Jiǔyún Jì 九雲記
The Record of Nine Clouds
by anonymous (佚名)
About the work
Jiǔyún Jì 九雲記 (The Record of Nine Clouds) is an anonymous Chinese-language vernacular novel in 35 huí (chapters), preserved in the Kanripo corpus. The novel narrates the dream-life, earthly adventures, romantic entanglements, and final spiritual awakening of the Buddhist monk Xìngzhēn 性真 (a.k.a. Liúguāng Dàshī 六觀大師), who — while meditating at a Stone Bridge 石橋 in the realm of the Western Queen Mother — is distracted by eight fairy maidens and descends to incarnate in the mortal world as the gifted scholar Yáng Shàoyóu 楊少遊 (later Yáng Yuánshuài 楊元帥). He passes the examinations, becomes a high official, marries eight women corresponding to the eight fairy maidens, and ultimately awakens from the dream to return to Buddhism. The colophon at the end of chapter 35 explicitly frames the entire narrative as “a curious tale from the Wànlì 萬曆 era.”
Tiyao
No tiyao found in source.
Abstract
The novel is almost certainly a Chinese translation or reworking of the Korean novel Guwunmong 九雲夢 (lit. “Dream of Nine Clouds,” also Romanized as Kuunmong), composed in Korean by Kim Man-jung 金萬重 (1637–1692) in the late seventeenth century. Guwunmong is one of the most celebrated works of classical Korean fiction; it was written either in classical Chinese or in Korean hangul (scholars disagree on which version was original) and was widely read in East Asia. The plot of Jiǔyún Jì — Buddhist monk, stone bridge, eight fairy companions, mortal dream-incarnation as scholar-general, eight wives, final awakening — corresponds in all essential elements to Guwunmong.
The Chinese text’s framing colophon declares the story to be “a curious tale from the Wànlì era” (wàn lì nián jiān xīnwén yìshì 萬曆年間新聞異事), referring to the Míng Wànlì reign (1573–1620), which would predate Kim Man-jung’s composition. This framing is either a secondary editorial addition by the Chinese editor or a misattribution. The internal narrative does mention a mission “to Korea” (奉使乘舟往朝鮮國, chapter 19), which may be a residue of the original Korean provenance imperfectly edited out.
The precise date and circumstances of the Chinese translation are not established. A Qīng-era translation, probably from the eighteenth or early nineteenth century, is the most plausible scenario: the Chinese literary milieu’s interest in Korean and Japanese narrative material was strongest in this period, and the vernacular prose style of the text is consistent with Qīng baihua fiction. The translator’s identity is unknown. CBDB contains no relevant entry.
Translations and research
- Kim Man-jung, tr. Richard Rutt and Kim Chong-un. 1974. Virtuous Women: Three Classic Korean Novels (includes Kuunmong). Seoul: Royal Asiatic Society Korea Branch. (Translation of the Korean original.)
- Kim Man-jung, tr. Heinz Insu Fenkl. 2019. The Nine Cloud Dream. Penguin Classics. (Full English translation of the Korean original Guwunmong with scholarly introduction.)
- Rutt, Richard. 1961. “A Biography of Kim Man-jung.” Transactions of the Korea Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society 37: 1–12.
No scholarly study of the Chinese Jiǔyún Jì recension specifically located.
Other points of interest
The relationship between the Korean Guwunmong and the Chinese Jiǔyún Jì deserves specialist attention: whether the Chinese text represents a direct translation, an adaptation, or an independent parallel composition has not been definitively established in the scholarship located. The mention of “Korea” (朝鮮) in chapter 19 is the principal internal evidence pointing to Korean derivation.