak-yong and Yak-jong. It is painted by Kim Tae in 1984. [SEOUL MUSEUM OF HISTORY]

Yak-jeon was one of Joseon’s scholars who was exiled during the Catholic Persecution of 1801, also known as the Sinyu Persecution during young King Sunjo’s reign, though it was Queen Jeongsun (1745-1805), the second queen consort of King Jeongjo (1694-1776), who was really pulling the strings after the death of her husband.

It was during Yak-jeon’s exile that he wrote a book on marine biology, which is called “Jasaneobo,” or “The Book of Fish.” In the book, Yak-jeon states that he wrote it to help peasants decipher the 226 varieties of fish and marine life living in the waters surrounding Jeju Island.

Director Lee said in an interview with the Korea JoongAng Daily that he wanted to highlight the older brother Yak-jeon’s life in his film after learning that King Jeongjo had highly praised him. It is recorded that King Jeongjo said Yak-jeon was better because he was opposite from Yak-yong who was infatuated by that generation’s neo-Confucianism.

“'Jasaneobo’ is about natural science. It was something that Joseon aristocrats lacked [knowledge about], and the result is one which transcends social hierarchy and rank,” the director said in the interview.

Director Lee is known for his true interpretations of historical figures, such as “King and the Clown” (2005), “The Throne” (2014), “Dongju: The Portrait of a Poet” (2016) and “Anarchist from Colony” (2017) — all of which have also reaped commercial success.

Though another main character in the film named Chang-dae, played by Byun Yo-han, seems like he’s imaginary, created to help better tell the biographical structure of the story of Yak-jeon, he is in fact a real figure who appears in the preface of Yak-jeon's “Jasaneobo.”

The main character Jeong Yak-jeon is portrayed by Seol Kyung-gu [MEGABOX PLUS M]

Yak-jeon mentions his name and describes him as a person who is “quiet and perceptive to minutely observe everything [he] sees and hears.” Yak-jeon also cited Chang-dae as he recorded marine animals for the book. But nothing else is mentioned about him, therefore, other details in the film like how he saved Yak-jeon's life or caught him season’s delicacies when he was sick, are all fictitious. There are no historical records to prove that Chang-dae became Yak-jeon's student.

There's also a dramatic story in the film of a man named Moon Sun-deuk. Moon, in the film, is portrayed as a fisherman who surprises the islanders of Heuksando after returning to the island for the first time in three years. Everyone thought he was dead, but he came home safe and sound. Moon tells the islanders that he met a storm and drifted to Japan’s Okinawa and then again to the Philippines “that’s not even on a map.” He says it took three years for him to finally return home. This sounds very dramatic, but it's a historical fact. Yak-jeon, as depicted in the film, was so fascinated by Moon's story that he decides to write a book titled “Pyohaesimal” (Journal of Drifting Out to Sea), from 1805 to 1816. The book provides detailed accounts about the culture of the Philippines. The journal is regarded as an important text as the first record of Koreans visiting the Philippines.

But there’s also a fictional aspect to it.

In the film, however, it’s described that this fisherman is from Heuksando and that Yak-jeon encountered this man while in exile on the island. But according to historical records, Yak-jeon had stayed on Ui Island for several years before reaching Heuksando and that’s where he met Moon. After he finished writing Pyohaesimal, he went to Heuksando, where he met Chang-dae.

From time to time, the film also shows Yak-yong, played by Ryu Seung-ryong, who is in exile in Gangjin. There is still a pavilion called Dasan Chodang, where Yak-yong wrote numerous masterpieces in the area. Dasan is Yak-yong's pen name.

Yak-jeon passed away in 1816, while in exile. According to historical records, his brother Yak-yong, the only living immediate family member, could not organize the funeral for his brother as he was still in exile. Records state that it was Moon, the fisherman in Yak-jeon's “Pyohaesimal,” who organized Yak-jeon's funeral. Therefore, the depiction of Yak-yong ending his exile and going back up to Hanyang, or today’s Seoul, is fictional. In reality, Yak-yong finished his exile in 1818, two years after his brother’s death.

Mrs. Gageo is a real figure that is mentioned in Jeong Yak-jeon's "Jasaneobo," but most of the details about her are fiction. The character is played by actor Lee Jung-eun. [MEGABOX PLUS M]

What about Mrs. Gageo, who becomes Yak-jeon's wife after providing her home for Yak-jeon during his exile in Heuksando? Mrs. Gageo, played by veteran actor Lee Jung-eun, is a real character that is mentioned in Yak-jeon's “Jasaneobo” for helping him write the book. But all the rest, such as them living together, getting married and having kids, has been made up.

BY YIM SEUNG-HYE [yim.seunghye@joongang.co.kr]