Hwang Jini: A Woman Ahead of Her Time
A blossoming, flower-like beauty. A skilled poet and artist. A personality of unflinching boldness. Across the Korean peninsula, rumors flew about an extraordinary woman who remains a legendary figure today: Hwang Jini.
Born as the illegitimate daughter of a yangban nobleman, Hwang Jini (황진이) grew up during a time when women were regarded as property expected to remain in their homes. Also, as an illegitimate child, Hwang Jini was considered an untouchable pariah. After the death of her first love at 15, in an attempt to escape societal boundaries, Hwang Jini became a kisaeng, or a courtesan skilled in music, dance, and poetry. Unlike women of any other class, kisaeng consorted with, entertained, and accompanied male patrons; however, they also occupied an inferior class in a Confucian society that shunned women who were not pure and submissive. By sacrificing any last remnants of societal acceptance, Hwang Jini acquired the freedom to pursue her passion for art and literature, particularly poetry.
A lover of wordplay, Hwang Jini often asked difficult riddles to the crowds of men eager to see her famed beauty, and she only spoke to the few who could solve them. Hwang Jini’s most famous literary accomplishments were her poems, specifically her sijos, a traditional Korean three-line form with a “twist” in the final line. Considered some of the most beautiful sijos in Korean literature, her poems covered the beauty of a waterfall, mourning a lost love, responses to classical Chinese poems, and much more. Because kisaeng were doomed to never marry due to their social status, Hwang Jini’s poetry was rife with sorrowful themes about the fleeting nature of life and love. Among her most famous sijos is “Expectation”:
I divide a December night into halves down its length.
One part I fold in pleats and plaits to store under my spring quilt,
and unwind coil by coil for whenever my love arrives.
Though confined by patriarchal and Confucianist ideals, Hwang Jini’s poetry indicates a source of freedom within her complex social position, and her legacy reflects her subversion of social norms through her artistic work. A symbol of intellect and individuality, Hwang Jini and her poetry continue to be celebrated, blazing a trail of fearlessness that has lasted far beyond her time.
