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<DIV dir=ltr align=left><SPAN class=964325218-25082010><FONT color=#0000ff
size=2 face=Arial>Dear Maria Mercedes Gallo,</FONT></SPAN></DIV>
<DIV dir=ltr align=left><SPAN class=964325218-25082010><FONT color=#0000ff
size=2 face=Arial></FONT></SPAN> </DIV>
<DIV dir=ltr align=left><SPAN class=964325218-25082010><FONT color=#0000ff
size=2 face=Arial>There is considerable uncertainty about the origin of the Sim
Ch'eong story. Some scholars, in particular Kim Tonguk, have looked for an
origin in oral literature. Kim Tonguk thought of the forms of the novel in
p'ansori as the oldest. </FONT></SPAN></DIV>
<DIV dir=ltr align=left><SPAN class=964325218-25082010><FONT color=#0000ff
size=2 face=Arial></FONT></SPAN> </DIV>
<DIV dir=ltr align=left><SPAN class=964325218-25082010><FONT color=#0000ff
size=2 face=Arial>Bill Skillend of SOAS, though, argued that the versions of the
story that were printed in Seoul (in the nineteenth century) were older than the
versions from Cheonju (wanp'anbon) which are closest to p'ansori as it is sung
(see his article "Puritas Submersa resurgit,"in <EM>Asiatische Studies/Etudes
Asiatiques</EM> 34:2 of 1980; the journal is Swiss and the text of the article
in English, no need to brush up your Latin). Certainly one of the most
popular Wanp'anbon editions is of a very late date, 1913 if my memory serves me
right. The Seoul versions, which Skillend thinks may go back to the late
eighteenth century, are much less jocular than the Wanp'anbon, more
"respectable," and quite different in the details of the story. A book
that discusses the complex relation between the different versions is Ch'oe
Unsik, <EM>Sim Ch'eong cheon yeon'gu</EM> which concludes that the Seoul
version is older than the Cheonju edition. </FONT></SPAN></DIV>
<DIV dir=ltr align=left><SPAN class=964325218-25082010><FONT color=#0000ff
size=2 face=Arial></FONT></SPAN> </DIV>
<DIV dir=ltr align=left><SPAN class=964325218-25082010><FONT color=#0000ff
size=2 face=Arial>Shamans of the East Coast also sing the story of Sim Ch'eong
and for that reason I have written one chapter about these shamanic versions and
the possible origins of these in my 1994 book <EM>Songs of the shaman: the
ritual chants of the Korean mudang</EM>. Some people believed that the shamanic
songs, as oral literature, were the original source of the story, but for that I
could not find any evidence. Different mudang produce different texts, but these
obviously go back to p'ansori or printed editions.</FONT></SPAN></DIV>
<DIV dir=ltr align=left><SPAN class=964325218-25082010><FONT color=#0000ff
size=2 face=Arial></FONT></SPAN> </DIV>
<DIV dir=ltr align=left><SPAN class=964325218-25082010><FONT color=#0000ff
size=2 face=Arial>I have to confess that I have not kept up with the issue for
many many years, but there may be someone on the list who is able to
furnish more recent literature on the subject.</FONT></SPAN></DIV>
<DIV dir=ltr align=left><SPAN class=964325218-25082010><FONT color=#0000ff
size=2 face=Arial></FONT></SPAN> </DIV>
<DIV dir=ltr align=left><SPAN class=964325218-25082010><FONT color=#0000ff
size=2 face=Arial>Best wishes,</FONT></SPAN></DIV>
<DIV dir=ltr align=left><SPAN class=964325218-25082010><FONT color=#0000ff
size=2 face=Arial></FONT></SPAN> </DIV>
<DIV dir=ltr align=left><SPAN class=964325218-25082010><FONT color=#0000ff
size=2 face=Arial>Boudewijn Walraven</FONT></SPAN></DIV>
<DIV dir=ltr align=left><SPAN class=964325218-25082010><FONT color=#0000ff
size=2 face=Arial></FONT></SPAN> </DIV>
<DIV dir=ltr align=left><SPAN class=964325218-25082010><FONT color=#0000ff
size=2 face=Arial></FONT></SPAN> </DIV><BR>
<DIV dir=ltr lang=en-us class=OutlookMessageHeader align=left>
<HR tabIndex=-1>
<FONT size=2 face=Tahoma><B>From:</B> koreanstudies-bounces@koreaweb.ws
[mailto:koreanstudies-bounces@koreaweb.ws] <B>On Behalf Of </B>Fianna
Mithlond<BR><B>Sent:</B> woensdag 25 augustus 2010 5:23<BR><B>To:</B> Korean
Studies Mailing List<BR><B>Subject:</B> [KS] Question regarding Sim
Cheong<BR></FONT><BR></DIV>
<DIV></DIV>Good evening!<BR><BR>I'm writing from Argentina (please excuse my
grammar mistakes, my English still needs improvement), with a question to which
I haven't been able to find an answer yet.<BR><BR>Does anybody know around what
time the traditional tale of Sim Cheong ( 심청 ) was written? Or in which century
the first written records of it became known? I've only found the dates of
famous performances of it as pansori, from 1788 onwards.<BR><BR>Thank you very
much for your time.<BR><BR>María Mercedes Gallo. <BR></BODY></HTML>