“THROUGH SONGS and stories [one can] learn about the world, and about the people who live in it”—such is the sentiment of Korean American author Axie Oh’s novel The Girl Who Fell Beneath the Sea. A retelling of the Korean folktale The Tale of Shim Cheong, Oh’s novel expands the original story of filial piety[1] into a fantastical young adult novel championing women who take fate into their own hands.

Evolving The Tale of Shim Cheong

   To understand the significance of Oh’s reimagining, one must first delve into the folk story’s premise. Set during the Joseon dynasty, Shim, a blind and destitute yang-ban[2], raises his daughter Shim Cheong alone after his wife died during childbirth. One day, a Buddhist monk informs him that if he gives 300 seom[3] of rice to the Buddha, his sight will return. In an act of filial piety, Shim Cheong sells herself to sea merchants in exchange for the necessary money and the merchants sacrifice her to the sea. Rather than perishing, the Sea God shows her mercy; he returns her to the living world to become the emperor’s bride. While the 300 seom of rice failed to assuage her father’s blindness, it is only once Shim Cheong is reunited with him that his sight returns.

   In Oh’s novel, every year, a girl of outstanding beauty or talent is chosen as the Sea God’s bride to appease the storms causing destruction and suffering to humanity. For the 100th sacrificial anniversary, Shim Cheong is chosen—much to her and her lover Joon’s distress. Right before jumping into the sea, Shim Cheong hesitates out of love for Joon, and Joon’s sister Mina notices this; Mina makes the split-second decision to sacrifice herself for her brother and Shim Cheong’s safety and happiness.

   It is not only Mina’s choice, but also Shim Cheong’s hesitation that changes this story from one of blind familial duty to one of purposeful duty to those one chooses to love. Mina calls Shim Cheong’s predestined and ultimately rejected role as the Sea God’s bride “[a] fate [Shim Cheong] never asked for. A fate she refused.” Oh places agency in these female characters, setting the story to advocate for a woman’s right to determine her own life path.

From passive to active: evolving the female character

   Typically, Korean folktales serve to reinforce patriarchal, Confucian ideals. Female characters tend to be submissive, passive, beautiful, nonviolent, and powerless[4]. Women are one-dimensional, serving only as tropes and possessing no personal desires or motivations. The original Shim Cheong sacrifices herself because she must, as per filial piety. Mina’s sacrifice also aligns with the notions of filial piety. However, Mina does not do so because she feels she has no option; she does it because she deeply loves her people and brother.

   The key difference between the female characters in The Tale of Shim Cheong and Oh’s tale is their development into complex individuals. This particular change comes to fruition in Mina. She possesses agency not only in her sacrificial act, but throughout her journey in the underwater spirit realm. When she arrives in the Sea God’s palace, she meets Lord Shin, a nobleman and head of Lotus House[5], and his associates, Namgi and Kirin, who doubt her legitimacy as the Sea God’s bride. When they ask who chose her, she simply replies, “I chose myself.” Mina demonstrates strength, standing solid behind her decision.

   A girl’s beauty was nonnegotiable and presumed when choosing the Sea God’s bride-to-be. Thus, one can understand Lord Shin, Namgi, and Kirin’s disbelief at Mina as the chosen bride, who in their view lacks any expected beauty or talent. Mina describes herself as “rash,” “[c]ommon,” “[but] not weak.” This statement differentiates her character from the original Shim Cheong—a character who acted the flawless role of beauty and devotion. By attributing strengths and weaknesses to Mina, Oh deviates from one-dimensional depictions of femininity and underscores that Mina and other women are complex human beings, just like men.

   Complexity is attributed to women outside of our main character. Mina meets Hyeri, a former Sea God’s bride, and during their talk, Hyeri explains why different girls choose to be brides. Some choose the fate “to bring wealth to their family,” some for “the glory of being one of those beautiful few,” and some “because it hurts too much to be themselves.” This powerful statement expands the limited schemata of femininity portrayed in folktales. Just like any human, women’s motivations vary from duty to pride to escapism.

   In an interview with The Yonsei Annals, Associate Professor of Korean Language and Literature Lee Ji-eun (Prof., Dept. of East Asian Languages and Cultures, Washington Univ. in St. Louis) noted how rewriting traditional tales—those featuring submissive women—gives the protagonists more agency. This reflects the evolving social background of Korean American female writers and the stories they want to tell. Compared to women writers from the early 20th century and the New Woman’s movement[6]—one of Lee’s areas of study—Lee said that only more recently has radical feminism been prominent in Korean literature. Between Korean and Korean American women, there is “a shared notion of always fighting against the stereotype of Asian women being passive, submissive, and docile,” and it is this exact perception Oh aims to challenge.

The power of a woman’s words

   When Mina arrives at the Sea God’s palace, a red string connects her wrist and the Sea God’s. In Mina’s initial meeting with Lord Shin, he cuts that “Red String of Fate,” severing the tie between the two; this string connects each bride to the Sea God, but also makes the Sea God and his bride vulnerable to be killed. When the tie is severed, Mina’s soul transforms into a magpie[7] and is taken into safe keeping by Lord Shin. The plot-related motivations behind this act are revealed later, but what is thematically significant here is that along with her soul, Mina loses her voice. By associating one’s soul with one’s voice, Oh posits that the core of a woman’s power is their voice—their ability to speak up for what they believe in and take action through words.

   Between the novel’s inspiration and the novel itself, Oh maintains “family” as a central theme. Repeatedly, Mina reflects on moments from her childhood with her grandmother and deceased grandfather who raised her. In her descent to the spirit world, Mina doubts her hasty decision, wondering if she is worthy. She thinks back to her grandmother, who tells Mina, “Use your voice.” Oh further emphasizes the power of a woman’s voice, both by advising that Mina can succeed if only she speaks up and in the literal echoes of the grandmother’s—a woman’s—words. Mina’s strength and motivation are drawn from her family and her love for them, and at the center of that are the words and stories she has accumulated from them.

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   The Girl Who Fell Beneath the Sea holds a unique position within the Korean and Korean American literary canon as one of the few reimaginings of traditional Korean stories. Oh posits a version of filial piety which centers female agency, rather than compliancy. By transforming a piece of Korean literature which has been the foundation of feminine ideals in Korean culture, The Girl Who Fell Beneath the Sea embodies the contemporary expansion of what it means to be a Korean woman.

[1] Filial piety: The Confucian notion that one must respect their elders, parents, and ancestors

[2] Yang-ban: Traditional elite class of the Joseon Dynasty

[3] Seom: Volumetric measurement of 180 L

[4] Re-Visioning Gendered Folktales in Novels

[5] Lotus House: In this novel, one of many aristocratic houses which govern the spirit realm.

[6] New Woman’s Movement: Korea’s 1920s women’s rights movement which challenged Confucian-based patriarchal notions

[7] Magpie: They are considered heralds of good news or a family member returning home in Korean culture.