Nhân vật trong truyện kỳ ảo trung đại việt nam và hàn quốc dưới góc nhìn so sánh tt tiếng anh

VIETNAM ACADEMY OF SOCIAL SCIENCES
INSTITUTE OF SOCIAL SCIENCES

KIM KIHYUN

CHARACTERS IN THE MEDIEVAL FANTASY STORIES
OF VIETNAM AND SOUTH KOREA WITH A
COMPARATIVE PERSPECTIVE

INFORMATION OF DOCTORAL THESIS
OF LITERATURE STUDIES

HA NOI - 2019


The Study is completed at:
Faculty of Literature, Institute of Social Sciences, under Vietnam Academy
of Social Sciences

Full name of instructors: 1) Assoc., Prof., Ph.D Le Van Tan
2) Assoc., Prof., Ph.D Vu Thanh

Examiner 1: Prof., Ph.D Tran Dinh Su

Examiner 2: Assoc., Prof., Ph.D Truong Dang Dung

Examiner 3: Assoc., Prof., Ph.D Hoang Minh Luong

The Thesis shall be defended against the Academic Doctoral
Defense Committee at the Academy of Social Sciences, No. 477 Nguyen
Trai, Thanh Xuan, Hanoi

At ……… .. hour ………... minute, ……....……..., ….. 2019

The thesis can be found at the libraries of:
- Academy of Social Sciences,
- National Library of Vietnam, Hanoi.


INTRODUCTION
1. The urgency of the subject
1.1. It can be affirmed that the formation and development as well as the regression of
any literature study in the world alway have a close connection with its genres. Thinking
about the genre has long become a familiar approach of creators as well as researchers,
theorists and literary critics. The history of medieval literature of Vietnam and Korea (the
Korean concept used by us here covers all of the old Korean peninsula, when there is no
separation between two regions as today) is not outside of that rule. For that reason, our
topic of Vietnam Literature Thesis: “Characters in the medieval fantasy stories of Vietnam
and South Korea with a comparative perspectiv ” (베트남 및 한국의 중세시대의 신비로운
문학 작품의 인물들) is an approach of medieval literature, which can explain one of its core
issues, the study of characters.
1.2. In the picture of medieval literature of Vietnam and Korea, fantasy stories play
an important role with an abudant of complexities but also consist of many ideological
contents as well as unique values and artistic experiences. In the history of medieval
literature of both countries, the genre of fantasy stories emerged very early in various
historical, divine and genealogical records, and very quickly, it developed into an
important character as a genre of medieval narrative. At the same time, looking at the
genre of fantasy stories, we can see the presence of the authors and their excellent works
in both the period and the history of Vietnamese - Korean literature. However, until today,
there are many things to continue in various studies, researchs in the nominal definition,
from the concept of genre to other related issues, especially those with comparative factors
such as our research topic to find similarities and differences in the thinking of genre and

about the character building of legendary figures in both countries. This is also an urgent
reason that makes us determined to pursue this topic.
1.3. In terms of origin, the genre of fantasy stories in the medieval literature of
Vietnam and Korea have a same foreign origin (China), but when being introduced into
from many different sources, the authors of both countries have studied this genre in a
flexible and creative approach, especially in a way that found a close and intimate
connection with historical reality and many aspects of ethnic human beauty. There will be
many similarities in the way Vietnamese and Korean authors need to use to approach this
genre and the art of character buiding, however the national colors, the way of thinking, the
beauty of the country and people in both countries, through the genre, reflection and
character buidling, also show many interesting differences. This is still an unanswered
question in many studies of fantasy stories, especially those with comparative factors. by
presenting the topic of character research in fantasy stories of Vietnam and Korea, we wish to
have more clear and comprehensive assessments and judgments to the differences in the
contributions of medieval literature authors of both countries in the development of this genre.
1.4. Considering the thinking method of medieval art in general and the creating
method of fantasy stories in particular, we can see that character building is one of the
most important issues. While character is the core issue, there are also the perspectives and
artistic conceptions of people, ethnicity and the capacities of traditional and cultural
elements in Vietnam and Korea. Therefore, by studying the mediaval characters in the
fantasy stories of Vietnam and Korea, our study shall use many character approachs to
survey, evaluate, and thoroughly interpret the above issues.
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1.5. Being a Korean myself, I really love the people and country of Vietnam. By
presenting this research topic, I hope to learn more about the literature of Vietnam in
general and the history of mediaval literature of Vietnam, especially the genre of mediaval
fantasy stories in particular (from the aspect of character) in comparison with the same
genre in Korea. Our study, in a way, is a message, a bridge for the sustainable friendship

between the two countries in history as well as in the era of integration and globalization
nowadays.
2. Research objective and task
2.1. Research objective
By presenting this topic, we aim to clarify some theoretical issues of characters in the
mediaval fantasy series of Vietnam and Korea, thereby creating surveys, statistics, and
classification of the characteristics of some types of characters in the genre of medialval
fantasy; the relationship between these character and their expression of traditional and
cultural elements of Vietnam and Korea.
2.2. Research tasks
Our thesis sets out the following research tasks: (1) Introduce an overview of the
researchs on the genre of fantasy stories in general as well as the characters in this genre in
particular in the medialval literature of Vietnam and Korea; (2) Conduct survey, statistics,
classification and description of some types of characters in the mediaval fantasy stories of
Vietnam and Korea; (3) Analyze and interpret the traditional and cultural aspects of Vietnam
and Korea from the perspective of the types of characters in mediaval fantasy stories.
3. Reseach objects and scope of the study
3.1. Research object
The research object of this thesis is the character in the mediaval fantasy stories of
Vietnam and Korea under a comparative perspective..
3.2. Scope of the study
Within the framework of a doctoral thesis according to regulations, based on the
theory of fantasy stories in medieval literature of Vietnamese and Korean, the scope of our
study shall be as follows:
* Mediaval fantasy stories of Vietnam in the following story series:
(1) Collection of Outstanding Figures of the Zen Garden (no name), consists of 21
fantasy stories (abbreviation: Thiền uyển tập anh ngữ lục); (2) Viet Realm (Ly Te Xuyen),
consists of 40 fantasy stories (abbreviation:Việt điện u linh); (3) Selection of Strange Tales
in Linh Nam (Vu Quynh và Kiyu Phu), consists of 36 fantasy stories (Abbreviation: Thiền
uyển tập anh ngữ lục); (4) Thanh Tong's Posthumous Manuscript (by Le Thanh Tong

according to legend), consists of 15 fantasy stories (abrreviation: Thánh Tông di thảo); (5)
Collection of Strange Tales (Nguyen Du), consists of 20 fantasy stories (abrreviation:
Truyền kỳ mạn lục); (6) Literary Works of Vu Trinh. (Vu Trinh), consists of 38 fantasy
stories (abrreviation: Lan Trì kiến văn lục); (7) New Genealogy of Legends (Doan Thi
Diem), consists of 04 fantasy stories (abrreviation: Truyen ky tan pha); (8) Random
Record of Great Changes (Pham Dinh Ho and Nguyen An), consists of 40 fantasy stories
(abrreviation: Tang thương ngẫu lục); (9) Strange Record of Rumors (no name), consists
of 15 fantasy stories. Total: 230 fantasy stories.
* Mediaval fantasy stories of Korean in the following story series:
(1) Memorabilia of the Three Kingdoms (Il-yeon), consists of 86 fantasy stories; (2)
Musical Canon of Seong Hyeon (Seong Hyeon), consists of 12 fantasy stories ; (3)
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Collection of Strange Tales (no name), consists of 27 fantasy stories; (4) Tales of Mount
Geumo (Kim Si-seup) consists of 05 fantasy stories (abrreviation: Kim Ngao tan thoai); (5)
Strange Tales from a Korean Studio (Than Quang Han), consists of 04 fantasy stories; (6)
Collection of Three Theories – China History (no name) consists of 09 fantasy stories.
Total: 143 fantasy stories. In fact, in the picture of genre of fantasy stories, there are also
many other stories in Vietnam such as Veritable Records of Three Sages (no name), Dream
memoir of Southern Man (Ho Nguyen Trung), Quick Records in Spare Times (Vu Phuong
De), Random Records in the Rain (Pham Dinh Ho), Random Tales in the Mountain
(collected by Dan Son), Poetry Stories of Hat Dong (Nguyen Thuong Hien), Mini
Collection of Legends (Pham Dinh Duc), etc, however, due to the capacity and framework
of this thesis, we do not include these works as reseach subjects.
4. Methodology and research methods
To complete this study, we have used the following main research methods: (1) Literary
learning method and literary approach by genre; (2) Approach to literature from a cultural
perspective; (3) Method of comparative literature. In addition, in the process of implementing
the research topic, we also use a combination of other operations such as: Method of analyzing

literary works Statistical – classification method, structural – system method, etc.
5. New contribution to the science of the thesis
5.1. Proposing the concept of medieval fantasy stories of Vietnam and Korea with
the criteria to identify works in the picture of medieval literature of the two countries.
5.2. Survey, catalog statistics 373 fantasy stories of the middle (Vietnam: 230
stories; Korea: 143 stories) from the stories of Vietnam and South Korea, including 03
virtual stories of Korea have not been translated into Vietnamese and introduced in
Vietnam (the total number of stories translated by us is 40 stories, these stories are
translated by us temporarily from the Korean version).
5.3. The thesis is the first scientific work to systematically set and research the
characters in the fantasy story of the medieval Vietnam and Korea under a comparative
perspective. Thereby, the issues of the concept of genre, basic character types, character
problems and the expression of traditional cultural elements of two countries in the fantasy
story of Vietnam and South Korea have been systematic interpretation, comprehensive
and satisfactory.
6. The theoretical and practical significance of the thesis
- Meaning of reasoning: Interpretation in a relatively satisfactory way of the fantasy
series of medieval as well as having quite a comprehensive overview of the issue of
character building in this genre, especially the relationship between work expressing the
character of the fantasy story mediocre with reflecting the traditional cultural dimensions of
the two countries, more or less there is the method of literary thinking of typical authors in
medieval Vietnamese literature and Korea.
- Practical significance: From the concept of fantasy stories, the research topic of
the thesis has relatively thorough surveys, statistics, analysis and explanations of character
issues, the expression of character type, problem of character expression with the
expression of traditional cultural elements to the art methods of building characters in
fantasy stories of Vietnam and Korea.
7. Structure of the thesis
In addition to the Introduction, Conclusion, List of the author's research works related
to the thesis topic, References, Appendix, the main content of the thesis is implemented on

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the following 4 chapters: - Chapter 1: Overview of research topic (18 pages, page 9 to
page 26); - Chapter 2: A number of related theoretical issues and foundations of the
fantasy genre of medieval Vietnam and Korea (33 pages, from pages 27 to 59); - Chapter
3: Characteristics of some types of characters in the fantasy period of Vietnam and South
Korea (47 pages, from page 60 to page 106); - Chapter 4: The expression of cultural
dimensions through the image of characters in the fantasy story of medieval Vietnam and
South Korea (40 pages, from page 107 to page 146).
Chapter 1
OVERVIEW OF RESEARCH SITUATION
In this section, we conceptualize the research of the medieval fantasy genre of
Vietnam and Korea on two basic contents, which are researches on genre in general and
in-depth research on human issues. things in particular.
1.1. The researches of the fantasy genre of medieval Vietnam and Korea
1.1.1. Studies of fantasy stories of medieval Vietnam
The medieval fantasy stories of Vietnam is a unique genre, has a history of formation,
movement and development throughout the length of the history of national literature.
Therefore, right from the beginning, it has attracted a certain interest of contemporary
scholars. Evidence is the title title, canvas, comment ... of the grape houses immediately
and after the work appears. Of course, the visualization of fantasy stories as an
independent literary genre has not been adequately addressed as its contribution to the
national literary history. Some scholars such as Vu Quynh, Kieu Phu, Ha Thien Han, Ngo
Thi Hoang, Nguyen Hanh, Tin Nhu Thi, Tran Danh Luu, Le Quy Don, Phan Huy Chu,
Nguyen Thuong Hien ... still keep their names forever. along with stories like Linh Nam,
Monk, The Apostle, the Legend of the Continent, Lan Literary Antithesis, Nam Ong Luc,
The Meritorious Balance ... The titles of titles, canvases, introduction of the Confucianists
In fact, these are just qualities, contemplative contemplations of contemporaries or life
after seeing some interesting works or human and social meanings that they are interested

in. When the literature research department began to form with a professional nature, the
researchers of folk literature and medieval literature had a deeper interest and there were
also researches and assessments of basic evaluation. more about some episodes of typical
fantasy stories such as Thanh Tong draft, Legend of the continent, Lan Literary
Knowledge, The New Year's tradition ... Most works such as Vietnamese literature use
weak [77], Draft history of Vietnamese literature [253], [254], [255], Vietnamese
Literature of the Xth century - the first half of the eighteenth century [123], Vietnamese
literature of the Middle Kingdom [167], [169], General episodes of Chinese characters (4
episodes) [187], Vietnamese periodical stories [26], Vietnamese prose medieval prose
[162], Vietnamese medieval literature curriculum [279], [280] , Vietnamese medieval
literature, research works [343], research and discuss some authors of medieval literature
works in Vietnam [248], [250] ... until the articles, essays, theses, research topics on
stories / prose narrative / narrative stories, some issues of the genre of fantasy stories in
terms of content and art have been mentioned, although the level of depth is different.
In the scope of examining the characteristics of the content and art of a work and a
periodical volume, we can mention articles such as: "The complex structure of the narrative
period in the Legend of the Continent "By Nguyen Kim Chau [18]," Understanding the
tendency to compose in Nguyen Luu's continental transmission "[106] and" Guessing
Nguyen Dat's identity and the time of composing the Green Legend "[109] by Nguyen
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Pham Hung, "Various issues related to the Sixth Century" of Kawamoto Kurive [119], "The
story of Nam Xuong daughter (Literature 9, Episode 1)" by Nguyen Dang Na [165],
"Understanding the States of the United States of Grace" [171] and "The Shadow and Gaps
in Literature" [176] by Nguyen Nam, "Transmitting the continent and the expression of
thought of Nguyen Du "[59] and" Experiencing the reclusive lifestyle of Nguyen Du
through The Tale of the Tale of the First Fairy "[260] by Le Van Tan," Doan Thi Diem and
Truyen Ky Tan Pha" by Bui Thi Thien Thai [262] ...
1.1.2. Studies on the Korean medieval fantasy stories in comparative correlation

to Vietnamese fantasy stories
Quite similar in many aspects with the genre of medieval fantasy stories in Vietnam,
Korean medieval story genre also attracts the special attention of researchers of ancient
literary in both countries. Firstly, it is necessary to mention the position of the genre. In
Korean medieval history and literature books, teaching materials as well as Korean
literature collection and synthesis books, the genre of fantasy stories is mentioned. In
Korean literary history, the authors Komisook, Jungmin and Jung Byung Sui appreciate
the stories such as Memorabilia of the Three Kingdoms by Nhat Nhien, Historical record
of the Three Kingdoms by Kim Phu Thuc (the section of Biography). [134, 106]. After the
sudden appearance of Kim Ngao tan thoai, the Korean fantasy story genre continues
developing with many other prominent names such as Than Quang Han with Xí Trai ký dị,
Quyền Tất with Chu Sinh truyệnn and Vi Kính thiên truyện, Triệu Vi Hàn with Thôi Trắc
truyện and some short stories as well as some other long single stories such as Chronicle
of love cavern or Chronicle of paradise cavern, etc. However, in a genre of short story
such as Kim Ngao tan thoai, most researchers believe that Kim Si -Seup's story collection
is the highest peak that no other novelist after his times can achieve. In Vietnam, there are
articles and research works on Korean classical literature which present relatively
plentifully the aspects of fantasy story genre. The pure researches on Korean classical
literature result from the demand to learn, study and teach Korean language and culture in
Vietnam. Here are a series of valuable books edited by Phan Thi Thu Hien and her team
(Nguyen Thi Hien, Doan Le Giang, Tran Thi Bich Phuong, Vu Thi Thanh Tam, Dao Thi
My Khanh, Nguyen Thi Bich Hai, etc): 1) "Collection of Korean classical literature"
[95], 2) "Development and identity of Korean classical literature" [93], 3) "Walking in the
land of Korean literature" ”[94], 4) “Female ghost’s love story in the East Asian mythical
stories (China - Korea - Vietnam - Japan)” [92], 5) “Korean literature teaching material”
[91], etc. As mentioned above, the genre of novel in general and novel series in particular
developed relatively strongly in Korea in the medieval period and its contribution to the
development of classical Korean literature was quite significant. Therefore, according to
the instructions of Toan Hue Khanh, some typical research projects should be mentioned
such as 1) Study on Korean classical novels by Ngô Linh Tích (Van Trieu Publishing

House, 1986), 2) Study on Korean classical novels by Lý Tương Trạch (Xe-mun
Publishung House), 3) Study on love novel composition by Trịnh Tông Đại (Van hoa khai
sang Publishing House, 1990), 4) Formation of Korean novels by Chu Chung Diễn (Tập
văn đường xuất bản, 1987), etc. In general, thanks to these research works, some issues on
the influence origins, cultural-social-historical roots, some problems on ideological
content and the art of novel series has been, though only initially, discussed. From a
research perspective of comparing the common issues of Korean fantasy stories/story
series to that of Vietnam (through a specific story), the following articles should be
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mentioned: "The initial comparison of Thính văn dị lục of Vietnam and Sam Seol Gi (Thù
dị truyện - KimKi Hyun) of Korea” by Nguyen Thi Ngan [181], "Similarity in historical
development of Vietnamese-Korean medieval literature" [234], "Comparion of Humanistic
movement in Korean - Vietnamese literature in eighteenth and nineteenth centuries"
[235], " Similarity in Korean and Vietnamese novels of Zen masters before fourteenth
century" [233] by Nguyen Huu Son, "Extraordinary similarity in Vietnamese and Korean
classical literature” by Doan Le Giang [69], “Comparion of New stories told while
trimming the wick by Qu You (China) and Geumo Sinhwa by Kim Si – Seup (Korea) and
Collection of Strange Tales by Nguyen Du (Vietnam) and the Cà tỳ tử by Arai Rey
(Japan)" by B. Riptin [12], "Some similarities and differences betweeen two works:
Geumo Sinhwa (Korea) and Collection of Strange Tales (Vietnam)” by Le Dinh Chinh
[33] etc. Through these studies, researchers have come up with overview assessments on
the genre’s characteristics and historical-literary position of fantasy stories in the two
countries throughout the general development of their literature. Along with them, these
are surveys to come up with some distinctions of common features and unique differences
between Vietnamese and Korean fantasy story genre.
1.2. Studies on characters in Vietnamese and Korean medieval fantasy story genre
Being the most important issue of the genre, characters and character-related issues
are mentioned and mainstreamed by researches in their joint studies on literary works, story

series or common issues of the genre. In this subsection, for a convenient reference, we also
split it into two small sub-sections: 1) Studies on characters in Vietnamese medieval fantasy
stories and 2) Studies on characters in Korean medieval fantasy stories in comparative
correlation with ones in in Vietnamese medieval fantasy stories.
1.2.1. Studies on characters in Vietnamese medieval fantasy stories
In this direction, there are studies selecting a character in a story or in one/some
story episode. Characters in stories and story series such as Truyện Hà Ô Lôi, Thánh
Tông di thảo, Collection of Strange Tales, Truyen ky tan pha, LGBT, etc. are most
concerned. Many typical studies by Le Si Thang and Ha Thuc Minh [295]; Bui Duy Tan
[248]; Tran Dinh Su [241]; Tran Thi Bang Thanh, Bui Thi Thien Thai [265]; Tran Nho
Thin [283], [284]; Dinh Thi Khang [120]; Nguyen Phong Nam [212], etc. should be
mentioned. Some other researchers such as Hoang Huu Yen, Doan Le Giang, Nguyen
Dang Na, Nguyen Pham Hung, La Nham Thin, Nguyen Huu Son, Doan Thi Thu Van,
Dinh Phan Cam Van, Le Van Tan, Pham Van Hung, etc. also provide some suggestion on
characters and character-related contents and character formation organization in their
overview works and studies on the genre of fantasy story/story serie as well as articles
about characters in some given stories.
1.2.2. Studies on characters in Korean medieval fantasy stories in comparative
correlation with ones in in Vietnamese medieval fantasy stories
In the perspective of studying characters in Korean fantasy stories or studies
comparing them with Vietnamese ones, from the Korean side, according to the
instructions of Toan Hue Khanh, there is no specialized work. The Study of comparing the
Korean-Chinese-Vietnamese novel series through "Geumo Sinhwa", “New stories told
while trimming the wick” and " Collection of Strange Tales" performed by Toan Hue
Khanh" [117] is a valuable work. In Korean historical literature from ancient times to the
end of XIX century [134] and Korean classical literature [348], due to the unique feature
of the book, most the issues on characters in fantasy stories has not been mentioned. In
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Korean literature teaching materials [91] and The development and identify of Korean
classical literature [93], Phan Thi Thu Hien and her research team, when it comes to the
issue of characters in story series, just mainly refer to the character content, the art of
character formation has not been mentioned consciously. The main contribution from this
perspective is a series of studies on comparing characters in the two episodes of the
famous story series Geumo Sinhwa and Collection of Strange Tales. Some of the typical
articles should be mentioned such as: 1) "Comparing the type of “people in paradise” in
Vietnamese literature with The nine cloud dream (Korea)" [229]; 2) "Similarity in the
Korean and Vietnamese Zen monks before the XV century" [233] by Nguyen Huu Son; 3)
"The character of female in Geumo Sinhwa and Collection of Strange Tales" by Luu Thi
Hong Viet [323]; 3) “Dream - Imagination and desire for love in New stories told while
trimming the wick, Geumo Sinhwa, Collection of Strange Tales và Tales of moonlight and
rain” by Nguyen Thi Mai Lien [148]; 4) “Some similarities and differences between the
two works : Geumo Sinhwa (Korea) và Collection of Strange Tales (Việt Nam)” by Le
Dinh Chinh [33], etc. Through the above-mentioned studies, most of the researcher comes
up with a common view about many similarities in the reflection and the art of character
formation Vietnamese-Korean story series, although the space, time and the độ đậm nhạt
của ý vị in characters in each country are different.
Sub-conclusion of Chapter 1
In general, it can be affirmed that the studies and articles on Vietnamese and Korean
medieval fantasy stories are quite plentiful with many aspects of the genre such as the origin of
the fantasy story concept; the features and characteristics of fantasy stories; the aspects of
ideological content, cultural-religious elements in the reflection content of the genre; the art
characteristics of the genre, particularly ones on the use of fantasy elements, the interweaving
of fantasy elements with real ones, etc. have been suggested from single studies to wellorganized and long-term works. Concerning the central issue of the thesis - the issue of
characters in the two countries’ fantasy stories, the researches are still rare, particularly the
comprehensive and systematic comparative ones. This is the task set out and initially resolved
in this thesis. The great inspiration for me, a Korean person, to choose this topic is, on most
aspects of the genre, including the issue of character expression, the type relationship of the
literature of the two countries Vietnam and Korea in the middle ages are "mostly similar with

unconsiderable difference" as mentioned by researches. Of course, the specific representation
in each country and by each author, in each story episode have their own interesting
characteristics.
Chapter 2
SOME RELATED THEORETICAL ISSUES AND THE BASIS CONSTITUTING
THE GENRE OF VIETNAMESE AND KOREAN MEDIEVAL FANTASY STORIES
2.1 Some related theoretical issues
2.1.1. General theoretical basis
2.1.1. 1. Theory of literary character
Literary characters are "specific people described in literary works. Literary
characters may have their own names (...) or do not (...). Literary character is an artistic
unit đầy tính ước lệ, it cannot be identified with real people in life” [79, p.202]. Whether
the character is a humanized one or a historical figure to be reflected, he or she bears the
characteristics of the human notion of the writer. Through the character, the writer
expresses his reflection and thoughts about people, life and the status of his era. Through
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characters, we can also understand the reflection of social realities, the ideology of the era
and the reality of elements in the traditional cultural structure of each nation. Therefore,
by profoundly studying characters, we will have surveys and descriptions of the
combination of Vietnamese-Korean traditional cultural elements in their medieval fantasy
stories.
2.1.1.2. Theory of literary genre
In the medieval literature of Eastern countries in general, of East Asian countries,
and of Vietnam and Korea in particular, the system of genres is relatively plentiful with
the process of formation, reception as well as constantly changing and moving at the same
time with the movement and development of the literary history of each nation. The genre
is a form factor that is more formal and coherent than other elements of the whole body,
so it seems to be "obsolete" in the process of changing and developing.

2.1.2. Conception of fantastic things and the genre of fantasy story
2.1.2.1. The concept of fantastic things
First of all, in terms of letters, fantasy (in English: fantastic; in Chinese: 奇; in
Korean: 기발하다) consist of two components which need to be clarified including
strangeness and imagination. Basically, researchers agree that: the fantastic things refer to
the supernatural things (supernatural; 초자연적인); the impossible things (impossible;
불가능하다). In terms of words, in Vietnamese, strange means unusual, imaginary means
unreal. A fantastic thing is a strange, unreal thing which cannot be seen in reality. Thus, a
literary work with fantastic elements is the one in which there is supernatural, strange,
fantasy, illusory elements in the formation of story plot, characters or themes, certain
ideology or inspiration, etc.
2.1.2.2. The conception of fantasy story genre
The genre of fantasy story is a part of the fantasy literature in general. Fantasy literature
includes the literary creations containing fantastic, ghostly and strange elements or unreal
events, people, etc. Fantasy stories are a form of self-narrative (narrative) literature which
uses fantasy elements in organizing the work (one or all of the elements) from building
structure, artistic plot, choices for character formation, other events, happenings,
circumstances, etc., which contains the properties and nature of the fantastic thing.
2.1.2.3. Proposal of the concept of Vietnamese and Korean medieval fantasy stories
Fantasy story genre is a kind of medieval narrative prose which is included in
fantasy literature in small or medium scale (in terms of page number), with narrative
content and/or relatively complete plot; Characters are formed and reflected in the mode
of thinking containing fantastic elements. The issues of life reality and the people of two
nations are represented in works through the use of fantastic things, associated with the
method of organizing the structure, plot, types/ kinds of characters, events, circumstances
and strange, unusual and extraordinary motif, etc. Medieval fantasy stories are associated
with fiction and imagination, representing and affirming the sense of autonomy and selfawareness in artistic creation of medieval writers in Vietnam and Korea.
2.2. The basis forming the genre of Vietnamese and Korean fantasy stories
2.1.1. Historical and social basis
In this section, we generalize the main characteristics of the social and history basis

of Vietnam and Korea during the middle age as the prerequisites for creating demand and
the appearance of the first forms of medieval fantasy story genre. The historical and social
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context of Vietnam and Korea in the middle age has become a material to reflect and also
provide motivation for the formation and development to the peak of the fantasy story
genre of the two contries.
2.1.2. Cultural and literary basis
2.1.2.1. Influence by folk literature
The imprint of folk literature in medieval prose in general, in Vietnamese and
Korean fantasy story genre in particular is an absolute proof of its influence on writing
literature. From motifs, folk plot to the types/kinds of characters; from the thinking aspect,
from the conception of spiritual and supernatural things, puting soul into all things, etc. to
the ideological aspect, the folk philosophy of "One good turn deserves another", "good
wins ugly,"justice defeats evils"," Good people will be rewarded, bad guys are punished",
fortune and misfortune, karma, types of happy ending, folk optimistic spirit, etc. have
been selectively received and adapted into complete stories which combining real – unreal
things, reality - romance, gradually bearing the imprint of author 's style and presenting
deep philosophies and ideas of human life.
2.1.2.2. Influence by the ideology of Buddhism, Laozi - Zhuangzi and Confucianism
a) Influence by Buddhism’s ideology
The Buddhism’s conception of the world, impermanent, uncertain and illusory life;
the doctrine of reincarnation, rebirth, and karma; the ability to reach the "nirvana" or the
realm of bliss in a world different to the mundane world, etc. has had a profound influence
on the worldview and the outlook on life of the writers who wrote Vietnamese and Korean
medieval fantasy stories. Inevitably, the cultural aspects, spiritual life, the representation
of Buddhism’s ideology have deeply penetrated into many aspects of the content and the
form of many fantasy stories/story series of the two countries.
b) Influence by Laozi – Zhuangzi ideology

Besides Buddhism, Laozi - Zhuangzi’s ideology was one of the most influencing
ideologies in the religious life, belief and spiritual life of Vietnamese and Korean people.
Founded by Laozi and then Zhuangzi, Laozi – Zhuangzi’s classic system is quite concise,
condensed with highly unspoken implication that it is uneasy for subsequent generations
to comprehend. There are three most important aspects of the Laozi - Zhuangzi doctrine
acquired by medieval writers including: 1) The conception of the universe and all things,
2) The conception of humanity and 3) Theory of nonaction and of course, the influence
degree on each writer, each fantasy story or eposide is different.
c) Influence by Confucianism ideology
Confucianism is considered a ideology having long-term and extentsive influence
on Vietnamese and Korean societies which greatly contributing to the organization of the
state, maintaining social order and economic development, influencing the literary works
in the middle age. Many aspects of Confucianism ideology in this direction would also
reflextive in the medieval fantasy story world. Therefore, many fantasy stories could help
readers to understand the level and ability to observe, recognize and explain the world as
well as the difficult isses of historical and social reality. For that reason, many Vietnamese
and Korean writers in the middle age originally came from Confucians but they chose the
genre of fantasy stories.
2.1.2.3. The adoption of ideology from Vietnamese-Korean indigenous beliefs
The belief and religious life of Vietnamese and Korean residents is highly plentiful
with many similarities. Vietnamese people are distinguished with their polytheistic beliefs
9


and Korean residents are also associated with polytheistic beliefs, called as the conception
of Musok (Vu tục), also known as Shamanism or Korean Shamanism. This kind of belief
would have an significant influence on the people’s visualization of the world and the
formation of fantasy story genre. In polytheistic belief, the people of both countries thought
that both angels and gods exist . The two countries’ people from the past have had the custom
of worshiping gods of nature. Natural phenomena such as wind, rain, thunder, lightning,

whether conditions, storms and floods, etc. .have been considered as spirit things. While
Vietnam has worships of Mau Thuong Thien (Heavenly mother), Ba Chua Son Trang (God
of Mountains), Ba Nuoc (God of Water), and Mau Dia Phu (God of Earth) and natural
phenomena as mentioned above, Korean people worship gods such as Supreme gods (who
lives in the heaven and control everything in the universe), God of Space (Obang Changgun
is the common name of the five gods who reign in five directions, representing the folk
universe of Korean people), the Gods of the Earth (San-sin), the Gods protecting the village
(Changsang), Thánh chủ (Sõngju), God of Water and countless other unknown gods, etc. All
these features of Vietnamese-Korean indigenous beliefs would be acquired and represented
by the medieval novelists in the artistic world of their works.
2.1.2.4. The adoption of regional fantasy literature
In fact, fantasy stories exist both in Western and Eastern literature and they all have a
process of formation and development based on the individual developments of each region
and each literature of each nation as well. However, considering the adoption of the genre
tradition as a factor forming the genre of Vietnamese and Korean medieval fantasy stories,
the influence of Chinese literature tradition in ancient and middle ages is most obsolete.
Therefore, in this subsection, we focus on clarifying some basic aspects of the Chinese
fantasy story tradition and the adoption process of Vietnamese-Korean authors
Sub-conclusion of Chapter 2
In chapter 2, we determine and briefly explained theoretical issues related to the
thesis topic and the basis forming the genre of Vietnamese and Korean fantasy story. The
related theoretical issues including the theory of literary characters and the theory of
genres are mentioned. While the genre of story series has the characteristics of East Asian
cultural area, the genre of fantasy story is international. As indicated by researchers,
fantasy stories formed early in the world and rapidly developed in many countries,
including Vietnam and Korea. Therefore, Vietnamese and Korean medieval fantasy
stories, according to our survey, adopt not only the regional fantasy story tradition but also
the influence of this genre in the world. And it is worth noting that in the medieval cultural
context of Vietnam and Korea, some fantasy story writers of the two countries have
reached the regional level, providing certain contributions to the development of the

genre. These are some contents to be initially clarified in the following chapters. In
addition, in the content of this section, on the basis of referring to the previous researches,
particularly based on the reality of the fantasy story genre in the literature of the two
countries, we come up with our conception of the fantastic things and the genre of
Vietnamese-Korean medieval fantasy stories. Besides, in this chapter, we also use some
pages for a brief analysis of the formation basics of the fantasy story genre, including
historical and social basis as well as cultural and literary ones. The distinct features of the
historical and social origin as well as the basis of literary culture (such as the adoption of
folk literature, the adoption of ideologies of Buddhism, Laozi - Zhuangzi, Confucianism,
10


indigenous beliefs as well as the acquisition of regional and world fantasy literature
traditions) have been clarified.
Chapter 3
CHARACTERISTICS OF SOME TYPES OF CHARACTERS IN THE MEDIEVAL
FANTASY STORIES OF VIETNAM AND KOREA
Because of the peculiarities of types and to avoid the duplication in content with other
sections of the dissertation, the main basis for surveying and dividing our characters is the
origin of characters in relation to descriptive ways (there will be two basis types that
characters having a magical origin and characters with natural origin; of course these two
main types have separate group with their own characteristics). Of course, no matter how
apart it is, even if it is separated, it will only have relative meaning. The fact that a character
can simultaneously be classified into many types is a pratice of art creation in general and the
artistic thinking of fantasy writers of both countries in particular.
3.1. Type of fantasy character
As mentioned in the previous sections, fantasy characters are to show the
appearance of characters with magical characteristics and elements. They are surrealistic
characters with capable, mysterious or miraculous abilities or having different
characteristics that ordinary people do not have. This group consists of characters who

may have extraordinary and supernatural origin without any connection with the world; or
may be earthly characters but they are apotheosized to become fantasy characters by
certain objective or subjective reasons, or they are dead people finding the way to return
earthly world to carry out tasks that they did not have a chance to do.
Bảng 3.1. The apperance of fantasy character in the medieval fantasy story of
Vietnam and Korea
STORY
NUMBER OF
TYPES OF FANTASY
No
(Number of story with
FANTASY
CHARACTER
appearance of fantasy
CHARACTER Characters with Characters with
character)
extraordinary
earthly origin
origin
Vietnam
1
Thien uyen tap anh ngu luc
08
05
03
(21 stories)
2
Viet đien u linh tap
29
20

09
(40 stories)
3
Linh Nam chich quai truyen
75
44
31
(36 stories)
4
Thanh Tong di thao
34
32
02
(15 stories)
5
Truyen ky man luc
32
16
16
(20 stories)
6
Truyen ky tan pha
09
09
0
(04 stories)
7
Lan Tri kien van luc
27
22

05
(38 stories)
8
Tang thuong ngau luc
40
21
19
(41 stories)
11


Thinh van di luc
9
(15 stories)
Tổng
230
10

12
266
Korea
176

10
179

02
87

Tam Quoc di su

132
44
(86 stories)
11
Dung Trai tung thoai
05
03
02
(12 stories)
12
Thu di truyen
39
25
14
(27 stories)
13
Kim Ngao tan thoai
42
32
10
(05 stories)
14
Xi Trai ky di
42
38
04
(04 stories)
15
Tam thuyet ky
32

23
09
(09 stories)
Total
143
336
253
83
Total: 373
602
432
170
Looking at the above statistics, we can see the appearance of many types of fantasy
characters or virtualized characters in the medieval fantasy story of Vietnam and Korea.
As a severe perception and a specific thinking of the genre, most of the fantasy writer have
attended to create this type of character in the world of artistic work. The group of
character having extraordinary origin accounts for a higher percentage of the group of
character with earthly origin and the interesting feature is that even for the characters who
have extraordinary origin the fantasy writer still creates a relationship between them and
mundane world. In other words, when creating fantasy characters with extraordinary
origin in specific artistic spaces and times, authors is always conscious of finding the
relationship/involvement of such characters with the live of earthly people. On that basis,
the world of fantasy characters, no matter how mysterious it is, can be affirmed that the
medieval fantasy writer still aims to life of human with dreams, ambitions and aspirations
for good things. This features have some similarities and differences between Vietnam and
Korea. Among the fantasy characters that appear in the medieval fantasy story of Vietnam,
there is a group of characters built to create relationships with ordinary world.
3.1.1. Types of fantasy character having little/much relation to the ordinary world
The relationships between this type of fantasy character and the world might be less,
might be more. The characters having little relation to the ordinary world, following our

survey, will be supporting characters with a role to reveal, forshadowing what will happen
in the life of earthly people. We call them earthly prophets (전세계를 예언하는 사람).
Their apperance is to perform the function of predicting a good omen/bad omen that will
happen to main character of the story (who their role is to carry out main tasks). In many
cases, this earthly prophet also instructs human the way how to avoid, disentangle bad
omen and how to grasp the good opportunities in their destiny... If the type of character
who is this earthly prophet only appears once in the evolution of the story, at a higher
frequency, the type of characters who have more important role for the main character’s
fate is group of fantasy characters capable of intervening, directly impacting on human
life. We temporarily call this group of people who intervene in the world (전세계를
12


간섭하는 사람). This is something that the previous researchers have mentioned
especially on the thesis of Do Thi My Phuong, which has thorough overview, of course
only at the medieval tales of Vietnam [212]. Basically, the intervention and impact of this
character group takes place in two directions: One is to bring peace, help destroy the cruel
forces, violence against life, happiness of mortals; the other is in opposite way, the fantasy
characters break and trample on human life. In medieval fantasy story of Korean, the
characters who is earthly prophet do not appear frequently. Such characters almost do not
appear in Dung Trai tung thoai, Thu di truyen, Kim Ngao tan thoai, Xi Trai ky di, Tam
thuyet ky; In Tam quoc di su, they only are mentioned in several story such as “Kim Duu
Tun”, “Vua Hue Cung”, “Nu đai vuong Chan Thanh va Cu Đa Tri”, “Duyen Hoi tranh
tieng va Van Thu điem”, “Hai vi thanh su cua nui Bao”... Meanwhile, the type of gods,
gods of mountain, gods of tree, gods of forest, gods of river, appear densely in Tam quoc
di su. They are virtual characters with the ability to directly intervene, support people and
Korean dynasties in the process of buiding and protecting the government; helping and
assisting mandarins and generals in the career of faculties or in the war to protect peace
and happiness of local people. The interesting things in medieval fantasy stories of Korean
is that the God will not always the ultimate. Many actions and instructions of this

character are also bureaucratic, lack of attention and not directed to human life. In Thu di
truyen, type of fairy characters having power to intervene in earthly life also appear, for
example, the character in Vien Quang story. In contrast, Kim Ngao tan thoai, XTKD and
TTK story almost do not have the type of characters who intervene earthly life. Writers
focused on creating a different kind of fantasy character that will be discussed below.
In addition to these two types of fantasy characters, there is another third kind of
character which is unique. These are fantasy characters who come to the world to “seek
for their survival” [212, page.108]. Such fantasy characters named character who seek for
the world (진세계를 찾는 사람) would like to have a chance to express, clever,
communicate, receive help from someone in mortal realm in order to “complete” the
aspirations which have not been done (usually known as ghosts). This type of fantasy
character also appears in many medieval fantasy stories of Korea. In Dung Trai tung
thoai, Thanh Hien told “Chuyen ma của ba Trinh”; Kim Ngao tan thoai has “Van Phuc tu
hu bo ky” story (The games in Van Phuc pagoda). Additionally, it is also possible to
mention some cases in other story of Thu di truyen such as “Thoi Tri Vien”, “Tien nu tui
hong” hay truyện “Song nu mo”...
3.1.2. The type of fantasy characters who are almost unrelated to the world
In general, in terms of frequency, this is the group of characters whose appearance
are less than the type of fantasy characters having little/much relation to the ordinary
world as per our analysis above. Considering the role of this character group with
structural oganization and the plot, they are mostly supporting characater (if they are the
main characters they will only be co-main character; which means there are at least two 2
main characters in the story and one of them will be ordinary people). This type of
character is often the owner of surreal realm, either heavenly or geographic. We
temporarily call this type of Lords of unreal world (초자연적인 세계의 주인). In the
medieval fantasy story of Vietnam, this type of character appear in VĐUL, Thiền uyển
tập anh ngữ lục but they only mark an memorable point in Thánh Tông di thảo, Truyền kỳ
mạn lục, Truyen ky tan pha and Thinh van di luc. According to our survey, Thánh Tông di
13

thảo has two most typical story named “Duyen la hoa quoc” and “Truyen la nha thuyen
chai”; Truyền kỳ mạn lục has story as “Truyen Tu Thuc lay vo tien”, “Chuyen đoi tung o
Long cung”, “Chuyen Pham Tu Hu len choi Thien tao”...; Truyen ky tan pha has the stories as
“Truyen nu than o Van Cat” and “Cuoc gap go ky la o Bich Cau”; Thinh van di luc having
the “Truyen Loa Đai vuong” is typical. In medieval fantasy story of Korea, tTrong truyện kỳ
ảo trung đại Hàn Quốc, Lords of unreal world also appear several times in Tam quoc di su,
Dung Trai tung thoai but it unclear still Thu di truyen. Until Kim Ngao tan thoai and Xi Trai
ky di, this type of character appears more clearly and more elaborately.
3.2. Ordinary character type
Ordinary character type are mostly realistic observations combined with the artistic
fictions of fantasy story writers of the two countries. And afterall, the primary concern of
the story writers is this type of character. Of course, in terms of origin, ordinary characters
are often mere mortals, however, because of the genre feature and style of writting, these
ordinary characters are always placed in relation to the fantasy world. Therefore, when
conducting the survey, we take the criterion that if these ordinary characters have contact
with the fantasy world or not to classify them into two types: 1) Ordinary characters
having contact with fantasy world and 2) Ordinary characters not having contact with
fantasy world.
Table 3.2. The appearance of ordinary character type in medieval fantasy stories of
Vietnam and South Korea
NO.

1
2

3
4
5
6

7
8
9

VOLUMES
(Number of stories with the
appearance of ordinary
characters)

Thiền uyển tập anh ngữ lục
(21 stories)
Collection of Stories on the
Shady and Spiritual World
of the Viet Realm (40
stories)
Selection of Strange Tales
in Linh Nam (36 stories)
Thanh Tong’s Posthumous
Manuscript (15 stories)
Collection of Strange Tales
(20 stories)
Truyền kỳ tân phả
(04 stories)
Lan Trì kiến văn lục
(38 stories)
Random Record of Great
Changes (41 stories)
Thính văn dị lục

NUMBER

OF
ORDINARY
CHARACT
ERS

Vietnam
100

ORDINARY CHARACTER TYPE
Ordinary characters
Ordinary
who have contact
characters who
with fantasy world
don’t have
contact with the
fantasy world

18

82

189

75

114

128

69

59

38

28

10

67

37

30

20

17

03

97

48

49

113

66

47

14


(15 stories)
Total
10

230

48
800
South Korea
541

28
386

20
414

Memorabilia of the Three
250
291
Kingdoms (86 stories)
11 Dung Trai tùng thoại
57

14
43
(12 stories)
12 Thù dị truyện
82
35
47
(27 stories)
13 Kim Ngao tân thoại
49
13
36
(05 stories)
14 Xí Trai ký dị
18
05
13
(04 stories)
15 Tam thuyết ký
33
07
26
(09 stories)
Total
143
780
324
456
Total: 373
1580

710
870
3.2.1. Ordinary characters having contact with fantasy world
This group of characters has a large number of ordinary characters who appear in
fantasy stories of the two countries. Of course, the ratio of ordinary characters to fantasy
characters is different in different episodes, and there are also certain differences between the
medieval fantasy stories of Vietnamese and South Korea. Based on the way, degree and
frequency that ordinary characters interact and move between real space and virtual space, we
can see some basic forms: 1) Group of characters have contact (transient only) with the
fantasy world; 2) Group of intermediate characters (appear longer) in the virtual world in
relation to the real world and 3) Group of characters who embark on virtual world.
3.2.2. Ordinary characters not having contact with the fantasy world
In the medieval fantasy stories of the two countries, a small group of characters is not
numerous and throughout story plot and story line, they only play supporting roles, the
masses, mere humans who does not know the existence of a magical, miraculous world.
Of course in which there are also characters with beliefs in spirits, except that they are not
developed to experience outside the real world. And of course, with the main role of the
supporting character, many of them with their appearance have been few in the story line
so most of them are quite fuzzy, the number of those who play main characters are few.
However, in relation to characters who have contact with fantasy world, the characters of
this type are indispensable because they are witnesses to other characters in the story who
have traveled, contacted, engaged in fantasy world. In addition, the emergence of this type of
ordinary characters who don’t have contact with fantasy world also shows the perspective and
mind set about the reality of the medieval fantasy story writers of the two countries.

Sub-conclusion of Chapter 3
Through a quantitative survey of typical fantasy story volumes of the two countries
and qualitative descriptions, analysis and explanations, in chapter 3, we had statistics,
classification and analysis of character types from reference the role of the character to the
style of writing. The world of characters in the medieval fantasy stories of Vietnam –

South Korea is indeed very diverse and rich. In relation to the role of characters with
writing style, the use of fantasy and real elements, we have clarified many similarities
15


(mainly) and interesting differences (few) of fantasy character types and ordinary
character types in fantasy stories of the two countries. The character, afterall, is the
refraction, the image of people, country through artistic view and the aesthetic conception
of each writer and each culture. Therefore, through developing characters, writers
delivered many thoughts and concerns as well as highly human valued aspirations of life,
joy, sadness, life and death, the aspirations, the dreams of happiness and reunion of
contemporary people. Of course, in addition to the points presented in this chapter, in the
structure of character content, fantasy story writers of the two countries also dedicated to
many messages of beliefs and culture or in other words, through characters, the readers
also see the expressions and aspects of Vietnamese and South Korean traditional culture.
This content will be presented and solved in chapter 4 of the thesis.
Chương 4
EXPRESSION OF CULTURAL ASPECTS THROUGH CHARACTERS IN
MEDIEVAL FANTASY STORY OF VIETNAM AND SOUTH KOREA
4.1. Characters and dimensions of Buddhist culture
4.1.1. The character and the process of adopting Buddhism, sects and Zen
Masters’ stories
4.1.1.1. Characters in medieval fantasy story of vietnam
The most comprehensive and systematic fantasy story about the sects and Zen
Maters’ stories of Vietnam is Thiền uyển tập anh ngữ lục. According to the records, Zen
lineage in Vietnam including 3 tributaries: Wu-Yun-T’ung Zen lineage (including 39
stories); Ty Ni Na Luu Chi Zen lineage (including 28 stories) and Ts’ao-Tang Zen lineage
(only contains the names of 18 Zen Masters in five generations without specific story
content). The book records Zen lineages in Vietnam for about seven centuries, from the
end of the 6th century to the beginning of the 13th century. The elaborate notes (except for

the record of Ts’ao-Tang Zen lineage) showed the profound and comprehensive
knowledge of the author that obviously contains respect and religiosity to Buddhism in
general and Zen Buddhism in particular.
4.1.1.2. The character of medieval fantasy story in South Korea
Records of sects as well as stories about monks in medieval fantasy stories of South
Korea are much different from Thiền uyển tập anh ngữ lục’s notes because of the nature
of the book. In relation to Thiền uyển tập anh ngữ lục (Vietnam) which talks deeply about
sects and stories of Zen masters, in Memorabilia of the Three Kingdoms, the author has
broader coverage of the problem with five basic aspects of Korean Buddhism. Generally,
the fundamental difference is that if in Thiền uyển tập anh ngữ lục, the author only focuses
the stories of Zen masters, in Memorabilia of the Three Kingdoms, the author has an
sufficient and basic view and notes (not all) on the major aspects of Buddhism such as the
origin, the process of introduction and absorption of Hoằng dương phật giáo in the
country, etc.
4.1.2. Character with positive contributions and influences of Zen masters/
Buddhism on the nation
4.1.2.1. The character in medieval fantasy story of Vietnam
The contribution of Vietnamese Zen masters can be seen clearly the most in Thiền
uyển tập anh ngữ lục, then less in Collection of Stories on the Shady and Spiritual World
of the Viet Realm as well as in Selection of Strange Tales in Linh Nam. In Thanh Tong’s
Posthumous Manuscript, Collection of Strange Tales and some later story volumes,
16


Buddhism is no longer appreciated, even being sarcastic, ridiculed and denied; the cases in
which Buddhism being praised are very rare. A number of outstanding contributions of
Vietnamese Buddhism/ Zen masters are mentioned as follows: to be appointed to hold
important duties in bureaucracy and/ or to deal with significant and urgent tasks; make an
important contribution in helping the King perform rituals to pray for rain for well crops; Hàng
yêu phục hổ, eradicate diseases; help to educate people, to encourage kindness and eliminate

evil, to promote, to urge people towards goodness and enlightement and give up bad habits,
hatred and delusion to purify the soul, preserve the purity and good personality, etc.
4.1.2.2. The character in medeival fantasy story of South Korea
In History of the Three Kingdoms, in the “Biographies” section, the record of
Buddhism and Zen Masters is few. Until Memorabilia of the Three Kingdoms, under the
eyes of Zen Master Nhat Nhien, the records of Buddhism has become rich. As we
mentioned above, the role and positive effects of Buddhism in general and Zen Masters in
particular on medieval Korean society can be seen in the following basic points: Firstly, as
for Vietnam, Buddhism and Zen masters at certain historical periods have been
“welcomed” quite warmly, of course there are also ups and downs; Secondly, about the
role of Zen Master, in volume 4, the fifth chapter “Nghĩa giải”, author Nhat Nhien also
mentioned much and quite elaborately about the influence of Zen masters on
contemporary regime as well as on people, etc.
4.2. Character and the sides of Lao Tzu - Chuang Tzu culture
4.2.1. Character and the promotion of training, meditation, preservation of
xinxing towards seclusion
4.2.1.1. Character in Vietnam medieval fantasy stories
Lao Tzu - Chuang Tzu culture or Taoism culture in general, has a profound
influence with Vietnam medieval fantasy stories. The three stories of Taoism which has
the clearest influence are Thanh Tong Di Thao, Truyen Ky Man Luc and Truyen Ky Tan
Pha, although the level and savor are different. This issue has been carefully analyzed and
interpreted.
4.2.1.2. Character in Korea medieval fantasy stories
Similar to Thiền uyển tập anh ngữ lục, in Tam Quoc di su, most monks have
supernatural powers, magic, etc., that mentioned in section 3.1 so here we didn’t mention
it anymore. Dung Trai Tung Thoai has no stories mentioning about it. Until the
introduction of Thu di truyen, Kim Ngao tan thoai, Xi Trai ky di and Tam Thuyet ky, the
influence of Taoism become more apparent. In which, Kim Ngao tan thoai and Xi Trai ky
di are more apparent than the others.
4.2.2. Character with magic, spell

Associated with Taoism, the story content of spell, magic of the characters who are
Taoists is also mentioned in the Vietnam and South Korea medieval fantasy stories,
although the level and color are different.
4.2.2.1. Character in Vietnam medieval fantasy stories
When proceeding a very careful examination, we can see that the manifestations of
magical talent in the most powerful level of the Zen masters in “Thiền uyển tập anh ngữ
lục” and some stories in “VĐUL”, “Thiền uyển tập anh ngữ lục” are also the little
influence from magical Taoism. After examinating Truyền kỳ mạn lục story, 07/20
stories has the character as Taoist. In “Lan Trì kiến văn lục” series, Vu Trinh, the
17


author, wrote a complete story about a Taoist named Pham Vien. In “Truyen ky tan pha”
series, at the end of the two stories named “Truyen nu than o Van Cat” (Story about the fairy
in Van Cat) and “Bich Cau ky ngo”, the mystery magic, and the magic of character are
mentioned, and they were used in the good activities, etc. It can be seen that in the Vietnam
medieval fantasy stories, Taoism culture colors are quite strong, especially in Thánh Tông di
thảo, Truyền kỳ mạn lục, and Truyen ky tan pha, partly in Lan Trì kiến văn lục.
4.2.2.2. Character in South Korea medieval fantasy stories
The mantra, spell are mentioned in some stories in “Tam Quoc di su” series (not
count the stories about monks as we mentioned) and the most of them have the mix
between Taoism and Buddhism. In “Dung Trai tung thoai” and “Kim Ngao tan thoai”
series, this content is almost hardly mentioned; but in “Thu di truyen” and “Tam thuyet
ky” series, there has a representational story, “Thuat Ba Gia” in “Thu di truyen” series,
which told about the God who cast a magic making Thuat Ba Gia overslept in the temple,
therefore cannot meet the prince. So, the colour and spirit influence of Taoism with Vietnam
and South Korea medieval fantasy stories are quite obvious. But in Vietnam medieval fantasy
stories, they are deeper, more obvious, and opulent than South Korea.
4.3. Character and the sides of Confucianism culture
4.3.1. Character and the promotion of student, studying spirit and imperial

examination
In chapter 3, we mentioned a little about Confucianism students character, and in here, we
are going to discuss more carefully about them in order to praise and promote their
temperament and virtue on their pursuit of Confucianism studying and imperial examination.
4.3.1.1. Character in Vietnam medieval fantasy stories
In Confucianism culture, the thing seems to be obvious that the characters are all
male and this type of character is reflected closer to real life by the authors. Looking back
at the whole process of formation and development of the genre, the Confucianism student
character appeared in previous works such as Thiền uyển tập anh ngữ lục (Tran The
Phap), Việt điện u linh (Ly Te Xuyen), Thiền uyển tập anh ngữ lục or Tam To thuc luc,
etc. And when they appear in the work, they primarily are described with praising manner
in order to set an example and record merits (we will discuss in other chaper/ or subchapter). But until the introdution of Thánh Tông di thảo (rumor said it belongs to King Le
Thanh Tong) and especially Truyền kỳ mạn lục, then Lan Trì kiến văn lục (author: Vu
Trinh) and Truyen ky tan pha (author: Doan Thi Diem) ... the Confucianism student
characters appear more with more diverse and complex ideology as well as reflect the
higher artistic level of the authors than before.
4.3.1.2. Character in South Korea medieval fantasy stories
In “Dung Trai tung thoai” series, there are two stories, “Chuyen tinh cua Anh Sinh”
(Love story of Anh Sinh) and “Giac mo cua ba nho sinh va giai mong” (The dreams of
three students and explaining), in which we can find the Confucianism student picture
somewhere but not be clear. In “Thu di truyen”, basically, the Cofucianism student
character doesn’t appear. But in all of five stories of Kim Ngao tan thoai, it is appeared the
Cofucianism student character. In which, in our opinion, the story of “Say ruou toi choi
den Phu Bich” (Get drunk and come to Phu Bich temple), “Cau chuyen o chau Viem Phu
phuong Nam” (The story in Viem Phu province in the Southern), and “Truyen di du yen
tiec o Long cung” appear the knightly and gently Cofucianism student who basically has
good virtue, hard-working, hard-studying, and the aspiration becoming the good mandarin, but
18

in the end, their ideals come true or not is another matter. The Cofucianism students
mentioned herein are Hong, Phac and Han student.
4.3.2. Character and the promotion of the enlightened kings and greatcontributions mandarins
4.3.2.1. Character in Vietnam medieval fantasy stories
The character type of enlightened kings and great-contribution mandarins are
mentioned very much and early in Vietnam medieval fantasy stories. Almost these
characters appearing in “Việt điện u linh” are real character in Vietnam history who lived
in the Chinese domination of Vietnam period and XIII, XIV and XV centuries. In “Thánh
Tông di thảo”, firstly we want to remind that the story teller is a king in the peace period,
who always hide the name in many stories (he always call himself as “ta” (a pronoun to
show the power and rank, usually used by a king or great mandarin) to tell the story). In
“Truyền kỳ mạn lục” of Nguyen Du, the enlightened king and mandarins don’t appear so
much because the reality in that period has many malice and trouble. The author
perpecstive of politics is also primarily critical. So that some characters in this type is
mainly from the previous centuries. We can mentione some names such as Hang Vuong,
Ho Tong Thoc, old mandarin with the last name of Pham in “Cau chuyen o den Hang
vuong” (The story at Hang Vuong Temple); Bach General in “Chuyen nguoi nghia phu o
Khoai Chau”; Ho Han Thuong, Truong cong in “Chuyen doi dap cua nguoi tieu phu o nui
Na” (The conversation with the woodcutter in Na mountain); Ho Quy Ly in “Chuyen bua
tiec dem o Da Giang” (The story of night party in Da Giang), etc. The type of kings and
mandarins who were promoted in Lan Trì kiến văn lục, Tang thương ngẫu lục and Thinh
van di luc are quite much; but almost of them is mandarins (The kings were not mentioned
so much). But the difference with Thánh Tông di thảo, Truyền kỳ mạn lục and Truyen ky
tan pha is that in almost cases, these mandarins is main character of the story and their
name is take to name the story, etc.
4.3.2.2. Character in South Korea medieval fantasy stories
In the series of Thanh Hien, the king, mandarin and general characters almost don’t
appear, except for one case which is Thi trung Khuong Ham mandarin in “Khuong Ham
Tan and su ho”. And in “Thu di truyen” and “A Dao” story lightly mentioned about the
kings such as Vi Trau King, Nguyen Tong King; the story of “Thoi Tri Vien”, “Thien Duc

Vuong”, A Dat La King in “Chang Dien Dieu, nang Te Dieu”, etc. Until Kim Ngao tan
thoai, Xy Trai ky di and Tam thuyet ky, the king, mandarin and general characters who
were promoted appeared in some stories, but not much compared with Vietnam stories.
We can mention some name in Kim Ngao tan thoai such as Diem La King in “Nam Viem phu
chau chi”; Long King in “Long cung pho yen luc”; Queen (Flower King) in Xy Trai ky di;
the mandarins in “An Bang mong du luc”; the Chancellor (girl’s father) in “Ha sinh ky ngo
truyen”; Thoi Tri Vien in “Thu di truyen” and the related stories; Thien Duc King in “Chi
Quy”, “Thien Duc Vuong” and “Thien Duc Vuong biet ro ba chuyen”; the King in “Thuat Ba
Gia”; Not Chi King in “Truyen A Dao”, etc. In Tam thuyet ky, we also can mention about the
furious five in “Ngu ho dai tuong ky” and the father in “Tam tu vien tong ky”, etc. In
general, the king, mandarin and general characters who were promoted in South Korea
medieval fantasy stories are not appeared so much compared with Vietnam stories. The
number of stories is not as same as Vietnam, and the number of king, mandarin characters is
not as same as, either. This shows less influence on Confucianism ideology for Korean
authors than in Vietnam.
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4.3.3. Character and the promotion of the exemplary and righteous women
4.3.3.1. Character in Vietnam medieval fantasy stories
The women characters appear densely in Vietnam medieval fantasy stories. The first
exemplary women in the medeival narrative is My E in “Hiep chinh Huu thien Trinh liet
chan Manh phu nhan” story in “Việt điện u linh” series. My E character also was told in
“Truyen ba phu nhan trinh liet My E” (Thiền uyển tập anh ngữ lục of Tran The Phap). In
“Thiền uyển tập anh ngữ lục”, the women characters were promoted such as Hai Ba Trung
in “Truyen hai ba Trinh linh phu nhan ho Trung” or Man Nuong in “Truyen Man Nuong”,
etc. In Thánh Tông di thảo, the exemplary and righteous women characters aren’t
appeared so much, such as the wife of Thuc Ngu in “Truyen la nha thuyen chai” or the
gatherer girl in “Truyen chong de”, etc. Until Truyền kỳ mạn lục and Truyen ky tan pha, the
women characters appear more and become the main of many stories. In which, the

representative of the women characters who have good virtue is Nhi Khanh in “Chuyen
nguoi nghia phu o Khoai Chau” and Vu Thi Thiet in “Chuyen nguoi con gai Nam Xuong”.
Meanwhile, with Mrs. Doan Thi Diem, the woman is the center of the whole story of
Truyen ky tan pha. And after Doan Thi Diem, in the remaining stories of fantasy which is
TLKVL and Tang thương ngẫu lục, the exemplary women or good virtue women still
continue to be mentioned (but in Thinh van di luc, there is no appearing of the exemplary
women). In Lan Trì kiến văn lục, the women characters apeear in “Ca ki ho Nguyen”, “Cau
chuyen tinh o Thanh Tri”, “Phu nhan Lan Quan Cong”, “Nguoi con gai Trinh Liet o Co
Trau”, “Nguoi dan ba trinh tiet o Thach Than”, “Thap Bao An”; and in Tang thương ngẫu
lục it is in “Liet phu Doan phu nhan”, “Ba vo thu ong Nguyen Kieu”. In general, they are all
women who have good, gentle, naive, faithful and compassionate virtues and willing to take
death to prove. Many of them have left very emotional aftertaste for readers.
4.3.3.2. Character in South Korea medieval fantasy stories
The exemplary women characters in Confucianism ceremony also appear in
South Korea medieval fantasy stories, but not as much and diverse as Vietnam. In Tam
quoc di su, there have a little appearing of that women character but in basically it is still in
faint. The author of “Dung Trai tung thai” also didn’t build this type of character. In “Thu di
truyen”, the exemplary women characters appear in some stories but still in short. We can
take “Song Nu truyen” for example, in which the two girls spirit when appariting, told Thoi
Tri Vien about their virgin. In “Cuong phong pha thuyen”, there is a appearing of women
named Bao Khai in Tan La period. In Kim Ngao tan thoai, the model of virgin and goodvirtue women is generally not pure, meaning still mixing the negative points, and in the end,
the emotional aspect and the liberation of women's needs are higher than the content about
virtue. Although, we can mention about the girl with surname of Ha in “Cuoc choi Hu bo
trong chua Van Phuc” or girl with surname of Thoi in “Truyen Ly sinh ngo trom qua tuong”.
In addition, in “Xy Trai ky di”, it is also possible to mention that the girl under the grave was
rescued and then with Ha student to be a couple in the story of "Ha sinh ky ngo truyen".
4.4. Characters and aspects in indigenous cultures of Vietnam and South Korea
Vietnam and Korea as well have experienced a thousands-of-year history. Over
many ups and down, event, prosperity and decadence as a common sense, the two
countries have, step by step, formed, developed, accumulated and retained, from

generation to generation, their own material and spiritual values of culture. In addition to
selectively acquiring foreign religious and belief theories such as Buddhism, Taoism (Tao
- Trang) and Confucianism, Vietnamese as well as Koreans have created their multi20


colored indigenous cultures. And such expressed aspects will be partially reflected
through a system of typical characters in medieval fantasy stories. Such issues as
characters associating with belief of spiritual things or Ancestor worship and with
Tutelary god one in medieval fantasy stories of Vietnam and Korea have been mentioned.
However, because of regulated size of the Thesis and capacity of foreigner in deeply
reading Vietnamese stories, in the following presentation, we only generally mention to
pergormance of indigenous culture without making division in each performance in the
system of medieval fantasy stories in the two countries.
4.4.1. Characters and indigenous culture in medieval fantasy stories of Vietnam
Originating from characteristics of civilization associating with the development of wet
rice agriculture, production, seeding, cultivation and even breeding depending much on the
weather, Vietnamese people from early to medieval time are very respectful to nature. They
appreciate and rely on nature, weather, land and climate, etc. As a result, in the image of
Vietnamese people, animism. The Vietnamese believes in the existence of a supernatural,
invisible force wirh ultimate power, controlling the happiness of human. The force including
God of Mountain, God of River, God of Forest, God of Ocean, God of Plant, God of Rock,
God of Soil, etc., have appreared in many fantasy stories. It could be considered to stories about
origin of Vietnamese nation through icons of Lac Long Quan and Au Co in “Story of Hong
Bang family” and series of stories about fish monster, fox monster, Dong Thien Vuong, plant
monster, Crossoptilon, golden turtle, God of Tan Vien Mountain, two gods in Long Nhan, Nhu
Nguyet, God of Bach Hac River, God of Vong Phu Mountain, etc in Lĩnh Nam chích quái ngữ
lục. It is a world of imortal sould, a supernatural world with great souls and powers, which can
support to the success of people in life as well as in the construction and protection of the
country. There are typical stories such as “Story of Tan Vien mountain” or in “Story of General
Cao in Vu Ninh”, “Story of Bach Hac River God”, etc. In general, the world of characters in

Lĩnh Nam chích quái ngữ lục is a world of god with fanciful colors, sparkling amongst
historical facts and Vietnamese belief of natural devotion, from the birth of Vietnamese people
to the gods of nature presenting in mountains and rivers.
In Collection of Stories on the Shady and Spiritual World of the Viet Realm with 27
stories, all of them are about about merits, the achievements of 27 gods worshiped in
temples. This atmosphere overflow all stories of Lĩnh Nam chích quái ngữ lục as well as
those of Collection of Stories on the Shady and Spiritual World of the Viet Realm abovementioned and and scattered all over the fantasy series later. Such notion is also the reson
for believing in fate, horoscopes in Vietnamese traditonal beliefe, etc. Thus, it can be
affirmed that such fundamental aspects of Vietnamese indigenous beliefs as animism,
natural worship; the belief of human worship has been quite clearly reflected through a
number of medieval fantasy stories in Vietnam as we have analyzed above.
4.4.2. Character and indigenous culture in medieval fantasy stories of Korea
On beliefs of animism, natural worship, they can be frequently found in stories of
Legends and History of the Three Kingdoms (LAHOTK). The world in LAHOTK belongs
to dynasties, lords of different generations and talented generals in different historical
times and periods. In there, prosperity and decadence of dynasty; selecting historical
characters is bring intervention and magical actions of gods, arrangement of heaven and
earth, fate. Like the Vietnamese, Korean people, over the past time as well as today, they
always believe in the world of gods existing in parallel with the real world. Beliefs of
animism and human worship as well as other good customs and practices, therefore, can be
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found in Legends and History of the Three Kingdoms and a couple of fantasy stories in
later period. Worships, sacrifices, magic, sorcery, etc., are mentioned in “The jade belt
given by god” [p. 80-81]; in “Tân La biệt ký” [p. 105], etc. Fortune-telling, phisiognomy
and astrology, misfortune, etc., is also mentioned in “Thái Tông Xuân Thu công” [p. 9899], etc. Praying for children is also mentioned in “Hien ThanhKing” [p. 319], etc.
Fantasy stories in Dung Trai tùng thoại, there is nothing special in this content, so we do
not discuss it any more. And in Thù dị truyện, images of human gods and gods, ghosts are
found in some stories. Belief of pray and worship, asking for intervention and help of gods

is also mention. Typically, “A Dao story” tells about a character namely Hac Ho Tu; story
of “Hurricane destroys boats” also mentions to praying and worship of Bao Khai, etc.
“Vien Quang story” mentions about a dream of warming from an immortal to tell the
bhikkhu to move the tent to another place because of blocking the way of god, otherwise
God will plead guilty, etc. The remaining, stories after Thù dị truyện is Geumo Sinhwa, Xý
Trai ký dị and A tale of three..( Tam thuyết ký), manifestation in term of belief in Korean
indigenous tradition does not frequently appear and is emphasized.
Sub-conclusion for Chapter 4
It can be affirmed that, through the images of characters, we can take a quite clear view
on manifestations, aspects of Buddhism, Tao - Trang, and Confucianism cultures and
indigenous culture overflowing in many fantasy stories/ story volumes of Vietnam and
Korea. In spite of difference in deep level, taint of each story and story volume as well as in
each period of genre development, and part of difference between Vietnam and Korea,
generally, similarities continue to be the key feature of this content in the image of character
types. Indigenous culture in Buddhism such as history of introduction process of Buddhism
(this is more clearly revealed in Korean medieval fantasy stories), on contribution and
positive effect of Buddhist zen master/ monk for country and nation; indigenous cultures of
Taoism (Tao - Trang) such as heightening practice, nurture, preservation of personal
character, aiming to recluse life; issues of magic, talismans; indigenous cultures of Confucius
such as heightening Students, scholar’s probity and system of former competitionexamination; heightening clear-sighted king, mandarins with merits; examples of heroine;
indigenous cultures of Vietnam - Korea such as belief of animism; belief of ancestor and
tutelary god worship was reflected in a relatively vivid manner in fantasy stories of the
countries. Based on investigation and description, we have carefully presented these contents
in chapter 4. Characters represented for image of people in a country receiving and
expressing such beautiful foreign indigenous culture (Indian culture through case of
Buddhism; Chinese culture in case of Taoism Confucius), accompanying with indigenous
culture. The path of introduction and coexistence, the promoting positive points of foreign
culture in Vietnam and Korea at medieval time, no matter how it takes, clearly, the points
remained and reflected in fantasy stories are extremely remarkable. We consider it a very
interesting, meaningful level when intensively investigating the characteristics in content of

characters in medieval fantasy stories of Vietnam - Korea.
CONCLUSION
1. Through the study, it can be conformed one again that, medieval fantasy stories
of Vietnam and Korea are rather rich, with a process of quite early formation and
development, on the basis of acquiring national folklore traditions, as well as
quintessential from of legend and strange monster stories in East Asian literature, fantasy
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stories of Vietnam and Korea reach the top quality in term of art with medieval legend
story. And while in Vietnam, medieval fantasy stories more and more tend to be shorter
(excepting for Truyen ky tan pha of Doan Thi Diem), with increase in reality factor which
is, according to researchers, like the opening for the modern kind of short story in late of
XIX century and the early of XX century, in Korea, fantasy stories more and more tend to
be longer and novelized in genre. This is a quite interesting point that we have only
initially pointed out, in case of being able to continuously study, conclusions with
scientific significance for the specialization of comparative literature will certainly be
provided.
2. Through investigation and description, the world of characters fantasy stories of
Vietnam and Korea is very rich and diverse. From various objectives in research approach,
researches can statistics, classify, describe, and assess types of characters from reference
on gender, occupation, class, level in society, nature, quality or nature of character, etc.
And, of course, each way of classification will provide us with different view on different
aspects of that world in order to understand the inner depth of the content and art aspects
of each work, each story volume as well as the history of it genre. Selecting classification
associating to nature of fantasy stories, in this Thesis, we conducted adequate analysis and
description on two types of characters: the first one is fantasy character and the other is
literal character. Among of them, the first type linked to the literal world and the second one
linked to fantasy world account for largest quantity, at the same time, it also recognizes the
most basic contributions, reflecting the most unique systems of artistic thinking of writers.

There is also no completely clear boundary or gap between these two types, but basically,
whether it is literal or fantasy character, all of them are featured and pulled strings with
confide, desire on the way of world, about time as well as personal confidences. There is a
logic, in spite of being not complete between the world of characters in fantasy stories and
their choice for life, from doing religious work to recluse life, retiring from mandarinate in
writers, most typically, of Nguyen Du of Vietnam and Kim Si-seup or Than Quang Han of
Korea. Thanks to advantage gained from recluse life, the writers were more facilitated in
reflecting, featuring a number of characters leaving this world of dust, who seek for,
experience living spaces and lifestyle different from normal life at that time. Also, by the
perspective of the recluse, the two countries’ writers had opportunities to more clearly
express their personal wills and opinions, especially the criticisms to the contemporary
political affairs and their aspirations to change, constantly dreaming of the best social “order”
in the cognitive capacity of every fantasy author in the countries.
3. Characters in literary works, for medieval narrative works in general and
medieval fantasy stories in particular, whether they are developed from a real person or
fantasy creature, they are always closely linked to and vividly expresses the issues of
people and nation. Through characters in fantasy stories, we can see bright and dark
colors, beauties and fine traditions of people at that time, traditional culture of Vietnam
and Korea as well. This is the highlight focused on description and interpretation by the
thesis. Accordingly, aspects and manifestation of from Buddhist, Tao - Trang, Confucius
and indigenous cultures as well of the two countries have been analyzed quite carefully.
For Buddhist culture, issues such as introduction process into Vietnam, Korea, short
stories about zen masters/ monks; contribution made by zen masters/ monks for feudatory
dynasties, institutions of political affairs as well as for the society of Buddhism analyzed.
For Tao - Trang culture, such manifestation contents as practice, nurture, preservation of
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