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lineycantdance · 28 days

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Jang Man Wol and Go Chung Myung as Eros and Psyche

In this meta, I will be illustrating how the storyline in the 2019 tvN K-drama Hotel Del Luna between its protagonist Jang Man Wol and second male lead Go Chung Myung follows the Aarne-Thompson-Uther folktale type 425: Search for the Lost Husband, while also containing elements of ATU-400: The Quest for the Lost Bride. In particular, I will be pointing out parallels to famous versions of these tales from Greek mythology: ATU-425: Eros and Psyche, and ATU-400: Orpheus and Eurydice. I am by no means an expert on this topic, so feel free to share where you disagree with me and point out any mistakes.

Before I go on, be advised: the following post will include mentions of violence, capital punishment, suicide, and all of the darker elements that were present in the historical subplot of Hotel Del Luna.

Part 1: Jang Man Wol and Go Chung Myung as Eros and Psyche

The myth of Eros and Psyche is said to be the prototypical version of the Beauty and the Beast story. Other tales classified under ATU-425 feature an Animal Bridegroom. After a taboo is broken, the animal husband flees from the bride, and she must complete a series of tasks or embark on a long journey to reunite with her lost husband.

A Mission Gone Awry:

The original version of Eros and Psyche comes from Apuleius’ Metamorphoses as a story within a story. The tale begins with the youngest and most beautiful daughter of a king and queen, Psyche, attracting so many admirers that people have started worshipping her instead of Aphrodite (Venus), the goddess of love. The jealous Aphrodite sends her son Eros (Cupid) to make Psyche fall in love with a hideous and wretched creature. However, rather than carrying out his mother’s bidding, Eros mistakenly pricks himself with his own arrow and consequently falls deeply in love with Psyche upon the sight of her sleeping form. In other words, the script gets flipped on Eros who is wounded by his own weapon.

[Cupid Finding Psyche by Edward Burne-Jones]

Man Wol and Chung Myung’s first meeting bears a few similarities. After Jang Man Wol’s gang of bandits attacks Princess Song Hwa’s caravan, royal guard captain Go Chung Myung chases her down, intent on capturing the gang leader. However, instead of successfully carrying out this mission, Chung Myung becomes mesmerized by Man Wol’s beauty. Man Wol knocks him unconscious while he is distracted and takes him hostage. He is both held captive and captivated by her. Princess Song Hwa, the one who sent Chung Myung, will be playing the part of the jealous Aphrodite in this story.

In both stories, our heroine poses a threat to a royal/divine mother figure who takes this as a personal affront. A young man under her authority is sent to condemn the heroine to a dark fate. The hero fails to carry out this mission and ends up falling in love with the heroine instead.

Man Wol appears as if asleep à la Sleeping Beauty.

She flips the script on this lovestruck fool.

The Mythical Snake-Husband:

Eros, the god of desire, is feared even by Zeus, for a shot from his arrow fills his victims with uncontrollable infatuation often resulting in infidelity and adultery. He is sometimes described as a serpent who flies on black wings. It is meant to be understood that, in a way, Eros is exactly the kind of monster that Aphrodite wished Psyche to wed.

In other fairy tales classified under ATU-425, the bridegroom is a young man, often a prince, who has been transformed into a monster, animal, beast, etc. He may take the appearance of a bull, pig, bear, snail, etc., but most often he appears as a snake or a bird such as in the Mexican fairy tale El Pájaro Verde, or the Italian fairy tale The Enchanted Snake.

Most obviously, Chung Myung takes the form of an animal when his soul is eventually transformed into a firefly. But, unlike the heroes in Animal Bridegroom stories, Chung Myung begins his story as just a regular man, not a beast or monster. That being said, when his character is first introduced in the show (and to Man Wol), we see him as a fearsome warrior and formidable swordsman. As Man Wol’s captive, he flirts with her in an attempt to convince her to let him go. At first, it is unclear whether he is simply trying to pull a fast one on her, and for a moment it seems like he is going to leave her for dead when she gets caught in quicksand. His initial shiftiness as well as his lethal capabilities make him, metaphorically-speaking, akin to a snake.

The Beautiful Lonely Heroine:

Psyche, the youngest and most beautiful of three princesses, is plagued by solitude. She despises her own beauty for making her singularly lonely. Even though she is widely adored, no one wants to approach her. She resents her virginity as it represents her loneliness and longing for romantic companionship.

It’s worth mentioning that in other Lost Husband stories, the heroine is often depicted as a paragon of idealized femininity: young, beautiful, unquestioningly obedient to her father, kind, gentle, self-sacrificial beyond reason. Compare that to her older sisters who are portrayed as vapid, jealous, and vain, the latter primarily for “turning up their noses” and refusing to marry an animal bridegroom unlike their younger sister who is inexplicably totally cool with it. These polarized depictions of femininity, while regressive and devoid of nuance, are commonplace in fairy tales, and the lack of depth could even be considered a defining genre convention (see Max Lüthi's criteria for märchen in The European Folktale: Form and Nature, particularly "depthlessness").

Although the fierce thief Man Wol doesn’t fit this model of idealized feminine heroine, she does have some things in common with her fair-maiden counterparts. She, too, suffers from loneliness, and, as a transient bandit, she is emotionally isolated. Apart from her foster brother Yeon Woo, she doesn’t allow others to get close to her.

In the first flashback shown of her past, she says that she envies trees because they don’t have to wander around. She laments that “it must be nice to just put down roots and settle down.”

Man Wol’s conversation with Yeon Woo in front of the great oak tree reveals that she longs for stability and a way to live past her youth, neither of which her nomadic life as a bandit can provide her. When Yeon Woo offers to build Man Wol a house out of the wood from the giant tree, she teasingly turns him down. Considering the great oak tree symbolizes Man Wol’s desire for longevity, that Yeon Woo specifically promises to cut it down demonstrates the impossibility of their situation. His words to Man Wol in this scene about transferring his extra years to her are poignantly prophetic:

Yeon Woo: We all grow old. You should think about putting down roots. I can’t let you live under a tarp when you’ve become an old lady.

Man Wol: I could be captured and killed at any moment. That’s my life. I don’t even expect to live until I’m old.

Yeon Woo: But you can. The fortune teller said that I’ll live a long life, just like this tree. I’m expected to live 100 years, so I’ll give you my extra years.

Man Wol: If you do that, you’ll die.

Yeon Woo: You’re right. It’s okay, though. I don’t mind dying for you, so you can have it all.

Not only does this scene foreshadow Yeon Woo’s heart-wrenching sacrifice on Man Wol’s behalf, but it also indicates that, under Man Wol’s current circumstances, a life must be “cut short,” be it the tree’s or Yeon Woo’s, in order to secure the longevity and stability she desires.

Whereas Psyche expressly wishes to find love, especially after her two older sisters are both married and she cannot find a husband, Man Wol's desires do not necessarily require love to achieve. However, “settling down” and “putting down roots” are conventionally achieved via marriage.

Merging of the Wedding and Funeral Rites, A Leap of Faith:

After consulting the Oracle of Apollo who tells them their daughter is to marry a hideous monster, Psyche’s parents assume this is a sure death sentence. In funeral attire, Psyche is taken to the edge of a cliff to be carried by the west wind Zephyr to Eros’s palace. She bravely accepts her fated marriage, takes the plunge, and encounters her mythical bridegroom in an enchanted palace in the forest. In blurring the lines between the wedding and funeral rites, death and love are depicted as intertwined.

[Psyche’s Wedding by Edward Burne-Jones]

The most prominent moment when a wedding and funeral are merged in Man Wol’s backstory is during her deadly confrontation with Chung Myung in the royal bridal chamber. But more on that later. Sticking to this pair’s first meeting, a moment occurs that could be interpreted as her taking a leap of faith. Man Wol chooses to release her captive Chung Myung in hopes that he will save her from being swallowed by quicksand. In tossing him her sword so that he can cut himself free, she places her life in his hands. Chung Myung in turn, rather than escaping when he has the chance, saves his captor from the brink of death.

The Heroine Grows Affectionate toward her Nighttime Visitor:

Psyche is well provided for in Eros’s enchanted palace, but he only comes to visit her at night when it is dark and she can’t see him. Initially, Psyche is hesitant about the intimacy they share at night, but eventually she grows to enjoy those moments.

In other Animal Bridegroom stories, the groom takes off his animal skin/feathers in the heroine’s bedroom and reveals himself to be a handsome youth by night. The heroine grows fond of him and the private conversations they share together, but he must disappear with the rising sun.

Chung Myung meets Man Wol at the moonlit lake to share wine. At first, she is annoyed that he has disrupted her solitude, but he tells her that the view of the lake has gotten better since he arrived because she is no longer alone. Then, he says that in the future whenever she drinks there by herself, she will be waiting for him to show up like he did that night. These words prove true, as Man Wol evidently grows to crave Chung Myung’s company so much that she is willing to sneak into the Princess’s castle at the risk of her own life just to see him.

Due to the forbidden nature of their relationship, Man Wol and Chung Myung’s trysts must occur under the cover of darkness.

The Bride and Groom are Married in a Symbolic Union:

With their marriage consummated and a bond forming between them, Eros and Psyche are no longer married only in name. At this point, they are referred to as husband and wife, not just the bride and groom of a sham marriage.

While marital and botched proposal imagery are evoked at several points throughout Man Wol and Chung Myung’s love story (which I will discuss further down below), I would pinpoint the moment they become symbolically married as when they are seated together in front of the fire, and he signs her name with her finger on the surface of a rock. This is the scene in which their bond is cemented, quite literally, in stone, and their feelings for each other are made clear.

A Voice of Doubt Leads the Wife to Act Against Her Husband’s Wishes:

When Psyche’s sisters visit her in her luxurious palace, they sow doubt in her about the true form of her husband. They make her believe that her husband is truly dangerous and convince her to look upon Eros’s true form and kill him if he really is a monster.

In many Animal Bridegroom stories, the jealous sisters or an overprotective father may directly harm the husband, believing him to be devouring the bride at night. In other variants, the heroine asks about her husband’s origin, shares his secret identity with others, or looks upon his true form when he specifically forbade it. This constitutes breaking a taboo and/or a betrayal of the husband’s trust.

For Man Wol, the voice of doubt about her relationship with Chung Myung comes from inside herself rather than from an outside source. After Man Wol tells Chung Myung that she and her clan of bandits are leaving to join the rebellion, he offers to risk his life and run away with her. But she declines and breaks things off with him.

In this impersonal statement of rejection, Man Wol alludes to the external obstacles that stand in between this couple’s happiness: her clan joining the rebellion against the kingdom that Chung Myung serves, their difference in class and standing in the law, the imminent war that stands between their peoples, etc. Although these obstacles are great, they seem to be just excuses for what is really holding Man Wol back—the internal obstacles within herself.

Needing to have relied on herself alone for so many years, Man Wol is fiercely independent and unaccustomed to letting others in. Her doubts, perhaps self-doubts, and hesitancy in commitment are the real reasons for this “break-up,” not the meddling of pesky relatives as in other Animal Bridegroom tales. In fact, the character you would expect to play the role of an overprotective or jealous family member, Yeon Woo, is quite supportive of Man Wol’s relationship with Chung Myung, and even encourages her to follow her heart when he senses she might not come back from bidding Chung Myung a final farewell.

Yeon Woo (joining Man Wol at the foot of the giant tree): Everyone’s ready. When should we leave?

Man Wol (gazing at the jug with her symbol tied to the tree): He was here. He’s probably there now. Let me go see him one last time.

Yeon Woo (catching Man Wol’s wrists to hold her back): Man Wol-ah. Will you come back?

Man Wol: Yes. Of course, I’ll be back.

Yeon Woo (dropping Man Wol’s wrists, he gives a sheepish smile): You don’t need to come back. I’ll be fine either way, so do as you wish.

Breaking the Taboo, a Betrayal of Trust:

Psyche listens to her sisters who tell her to approach her husband with a lamp to see his true identity and a dagger to kill him if he truly is a monster. When Psyche follows through with this plan and sees Eros’s true form exposed, this constitutes a betrayal of his trust. In other Animal Bridegroom stories, the wife does the one thing her husband specifically forbids her from doing which is often sharing his secret with a nosy family member. At this point, he assumes his animal/beast form and flees his bride.

[From Favorite Greek Myths illustrated by Troy Howell]

This may seem counterintuitive, as Chung Myung is the one who ends up outright betraying Man Wol, but when Man Wol allows her fears and doubts to take hold of her and forsakes her love, this can be considered “breaking the taboo.” Her rejection of Chung Myung and of her true feelings leads to a series of events that results in Chung Myung’s “beastly” form being revealed—that is, his capacity for betrayal, deception, and acting in his own self-interest at the expense of those around him—i.e. the metaphorical qualities of a snake. This might sound like a circular line of thinking (it is), but I am framing this sequence of events in this way for the purpose of reading the story as a Search for the Lost Husband tale rather than a Quest of the Lost Bride tale in which the roles are reversed. On that note…

Part 2: Search for the Lost Husband or Quest for the Lost Bride?

(a.k.a. an aside in which I ramble on)

In a Search for the Lost Husband story, a betrayal such as Chung Myung’s on the part of the mythical husband would constitute a role reversal, and thus would be incredibly rare. However, a husband’s betrayal is commonplace in Quest for the Lost Bride stories. So, you might be asking yourself, other than switching the gender roles, how are ATU-425: Search for the Lost Husband and ATU-400: Quest for the Lost Bride stories different? Well, the biggest difference is in the story’s conclusion. A Search for the Lost Husband story usually has a happy ending with the couple reuniting, while the husband’s Quest for his mythical wife is usually unsuccessful. There are a few reasons for this, which I will get into later, but for now, all you need to know is that, in general, a betrayal by the mythical husband usually results in tragedy whereas a betrayal by the mythical wife usually ends with her successfully recovering her lost husband.

Because the love story between Man Wol and Chung Myung is ill-fated, in my interpretation, it follows the tragic Quest for the Lost Bride route. It includes hallmarks of tragedy such as a permanent separation of the mythical couple (as seen by Man Wol turning her back on Chung Myung on the bridge to the afterlife) and the husband wallowing away in grief and despair for the remainder of his days (as seen by Chung Myung remaining as a firefly for 1300 years only to cross the bridge by himself). However, as I hope to demonstrate in this meta, Man Wol and Chung Myung’s story also contains enough elements distinct to Search for the Lost Husband stories that, in my opinion, it could have gone either way, either ending with permanent tragedy for the pair, or happily with a love that transcended death. The show-writers were probably well aware of this, as the show itself seems to toy with the idea of Koo Chan Sung, the first male lead, being the reincarnation of Go Chung Myung, but eventually this is revealed to be a misdirection.

In addition to containing many unmistakable elements of ATU-425, Man Wol and Chung Myung’s story already sees many elements reversed anyway. It is Chung Myung, the hero, who is associated with royalty/nobility, not the maiden Man Wol. She is the one who is an outlaw and is shown to be quite ruthless, fierce, and scary, like the villainous Eros.

A critical aspect of the Eros and Psyche myth is that both Eros and Psyche must undergo joint journeys toward individuation. As a result, their journeys can naturally be thought of as parallel if not interchangeable. In this way, having Man Wol and Chung Myung move back and forth between the positions of Eros and Psyche, or “lost spouse” and “searching spouse,” does not actually contradict the story structure of the Eros and Psyche myth. Furthermore, often a husband’s failed quest for his lost bride serves as a prelude to a switch to the feminine perspective in which the wife’s search for her lost husband is successful.

We know that for as long as Chung Myung had remained with Man Wol as a firefly, she, too, had spent all those years waiting for him to arrive at her hotel. Given that the pair was mutually waiting for the other for over 1300 years and with a curse of her own for Man Wol to overcome, when Man Wol finally says Chung Myung’s name and he reappears before her, it seemed like all the ingredients were there for a successful recovery of the lost animal husband and the mythical couple reuniting in love and joy. This is also the moment when the flower petals of the Moon Tree finally fall, indicating that Man Wol’s punishment has come to an end. Despite this, the show still sticks to the unhappy Quest for the Lost Bride trajectory for this pair.

Typically in a Quest for the Lost Bride tale, the husband's betrayal is due to his fear, arrogance, or lack of faith in/faithfulness to his wife. These attributes are then harshly punished by the story’s tragic end for him. Although perhaps fear factored into Chung Myung’s decision to betray Man Wol, and arguably heedlessness into him getting caught in the first place, his reasoning for the betrayal, rather than highlighting a fatal flaw in his character, paints him as a victim of circumstance more than anything else. He was backed into a corner by the princess and coerced into betraying Man Wol against his own wishes while making a bargain for her life to be spared. It would seem that this betrayal was not about saving his own neck (he told Yeon Woo he was planning on paying for his sins with his life afterward), but rather saving as many innocents as possible (his relatives in the castle and the Gaori villagers).

As punishment for his misdeeds, Chung Myung dies by Man Wol’s sword and remains as a firefly, unseen to her for 1300 years, both of which were fates he elected for himself. Yet, after he finally has the chance to explain his side of the story to Man Wol, and she is able to make peace with what happened and let go of her grudges, for some reason the narrative isn’t through punishing him. Man Wol abandons him on the bridge to the afterlife, and the pair is separated forever after. The remorseful Chung Myung’s ultimate fate is characterized by eternal punishment and heartache for offenses that were deliberately portrayed by the narrative in a sympathetic light. This eternal punishment, in my opinion, comes off as exceedingly harsh, especially in contrast to other characters like Man Wol and Princess Song Hwa who had the blood of many on their hands, yet were both given happy endings in which they were able to find love again.

Part 3: Chung Myung and Man Wol as Eros and Psyche (cont.)

As much as a part of me relishes in the tragedy and melodrama of the storyline the show gave us with Man Wol and Chung Myung, my biggest qualm about its ending is that it retroactively suggests that Man Wol’s decision to forsake her love with Chung Myung was the right one? She alluded to the worldly barriers that stood between them when she told Chung Myung they could never be together. She spoke those words out of cynicism and guardedness, and she was at her least authentic to herself and her true desires when she said them. And yet, the narrative ultimately proves them correct? After a millennium had swept away the conditions that had made their love precarious and impossible in the first place, Man Wol still ended up being right: their love was not meant to be; it was never meant to be. (╥_╥)

The Husband’s True Form is Revealed, the Wife’s Love for him Deepens:

Psyche approaches her sleeping husband armed with flame and steel, prepared to kill him. When she discovers that he is the beautiful god Eros, she accidentally pricks herself with one of his arrows and falls even more in love with him. In other Animal Bridegroom stories, the wounded husband flees, and the distraught wife loves him so much that she is willing to walk to the ends of the earth, often until holes have been worn into the soles of iron shoes, to find him.

For Man Wol, there are two scenes in which she approaches Chung Myung equipped to kill him. The first plays the wife’s-love-deepening trope straight whereas the second directly subverts it.

In the first, Man Wol is hiding in a shed as a runaway slave. When someone enters the shed, she jumps out from her hiding place and blindly attacks the intruder with her dagger, unaware that it is Chung Myung. It is only when he catches her wrist mid-swing that she stops and sees his true identity. Her eyes quiver in recognition. The framing of this sequence—the use of slow motion, the soft music, the pair’s heavy breathing and parted lips, the symmetry of their silhouettes—indicate that this moment is especially significant; we are watching the moment when they fall for each other.

Afterward, Chung Myung protects Man Wol by telling the soldiers who are looking for her to search elsewhere. This is followed up by a scene of Chung Myung bandaging Man Wol’s wound, clear visual language for the care and tenderness between them.

The second time Man Wol is prepared to kill Chung Myung is, of course, in the royal bridal chamber. There, she intends to destroy him, particularly the “monstrous” part of him that is loyal and wedded to the princess. She wields her sword (steel), then burns the palace to the ground (with flame).

At this point in the story, Chung Myung’s loyalties had already been put to the test after he found himself at a crossroads when confronted by Princess Song Hwa. Seeing Chung Myung’s “true colors” revealed, Man Wol, rather than growing in love, grows in deep hatred of him.

A Harsh Light Exposes What Lies in the Darkness, The Snake Recoils:

The light from Psyche’s lamp reveals her husband’s true form. She becomes so startled that, in addition to pricking herself with one of Eros’s arrows, she spills hot oil from her lamp onto him. The wounded Eros recoils and retreats to the protection of his mother, Aphrodite.

Psyche had, quite literally, been kept in the dark about the identity of her invisible husband. When she casts his true form into the light, this can be read allegorically as her leaving a childlike state of ignorance behind and gaining a sense of consciousness. This new knowledge and awareness, although initially leading to pain and heartache, is ultimately necessary for Psyche—who represents the human soul—to individuate and enter true adulthood. Eros represents Psyche’s Shadow, her repressed desires that she fears to claim. When Psyche wields the knife and lamp, she strips back her own illusions and refuses to continue living in the dark. Psyche’s pursuit of Eros—the Soul’s pursuit of Desire—elevates her from her mortal status. The product of this union is a daughter named “Joy.”

One notable parallel to Man Wol and Chung Myung’s story is that Chung Myung, under the threat of never seeing Man Wol again, leaves the signal to meet at the lake where he awaits her with what appears to be a token of betrothal.

He is exposed in the sense that he sets up this meeting in broad daylight for a change, as well as in that Princess Song Hwa arrives first to expose him as a colluder with the rebellion and a traitor to his country. Under duress, he retreats to the side of Princess Song Hwa who corresponds to Aphrodite.

However, I think the comparison becomes much more interesting if we think of Man Wol as the snake-like Eros and Chung Myung as the light-bearing Psyche. Chung Myung—the man who was transformed into a firefly and whose name (hanja: 清明; pinyin: qīngmíng) translates to “Pure and Bright”—is the light that reveals Man Wol’s true self. He draws out her capacity to be warm-hearted despite her cynicism. Man Wol (hanja: 满月) is the “Full Moon” whose glow is only a reflection of the light cast upon it (from the Sun. Yes, I’m invoking Yin and Yang here). Man Wol cannot hide her true self from Chung Myung because he sees through the front she puts up and the walls she has built around her. She shows discomfort with this vulnerability such as after Chung Myung surmises that she came to see him in the castle because she had missed him while drinking alone.

When Chung Myung offers to run away with Man Wol, his light shines too brightly, and she recoils from him. But we know she is acting against her true desires as seen by her tearful look as she watches him leave and by her impetuousness to see him one more time. The break-up scene between Man Wol and Chung Myung presents a moment in which Man Wol must confront the desires that she has been desperately trying to conceal from herself but outwardly manifest in the form of Chung Myung.

In forsaking her love, Man Wol acts in fear of her desires. On the other hand, this break-up can simultaneously be viewed as an act of Man Wol’s agency to make decisions about her own life. She is well within her rights to end this relationship as it had always been incredibly risky, even scandalous, for both involved. Chung Myung had been looking the other way and, at times, actively helping out a gang of criminals. Man Wol had been placing her trust in someone whose job it was to arrest and capture people like her. Her reasons for joining the rebellion—it’s better than living as a thief, getting caught, and dying young—see her taking steps toward achieving the stability and longevity that she wished for. It’s just that she couldn’t conceive of a way to achieve these things while keeping Chung Myung at her side (when arguably this may have been possible). I also think that Man Wol truly thought that putting her feelings aside and breaking things off between her and Chung Myung was the safest decision for the two of them. In a cruel twist of irony, however, this indirectly leads to the catastrophic series of events that occurred in the fallout of their relationship that the break-up was intended to prevent.

In my opinion, Man Wol’s character arc on the show, in addition to resolving her deep grudges and healing from her past, should have involved her learning not to run away from her desires and integrating her Shadow/animus.

The Wounded Husband Flees and is Confined, the Heroine is Tormented:

The injured Eros is looked after by his mother Aphrodite who confines him in her house for far longer than he wishes or is necessary for him to recover. As Psyche continues to seek her lost husband, the furious Aphrodite drags her by the hair and has her whipped and tortured by her lackeys Sadness and Sorrow.

In other versions of ATU-425, the fleeing husband becomes fatally ill or is about to be married off to another bride, often a monster or ogress who, like Aphrodite, holds him against his will. Symbolically, these two fates are the same as the prince’s illness is akin to being wedded to Death. Typically at this point, the heroine arrives just in time to cure her lost husband or rescue him from a loveless marriage.

After Man Wol’s rejection, Chung Myung returns, against his wishes, to the side of Princess Song Hwa. When Man Wol rides to the lake seeking him, she encounters Song Hwa instead who gleefully has her arrested while mocking her as the cause of her people’s demise.

As a quick aside, Princess Song Hwa is wearing a completely different robe when she confronts Man Wol from the one she wore when confronting Chung Myung at the lake which could indicate that a significant amount of time passed between these two occurrences. They may have even taken place on different days, meaning Man Wol arrived much too late.

Chung Myung is forced to marry Song Hwa even though his heart still belongs to Man Wol. Our heroine Man Wol arrives on the night of the wedding to kill him rather than to rescue her mythical husband from his marriage to the Death-bride.

The Heroine Undergoes an Arduous Journey to Reunite with her Lost Husband:

In order to see Eros again, Psyche must complete four seemingly impossible tasks given to her by the angry Aphrodite (in other tales it’s usually three impossible tasks, but Aphrodite is extra mean and gives Psyche a fourth). Eros’s hand is present in the assistance she receives for each task—in the ants, river spirits, eagle, and tower that come to her aid. The completion of these tasks credits Psyche for her bravery and persistence, and therefore she is presented as worthy of her divine husband. The details in other ATU-425 stories vary widely but are largely unimportant. Typically, the heroine will have to travel a great distance, collect magical items, and accept supernatural aid in order to recover her lost husband.

After the deadly night of the royal wedding, both Man Wol and Chung Myung have long journeys ahead of them to atone in some way for the sins they committed in their lives. Man Wol becomes cursed as the owner of the Guest House of the Moon and receives assistance in the form of Koo Chan Sung who himself receives guidance at pivotal moments from Chung Myung’s ghostly insect form.

This struck me as similar to how Eros is present in the small insects—ants—who help Psyche complete the first task of sorting out the grains. Chung Myung’s unwavering persistence in remaining at Man Wol’s side as a firefly is shown to have impressed Mago and even the Grim Reaper.

A “seemingly impossible” task needs to be accomplished for both Man Wol and Chung Myung’s curses to be lifted: the Moon Tree must bloom and wither flowers—meaning Man Wol’s heart must soften—for time to flow for her once again; for Chung Myung to regain his human form and appear before Man Wol she must utter his name, a feat rendered seemingly impossible due to Man Wol’s deep-seated resentment.

A Trip to a Realm only Accessible to the Dead, Another Way:

When Psyche is successful in completing three impossible tasks, Aphrodite makes one final attempt to get rid of her. Psyche must descend to the Underworld and bring back a piece of Queen Persephone’s beauty in a box to be delivered to Aphrodite. At first, Psyche believes that the only way to reach the Underworld is to die, so she prepares to fling herself from a tower. But Eros speaks to Psyche through the tower, instructing her on another way to enter the Underworld. He gives her highly specific instructions as well as coins for the boat ride across the river Styx. She must not deviate from these instructions lest she remain trapped in the Underworld forever.

Wanting absolution for all the lives she took, Man Wol journeys to the end of the road in search of the mythical Guest House of the Moon where the souls of the dead gather and are consoled. As the afterlife in this story leads to reincarnation and new life, it does not correspond to the Underworld; the Guest House of the Moon is more of an equivalent as it is a mythical, if temporary, abode for the souls of the dead. When Mago tells Man Wol that only the dead can go there, Man Wol draws her sword to her own neck, saying she is willing to take her own life just to get there.

Mago tells Man Wol that it is foolish to think she can compensate for her sins with her life this way. Man Wol becomes tied to the Moon Tree instead, caught between life and death and cursed to serve as the innkeeper of the Guest House.

Just like Man Wol, Chung Myung believes the only way he can pay for the debt of his wrongdoings is with his own life. It is the voice of Yeon Woo that stops Chung Myung from doing this and insists there is another way for him to pay for his sins—he must live on as a traitor to ensure that Man Wol survives.

Traps and Risks in the Underworld:

Several traps lie in Psyche’s way as she journeys to Hades, chiefly if she opens the casket containing Persephone’s beauty out of curiosity she will never return from the Underworld.

The biggest trap set for Man Wol is the possibility of her giving into her anger and resentment, becoming an evil, spiteful ghost and vanishing forever. This would mean she would never leave the Underworld of the Guest House or move onto the afterlife to be reborn.

Chung Myung, who is also stuck in this Underworld as Man Wol’s first guest, also faces a great risk there. Over the 1300 years, his soul has become weary and his light has faded. With little energy left, he may vanish before reaching the bridge to the afterlife.

Facing Temptation, Return from Death’s Clutches:

Psyche carefully follows all of Eros’s instructions and manages to escape the Underworld. Thinking she has succeeded, Psyche wishes to take some of Persephone’s beauty for herself to please her husband. But what’s in the box is the Sleep of Death, and she falls down lifeless. Eros, who has healed and can no longer bear Psyche’s absence, breaks free from his prison and wipes the sleep from her eyes.

[Psyche Opening the Golden Box by John William Waterhouse]

In other versions of ATU-425, the prince is on the brink of death or about to marry another woman when his wife finds and rescues him. To save the lost husband, the heroine must perform a task that only she can do, or use a blood sacrifice to cure his affliction. In this way, she is uniquely able to save him from a literal/spiritual/metaphorical death.

Chung Myung’s marriage to a false bride is interrupted by Man Wol who infiltrates the castle intending to kill him. In some cases, such as with a snake-husband, a violent means is necessary to break the curse. With a snake, death or burning of the snake’s skin are typically the only ways for the snake-husband to be transformed back into his true self. Since Chung Myung has taken on the metaphorical qualities of a snake, it could be argued that only by dying and the subsequent burning of his body can he regain his humanity. Thus, Man Wol’s decisions to slay Song Hwa, the Death-bride, run Chung Myung through, and burn down the castle, while ruthless, are not, by themselves, mythically inconsistent with the ATU-425 folktale type.

1300 years later, Man Wol knows that her encounter with Chung Myung is inevitable, and she must face her temptation to give into her anger, destroy his soul, and vanish forever. However, after hearing his side of the story and learning of the promise he made to Yeon Woo, Man Wol’s anger dissipates. She is seemingly able to forgive Chung Myung, or at least let go of her resentments toward him.

The one final task that Man Wol is assigned by Mago is one that only she can accomplish: she must see Chung Myung off and accompany him on the bridge to the afterlife, thus saving him from vanishing forever i.e. spiritual death.

Recognition Motif:

After the heroine rescues her lost husband, typically there is a moment when the prince finally recognizes the heroine after their long separation and declares her his one true wife. The lost husband may not recognize the searching wife until she performs the one task that only she can do or until she shows the lost husband a gift she once received from him.

Apotheosis, Sacred Marriage, Happily Ever After:

A moment of recognition on Man Wol’s part occurs when Chung Myung’s ghost, while in possession of Chan Sung’s body, caresses Man Wol in a hauntingly familiar way. Later, she realizes that the firefly is Chung Myung who has been with her all along. She says his name, and he appears before her. A moment of recognition on the part of would-be prince Chung Myung happened much earlier in the bridal chamber when he said he wished to welcome Man Wol as a beautiful bride (his true bride).

Eros and Psyche have a proper wedding that is blessed and attended by all the deities. She eats ambrosia which makes her immortal so that the pair can be united for eternity as equals. Psyche, now a deity in her own right, gives birth to a daughter named Hedone or “Joy.”

Man Wol and Chung Myung walk down the bridge to the afterlife together, but stop midway. There, on the edge of eternity, Chung Myung offers Man Wol his hand in symbolic union one last time. He pleads with his eyes for her to join him and move on together, but she turns her back on him, departing from the mythic structure and leaving him to cross into oblivion by his lonesome. This is how their story ends.

Part 4: More Parallels and Discussion

The Husband is Rebuked by the Cruel One who Sent Him:

When Aphrodite learns that Eros fell in love with her enemy Psyche rather than dooming her to fall in love with a loathsome monster, she rebukes him as a failure. Aphrodite sees Psyche as a direct threat and is fearful of being usurped by her.

When Song Hwa finds out that Chung Myung has fallen in love with an enemy and has been in league with Man Wol’s gang of bandits instead of quashing them, she chastises him as a traitor to his country, then blackmails him into doing her bidding and rounding up the thieves. Song Hwa and her father view Man Wol and her thieves as an existential threat to their kingdom. Like Aphrodite, Song Hwa is afraid that she will be usurped by Man Wol in two ways: first, she is afraid of a resurgent Goguryeo overthrowing her kingdom; second, she views Man Wol as a romantic rival for Chung Myung’s affections.

The Beauty Repeatedly Rejects the Beast’s Marriage Proposals:

As there is strong overlap between Beauty and the Beast type stories and Animal Bridegroom stories, ATU-425 stories can be read in those terms. Just as how Eros was the one who was pricked by his own arrow at the sight of Psyche, the Beast is the one who falls in love with the Beauty first, whereas the Beauty only starts to fall in love with him as she sees past his veneer and looks into the man who is inside. The couple’s momentary bliss, however, cannot last, as the Beast is not ready to let go of his brutish exterior. When he clings to his literal or metaphorical beast-form, the Beauty must reject him. (Think Jane fleeing Rochester after his bigamy is discovered in Jane Eyre.) It is only after he makes some kind of self-sacrifice on her behalf, often involving a literal/metaphorical death and rebirth, that the Beauty finally professes her love to him. Often this declaration of love is all it takes to heal him from the brink of death.

Man Wol rejects Chung Myung’s “marriage proposals” on three separate occasions. First is when he offers to run away with her when she is about to leave to join the rebellion.

This botched proposal is prolonged; Man Wol initially rejects Chung Myung, but when he leaves the signal to meet at the lake, two details imply that, had she arrived on time, Man Wol may have changed her mind: 1) As mentioned previously, Yeon Woo seems to doubt that Man Wol will return from bidding Chung Myung a final adieu, and 2) while wallowing in self-loathing and speaking to a past version of herself, modern-day Man Wol says that she would have been happy to have received the metal brooch Chung Myung intended as a gift for her. Regardless of whether Man Wol would have changed her mind or not, Chung Myung’s attempts to risk his life and elope with Man Wol fail, and we see how things go horribly awry when the princess arrives at the lake to confront Chung Myung before Man Wol can reach him.

Man Wol rejects an overt insinuation of a marriage rite during her confrontation with Chung Myung in the chamber where the royal marriage was supposed to be consummated. He invokes the image of them as the true bridal couple by referring to Man Wol as “a beautiful bride” whom he missed and wished to caress. She is not receptive to this and reasserts her blade against his neck.

The last time Man Wol rejects Chung Myung’s hand in a metaphorical marriage is on the bridge to the afterlife.

The first of these botched proposals happens due to Man Wol’s hesitancy, fears, and doubts, as well as Song Hwa’s interference.

The second rejection in the bridal chamber is the most mythically consistent because Chung Myung is already wedded to a death threefold—1) Song Hwa as the Death-bride, 2) the imminent physical death promised to him by Man Wol, and 3) the spiritual death of living as a traitor to himself and his desires. Also, while Chung Myung’s undying love for Man Wol is on full display in this scene, at this point, he can be interpreted as still clinging to his snake-form since he continues to provide Man Wol with no explanation for his actions.

In choosing Chan Sung over Chung Myung, Man Wol only accomplishes one of these things. She turns her back on her painful past, closing that chapter in her life. But her choice does not lead to lasting joy, at least not in that lifetime, as shortly thereafter she must depart for the afterlife herself and leave Chan Sung behind. Furthermore, Man Wol’s love with Chan Sung makes no statements about an older versus newer way of doing things because Chan Sung is from Man Wol’s present. Chan Sung represents a fresh start for Man Wol unfettered by her personal past, but he does not necessarily represent a rejection of the precepts of the past more broadly.

As for the last, after 1300 years Chung Myung has finally gone through his transformation and is restored from a firefly back into a man. Man Wol rejects him on the bridge, not because he is still part-Beast, but because she has fallen in love with someone else—a departure from this story structure. This is the point at which the mythical couple, now more worthy of each other after their trials and tribulations, is typically joined in an alchemical union which gives birth to “joy” along with freedom from the pains of the past and the older generation’s way of doing things.

Compare this to a reunion with Chung Myung that would have transcended time, death, clan, class, war, ill-fate, heartache, misunderstanding, resentment, and all the other seemingly insurmountable obstacles, both manmade and metaphysical, that stood in the way of this couple’s happiness. A happy ending for this couple would signify that love is more powerful than any obstacle, that true love finds a way even when there seems to be none, and that a love that is forbidden in its time is only considered taboo due to the small-mindedness of people.

On the Bridal Chamber Scene:

I just wanted to elaborate more on how this scene merges the wedding and funeral rites. Man Wol attempts to kill Chung Myung here, but when she hesitates, he takes his fate into his own hands and sacrifices himself by running himself through. Apart from this literal self-sacrifice, Chung Myung also puts his own wants and needs aside in favor of Man Wol’s by saving Chan Sung on the tunnel to the afterlife and facilitating his reunion with Man Wol.

The final duel between Man Wol and Chung Myung takes place in the room where a marriage was supposed to be consummated. After killing Song Hwa, Man Wol disguises herself in Song Hwa’s bridal garments, clearly playing upon the idea of a false and true bride. Song Hwa’s bridal gown is rightfully hers, but in terms of her marriage to Chung Myung, she is only dressing the part. Meanwhile, Man Wol’s appearance in these bridal robes is false—it’s a ruse—but at heart she is Chung Myung’s true bride.

I find the decision to don the bridal attire on Man Wol’s part fascinating. Even if it wasn’t her intention, it’s as though she’s claiming her rightful place as Chung Myung’s intended bride. She even goes to the trouble of unveiling herself in the same way that Song Hwa did when she expected to be greeted by Chung Myung.

Even if on a conscious level, Man Wol only wore the bridal garb in order to catch Chung Myung off guard or to vindictively shove in his face what they could have been, her “disguise,” on some level, reveals her true aspect. Man Wol may, in a literal sense, be merely occupying Song Hwa’s place in the royal bedchamber, but in this same act, she is refusing to let Song Hwa supplant her at Chung Myung’s side. Ultimately, Man Wol’s effort to catch Chung Myung off guard backfires because he uses it to garner her sympathy and demonstrate that he still loves her.

Furthermore, after Chung Myung breathes his last, Man Wol is left feeling shocked, hollow, and empty. It might have been easy to miss, but she appears to mourn his death. She even sheds tears for him, and perhaps, for herself and what she’s become.

This isn’t the triumphant face of someone who just enacted her long-awaited revenge over an enemy; this isn’t even the face of relief over not having to kill someone she wasn’t sure she could bring herself to kill. This is the face of mourning.

I might be wrong about this, but the music that plays over their final exchange of words is reminscent of Lacrimosa from Mozart’s Requiem. This dirgeful piece of music is part of a funeral mass setting. Additionally, this piece of music is associated with the following sculpture by Antonio Canova.

[Psyche Revived by Cupid’s Kiss]

This famous sculpture depicts the moment when Eros revives Psyche from the Sleep of Death.

Was the choice to evoke this particular piece of music composed for funerals and associated with the Eros and Psyche myth over the bridal room scene simply a coincidence? Honestly maybe, I might be reaching with this connection ahaha.

Beethoven’s famous Moonlight Sonata then starts playing as Chung Myung’s hand reaches to hold the back of Man Wol’s head. This song also notably has the somber character of a funeral march. These same notes are played during the opening sequence of the show as Man Wol travels with the coffin containing the trinkets of her deceased friends in search of the Guest House of the Moon, which is a kind of funeral procession.

Healing the Wounded Masculine:

The heroine’s ability to save her lost husband from a dark or deathly fate is a testament to her power and the strength of her love. This can be read as a literalization of the point in Murdock’s Heroine’s Journey at which the wounded masculine is healed then subsequently integrated with the feminine in a “sacred marriage” that transcends the masculine-feminine duality.

Man Wol already acts to heal Chung Myung by letting go of her resentments toward him and accompanying him on the bridge to the afterlife. She saves him from an eternal spiritual death in the form of vanishing, thus healing the outer wounded masculine (Chung Myung). Man Wol’s self-loathing could constitute her inner masculine that needs healing as well. It can be inferred from the scene in Episode 14 in which Man Wol talks to a past version of herself that she blamed herself for the death of her people and believed that she was foolish to have ever fallen in love with Chung Myung. The curse that she creates for Chan Sung when she suspects he is Chung Myung’s reincarnation takes the form of a shadow-version of herself.

This deep bitterness that Man Wol harbors for her past self is presumably destroyed along with the metal ornament when it is dissolved by her tears at the end of her long-awaited meeting with Chung Myung—note how this differs from the recognition motif in which the heroine shows her mythical husband a gift he had once given her, and then he recognizes her as his one true bride. In this way, the shadow-version of Man Wol, her wounded masculine, is resolved by coming to accept that Chung Myung truly loved her and wasn’t playing her for a fool the whole time. This point would have been spelled out further if Man Wol accepted and returned Chung Myung’s love—if both the outer and inner halves were integrated in a “marriage.”

A Refusal to Live in the Dark:

Psyche’s refusal to live in a state of childlike ignorance/dependence is what launches her out of a state of unconscious and onto her journey. Eros likewise spends much of the story under the thumb of his overbearing mother, and he, too, must undergo a journey toward individuation. Eros and Psyche’s stories complement each other, and they must overcome similar flaws in temperament.

Man Wol launches herself into consciousness by choosing to join the rebellion. No longer satisfied with a life doomed to be cut short, she rejects her life as a thief and takes steps to achieve longevity past her youth. For Chung Myung, refusing to continue living a lie means pursuing his love even unto death, defecting, and quitting serving a princess and despotic kingdom to which he holds no strong affinity. It means following his heart and returning to the land of his forefathers (recall that Chung Myung mentions that his family originally hails from Goguryeo and jokingly says that he and Man Wol could be kin—hence, his term of endearment for her is “nui” or sister).

Both must be courageous to extricate themselves from the false families they have built for themselves, even if it initially leads to pain. For these risks, they should be rewarded with a joyous reunion. Instead, their story ends in infinite separation which, in the language of a Search for the Lost Husband story, means that one of the two is still being punished.

Different Taboos Yield Different Endings:

Earlier, I alluded to the fact that ATU-425: Search for the Lost Husband tales more often end happily while their ATU-400: Quest for the Lost Bride counterparts usually end in tragedy. One explanation for this can be found in Barbara Fass Leavy’s observation that taboos imposed on mythical husbands and mythical wives are different. For this part, I’ll borrow the words of Tumblr user @allgirlsareprincesses from her post about The Death of Love and the Lonely Soul in TROS:

In her book on swan maiden tales, author Barbara Fass Leavy points out that the taboos imposed on mythical husbands are different than those imposed on mythical wives. Men, for example, are most often prohibited from abusing their fairy brides, while women are prohibited from looking upon their fairy husbands or knowing their true identity. Leavy states: “In general, taboos imposed on the wife in Cupid and Psyche tales are often intended to keep her in her place, to prevent her from achieving some autonomy by knowing who her husband is, seeing him, or being able to disclose his identity to others.”

As these taboos are reflective of a patriarchal context, the difference in these taboos suggests an inherent imbalance in the relationship between husband and wife. Men are instructed not to abuse their power, whereas women are advised not to challenge their husbands’ authority or demand a more equal relationship. However, what is subversive about these fairy tales is that, despite breaking these taboos and challenging male authority, the women in these stories ultimately defy death. They are able to recover their lost husbands and are even elevated to royal/divine status for their courage and tenacity, thus entering into more equal marriages with their husbands.

In Man Wol and Chung Myung’s relationship, there is a clear power imbalance. As a bandit, Man Wol is on the wrong side of the law, and as a lowly migrant, she lives on the margins of her kingdom in a constant state of instability and upheaval. Meanwhile, Chung Myung, while originally of a humble migrant background, rose through the ranks to captain an arm of the kingdom’s military. He is the one in a position of power, power which he initially wields to protect Man Wol but is soon twisted against him. And yes, while Man Wol herself is the leader of her clan, her authority’s legitimacy pales in comparison to Chung Myung’s when he is favored by the princess and aligned with the royal crown.

This power imbalance is leveled on the night of the royal wedding. Chung Myung’s power is stripped from him in death as he is transformed into a pitiful firefly. Man Wol, a woman on the run, is on her way to a kind of death that awaits her as the owner of the Guest House of the Moon. Frozen in time, Man Wol becomes ageless. Unlike the immortality that is granted to Psyche which unites her to Eros as equals, Man Wol’s immortality is an everlasting punishment. Still, as owner of the Guest House of the Moon, Man Wol gains some special abilities which are showcased throughout the course of the show. She is able to influence the fate of Chan Sung’s father who appears to her on the verge of death and is able to magically protect Chan Sung at several points.

When Man Wol finally says Chung Myung’s name, he briefly appears to her as he did in his life as man without armor. It is during this long-awaited encounter that the petals of the Moon Tree fall, indicating that Man Wol has regained her mortality and must serve as the owner of the Guest House no longer. Afterward, Chung Myung is transformed back into a firefly, and he is not strong enough to make it to the bridge to the afterlife on his own. He is at the mercy of Man Wol who, after letting go of her ill-will toward him, agrees to accompany him to the afterlife. On the bridge crossing the Samdo river, Chung Myung appears as a man once more. He reaches his hand out to Man Wol and offers her the option to move onto the afterlife together, united in death on equal footing at last.

Part 5: Chung Myung and Man Wol as Orpheus and Eurydice

I’ll try to keep this section brief since this post is already way too long as it is. As mentioned previously, when the gender roles in a Search for the Lost Husband story are reversed, the tale more often than not ends in tragedy. So, since the love story between Jang Man Wol and Go Chung Myung is a tragic one, it can fairly easily be read as a Quest for the Lost Bride-type story. The famous version of this story in Greek mythology is the tragedy of Orpheus and Eurydice. While it bears some similarities to the Eros and Psyche story, including a treacherous trip to the Underworld, Orpheus and Eurydice centers a masculine perspective as opposed to a feminine one.

In the Greek myth, the union between Orpheus and Eurydice is doomed from the outset. Hymen, the god of marriage never blesses their wedding. In other Lost Bride tales, the powers that be may forbid the union (due to caste, clan, parent’s wishes, etc.) so the marriage must take place in secret.

After being bitten by a venomous snake, Eurydice dies and descends to the Underworld. In other Lost Bride stories, a separation between the husband and wife pair occurs when the wife dies during childbirth or after a betrayal on the part of the husband at which point the bride retreats back into her animal/swan form. With the bride lost or trapped in the Underworld, the husband must begin his quest.

The devastated Orpheus wallows and roams the earth, playing mournful songs on his lyre. Our hero descends to the Underworld and appeals to Hades and Persephone to return Eurydice to him. They agree but tell him that Eurydice must walk behind him on their way out of the Underworld. Orpheus is warned that he must not look back at her or else she will remain as a shade in Hades forever.

The hero swears he will obey whatever condition is put upon him, but he ultimately fails. Orpheus gives into the temptation and looks back to see if Eurydice has lost her footing. This “look back” is the equivalent of the breaking of the taboo from Lost Husband stories; it signifies a loss of faith or an inability to resist the lure of power or another lover.

Unlike the Search for the Lost Husband which rewards its heroine for her persistence with passionate love, the Quest for the Lost Bride contains harsh punishment for the failures of its hero. Orpheus loses Eurydice forever, and upon returning from the Underworld, he is torn to pieces by followers of Dionysus. His head floats down a river to the island of Lesbos to always sing sorrowful songs.

Another version of the Lost Bride story that I would like to highlight is from perhaps the most famous ballet of all time, Swan Lake. The ballet is about a princess named Odette who has been cursed by an evil sorcerer to remain a swan by day and a maid by night. The curse over Odette can only be broken if someone who has never loved before swears to love her forever. When the young Prince Siegfried, who has just come of age, stumbles upon the enchanted lake where Odette resides, the pair falls in love. Siegfried invites Odette to the ball his mother is holding the following evening in which he is supposed to select his bride.

At the royal ball, Von Rothbart, the evil sorcerer who cast the spell on Odette, arrives in disguise along with his daughter Odile who has been transformed to look like Odette. Thus, Prince Siegfried unknowingly pledges his troth to the villainous Odile rather than his true love Odette. Odette, who arrives just in time to witness this, retreats back to the titular swan lake, doomed to remain a swan forever on account of Siegfried’s betrayal.

Despite these Lost Bride/Swan Maiden stories ending in tragedy, variations exist that end on a happy note. In some versions of Orpheus and Eurydice, Orpheus descends to the Underworld for good and is reunited with Eurydice, to spend eternity together, hand-in-hand. Similarly, some versions of Swan Lake end with a double suicide that vanquishes evil, breaks Rothbart’s curse over the other swan-maidens, and results in an apotheosis for Odette and Siegfried who are eternally united in death.

Although different productions of Swan Lake contain vastly different endings, the original ends in tragedy. In versions with a tragic end, Prince Siegfried is killed in his final struggle with Rothbart, or Odette permanently becomes a swan while the grief-stricken Siegfried remains alone at the story’s conclusion.

The apotheosis from American Ballet Theatre’s 2005 TV version of Swan Lake.

So, how do these stories relate to Man Wol and Chung Myung’s? Well, first, it’s clear from even the very first minutes of Hotel del Luna that Man Wol’s love with Chung Myung is bound to end poorly because the show opens with Man Wol being doomed to keep the Guest House of the Moon as a punishment for killing numerous people. The mystery that unfolds throughout the course of the show is exactly what drove her to kill so many, and the answers we’re given about Man Wol’s past are all tied to Go Chung Myung.

The inciting event that takes the place of the wife’s tragic death or husband’s infidelity is Chung Myung’s betrayal of Man Wol. Like Prince Siegfried, Chung Myung fails to pledge his troth to his true love and instead pledges his loyalties to the false-bride Song Hwa.

It is after this betrayal that Man Wol returns to her ‘enchanted’ form, that is, in contrast to the true self that the ‘prince’ Chung Myung had drawn out of her, Man Wol resumes her inauthentic aspect as ruthless bandit. After slaying the false-bride along with countless others, Man Wol becomes trapped in the Underworld (the Guest House), and her treacherous lover joins her shortly thereafter.

Chung Myung’s persistence in remaining at Man Wol’s side as well as Man Wol’s refusal to budge after all those years appeal to Mago, the ruler of this Underworld, and cause her to create the conditions that bring Koo Chan Sung to the hotel. It is Chan Sung’s entrance into Man Wol’s life that leads to her confronting her past and her eventual reunion with Chung Myung.

However, the power imbalance that we saw in Search for the Lost Husband tales is not entirely absent in their Quest for the Lost Bride counterparts. When Lost Bride tales are retold from a particular masculine perspective, the happy ending often predicates upon the husband successfully subjugating his wife rather than a marriage of two lovers as equals.

When Man Wol reunites with Go Chung Myung, he appears to her in his humble attire without his armor and says few words, accepting her decision to let go of her resentments toward him while she insists that it's time for him "move on" to the afterlife. Man Wol forgives Chung Myung, but she doesn't welcome him back with open arms, and subsequently declines his invitation to move on together. Chung Myung takes a more passive role in these interactions, so I don't really get the vibe that a happy ending between him and Man Wol would have predicated on him subjugating or dominating Man Wol. Man Wol is able to let go of her grudge toward Chung Myung, but they were ultimately unable to rekindle their love.

Alright, it's high time to wrap this up. On a closing note, I would like to say this is just one lens through which this story can be analyzed. My analysis focused on the historical subplot of Hotel Del Luna which is only one of its many concurrent storylines. You can easily read the overarching love story between Man Wol and Chan Sung as a gender-swapped Beauty and The Beast story with Man Wol as the cold and conceited "Beast" who holds Chan Sung's father hostage in episode 1 only to spare his life in exchange for his son's servitude, the Moon Tree as an analogue to the magical rose, and the Hotel del Luna serving as the Beast's enchanted palace.

I hope you enjoyed this long-winded meta, and if you made it this far, thanks for reading <3

#hotel del luna #hotel del luna meta #jang man wol #go chung myung #jang man wol x go chung myung #search for the lost husband #atu 425 #eros and psyche #aarne-thompson-uther 425 #animal as the bridegroom #fairy tale meta #sorry about the sepia filter on some of these gifs

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enihk-writes · 1 year

Text

[homecoming]

pairing: past!chung-myung x gn!they/them!reader

summary: the night before he leaves mount hua to subdue cheon-ma and the demonic cult, chung myung pays a visit to the small run-down shed at the edge of the village.

content warning: reader is implied to have depression stemming from their eventual disability due to internal injuries healing wrongly // reader is implied to have some minor form of age-related memory loss later in life // canon-compliant chung myung death from the opening of the novel

word count: 4.0k

author’s note: yea,,, so uh,,, i got hit with an angst-a-tron MK3500 at 10pm on like a monday night one(1) day before i have to go back to campus for my semester 2 classes.... this fic somehow ended up being a fucking monster longest fic i’ve ever written in my career 我的天啊。我发神经病了是吗？这么突然能够写的这么多字？我老师看到这个肯定会把我两个脚从我学校四楼 tie together and 丢我下去。

[PLEASE PROCEED WITH CAUTION! I AM NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR ANY TRIGGERS CAUSED BEYOND THIS LINE]

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the chatter in the bustling dining hall died down as he walked further and further away from the crowd and towards the sect gates.

past the open gates, he notices the older man with greying hair standing serenely, looking out at the nightscape and the village that surrounded the base of the mountain down below.

sa-hyung

when did that guy grow so old? he knew the sect leader was getting on in years but, looking at the crow’s feet crinkling from the smile his sa-hyung gave him, it’s just hard not to get sentimental, you know?

are you going to see them? the sect leader asks, a teasing, knowing tone in his voice. like he was aware of something chung myung wasn’t. it was a little annoying, but this was nothing he wasn’t used to at this point.

chung myung grunts, not really wanting to answer the sect leader’s questions. truthfully, it was a habit everyone around him knew about. no one ever asked him about his relationship with that person out-right though, they were smarter then that, and were rather happy to stay curious.

tomorrow's mission won’t be like any other. the sect leader muses, looking out again into the distance.

you should tell them.

chung myung looks at the sect leader incredulously, like the man had grown a second head and was speaking unhinged gibberish.

about what?

you know exactly what i’m talking about chung myung. i know you’re not daft. a deep belly-chuckle came from the good-natured sect leader, even as old men, he still wanted to tease the younger one.

chung myung stays silent. he would rather not confront the matters of his heart tonight. he will in due time, just not now. it was better for the both of them — that person, and himself.

the sect leader chuckles again at the other’s unusually quiet demeanor, turning to go back into the bustling dining hall.

it seems i’ve held you back long enough, run along and come back on time.

the younger man clicks his tongue, scratching his neck and looking away in embarrassment, he felt too seen by the elder then — but he still promised to return before morning. tomorrow was an important day for the sect and the world as a whole, after all.

at the base of the mountain was a forested path leading to a thriving town under mount hua’s protection, he walks past the crowds of villagers and noisy night-market vendors, further and further away until it was just the serene moon of méiyuè accompanying him to where he had promised he would be.

sure enough, right along the dirt path was the familiar shadow of the run down hut, almost shed, that person had taken to calling their home these past few years.

he thought about the day they left the sect. he remembers chasing after them to the gates, hoping he could get them to stay. he didn’t understand why they left back then, even now, he still couldn’t get their reasons.

how could you leave the home you’ve lived in all your life like this? he shouts at them in confusion and anger, maybe with a little sadness laced in it too.

their back looked small. tired. the weight of their debilitating condition heavy on their minds. there is no cure for a broken qi core, after all. it’s like taking the eyes of an artist away or a musician’s hearing. when a murim warrior can no longer use their qi, what were they to do? if their condition hits rock bottom, they might not even have control over their own bodies, or even their consciousness. friends become foes, the living and dead are made equal in their skewed judgement, what if...

a chill ran down their spine at the thought of that scenario. no, they’d make sure such a tragedy can never befall on any innocent being. that’s why they were leaving the sect. for the safety of their sect brothers and sisters, and mostly for their own peace of mind.

why won’t you answer me, damn it!

chung myung’s calls were edging on desperation. he’d never been one to do well in the face of change. he was happy with the way things were, so why weren’t they? what went wrong? why did they want to leave?

so what if you can’t fight anymore? it doesn’t mean you can’t live here, everybody loves you so much and they can all take care of you!

besides, he was here too.

wasn’t he?

there was a long silence. the cool autumn winds danced past the sect gates. surrounding the two were large, towering plum blossom tress now donned in a lovely shade of caramel, with it’s leaves shaking free from the branches it spent a lifetime on — fluttering along with where the breeze led them and falling gracefully at their feet.

ever since their qi core broke, they’ve mostly kept to themselves. not really going anywhere outside their room or talking to other sect members. other then chung myung, of course. he was clingy, nosy and annoying. well, it was hard to shake him off in general.

if they were skipping meals, he’d break in through their window with a table of food. if they weren’t getting out of bed, he’d carry them out to join him in slacking off on daily duties. if they were beginning to spiral into the loop of numbed despair, he would barge in with something for them to do — housekeeping, meeting with merchants, archiving records, anything that kept them on their feet or distracted them enough.

it didn’t really make the feeling go away, but chung myung tries, and that was all that mattered to them.

but they had to go.

because they loved the people who lived here, they have to leave this home behind, so no one will ever suffer the chance of getting hurt by their hands.

because they loved him that they hope he would never have to go through the inevitable task of taking their life, when they are no longer themselves.

i should get going.

they grinned at him, honestly feeling a little silly about getting caught up in their emotions and becoming so sentimental at that moment. they were just moving out to live in the forest around the town outskirts. and it’s not like chung myung couldn’t come down the mountain to see them whenever he wanted either.

chung myung too, grew embarrassed. was he crazy? why did he act like they were going off to some faraway place? there were still within reach, there were still near mount hua. he could see them whenever.

tch. go off already.

he shoos them, flicking his hand at them in annoyance. wanting to hide his heated face from their prying eyes.

he hears them laugh for the first time in a while, he had been missing it lately, how could he have forgotten how sweet it sounded? they turn on their heel, heart lighter from before, it was going to be alright. they would be fine. chung myung will be fine. the sun will still rise on the east, and the seasons will change, the world will move on and so will they.

i’ll be going for real now, bye-bye chung myung. come see me tomorrow, okay?

nah, i don’t feel like it.

please?

he sighs.

i’ll go if i can slip past the sect elders.

you say it like you want them to catch you, i guess you really don’t want to visit me. how upsetting...

ugh. fine, i’ll see you in your stupid new house.

how sweet of you chung myung! look at how grown-up you’ve become!

you little—!

they laughed loudly as they ran down the mountain before chung myung tried to catch them in a chokehold. he doesn’t even bother chasing after them, but he does look on at where the ran off to. their hair had been cut shorter then it usually was, and the tie wasn’t able to hold back the lose few strands that fluttered around their face. they looked younger, lighter, like a kid going on a trip away from home. if they were that happy, he has to be happy for them too, shouldn’t he?

it’s been more then fifty years since then.

he walks into the humble abode, they were sitting against the windows, a book in one hand and the other nursing a cup of tea. they’ve aged, he realised. their once battle-worn face had gone soft, the groves around their eyes had grown deeper over time. skin that was once full and youthful had grown loose around the bones. their hair that had always been so well-taken care of no matter what was now thinner, a little dry and coarse. he picks up the brush lying on the dresser nearby, and walks over to where they were sitting.

with a confidence that seemed to have done this a hundred times, he gathers their long hair and wraps a thin white ribbon around it, looping it over here and there. when he was done, he leans back to look at his work, it wasn’t that good, but it wasn’t the worst either. he wanted to braid the ribbon into their hair but he gave up halfway and settled with a low one instead.

as he sets down the brush, they sweep the half-braided hair over their shoulder to look at his handiwork, fingers playing with the ends of the ribbon.

do you like it?

they look up at him, eyes searching his face, a look of unfamiliarity in their gaze. taking a moment longer before a small smile finally cracks on their face.

chung myung...!

they call out his name, turning to face him fully. they remembered this stranger in their house, and look at how he hadn’t aged a day.

chung myung smiles back sadly. it wasn’t fair how he was the only one whose time had seemed to stop, and theirs had kept moving on, the age taking their memories away at every turn. he just saw them yesterday and they’ve already had trouble remembering him again. they’ve already lost so much, it just wasn’t fair.

i made tea. you should have some, training must have been hard on you.

they smooth out the frown on his brow, tenderly rubbing circles on his cheek with their thumb. humming an unnamed melody as they did so.

he looks over at the said pot of tea. it had already gone cold, probably even bitter from how long the leaves must have sat in the water. he takes a cup anyways, and empties it out, not even leaving a single drop behind.

they giggle in amusement, wondering out loud if he was that thirsty.

hm... the tea you made is really... rich in flavour. thank you for letting me have all of it. i really needed that.

he lies while choosing his words carefully, setting down his cup and pushing the tea set away, he ponders for a moment, and picks them up in his arms, carrying them over to their bed.

what about my book?

you can read that later.

they watch as he sets them down on their bed, kicking off his shoes and climbing in right after. he sighs as his head plops down on their lap, making himself comfortable.

their hands find their way into his thick, dark locks of hair — fingers gingerly undoing the ribbon, watching in quiet fascination as chung myung's abundant tresses came cascading down their legs and flowing over the edge of the bed.

he hums, almost purrs as they thread through the troublesome kinks and knots in his curls, scratching his scalp as they worked through it. his tense body grows softer at their touch, leaning into their hand, wishing that those soft palms would lay on his head forever.

but alas, the night wore off and the distant bustle of the village nightlife had faded into the gentle symphony of the nocturnal critters for quite some time now. he knows he had to get up and return to the mountains, but how could he? the heart wants what it wants, and what it wanted was to stay by their side until the last moment. but he had also promised his sa-hyung he would be back on time.

a long drawn-out sigh was passed in the silence that lay between the two of them. they gaze down at chung myung’s face, again scrunched into a frown.

you frown so much.

the pads of their fingers ghosted over his brows, softly smoothing out the hard creases on his face. he kept his eyes closed. if he opened them, he knew that familiar face would be looking over his, and if he looked at that face, he would look into their eyes, and if he looked at them long enough, he would never want to leave this place. hell, he might not even bother to go with the sect tomorrow.

tomorrow, most of the elders and older disciples will be leaving to subjugate the demonic cult. i’ll be going with them.

he pauses. waiting for them to tell him to stay.

they don’t.

i’ll have to leave soon.

silence.

i’ll come back.

again, he was met with no answer.

you have to take care of yourself.

a beat, and then — a barely audible hum of acknowledgement graces his ears.

chung myung sits up, pulling them into a tight hug, it was really out-of-character of him but something in him was telling him to do it anyways. burying his face deeper into the dip of their neck, he felt his anxiety pour out of his lips.

you better be here when i come back. don’t take this as a chance to go somewhere i can’t find you. i have something i have to tell you so, wait for me here. please?

they rub soothing circles on his back, hugging him back with as much strength their aging body could muster. resting their chin daintily on his shoulder, they revel in the rare burst of affection the man was showing tonight.

hm. you worry too much.

they giggle for a bit.

where else would i be if not here? this is my home, isn’t it?

yeah, but...

if you’re still worried about that... well, i won’t try anything anymore. i promise.

really?

yes. really.

chung myung loosens his grip and finally lets go of his hold on them. coughing awkwardly, he moves them off his lap. slowly, he gets up, puts on his shoes and puts himself together. he turns on his heel, heading for the entryway. they followed after him, their feet shuffling against the floor trying to keep up.

it was drizzling outside.

there was a sudden warmth enveloping him from behind. it took him a moment to register their arms around his waist, face buried against his back. he barely held back his smile as he takes ahold of their hands, once again turning to face them. it seems that saying their goodbyes was a lot harder today, for him and for them too.

goodnight, chung myung.

you should go to bed soon.

he stays at his spot, watching them slide their door shut, listening as the movements in the shed ceased into soft breaths that eventually evened out. he waits a while longer and finally found the strength to return to his own home.

═══════════════

morning rolled around rather quickly. the streets were lined with throngs of civilians on each side of the road making way for the farewell procession of the would-be heroes. vibrant pink petals were cast into the air as the elders of the sect led the disciples onwards.

from the corner of his eye he catches a white ribbon flowing in the wind, but when he swings his head to look, there was no one there. was he just seeing things? his heart drops a little, he was hoping to see them before he —

look up.

his gaze meets theirs, a gleeful glint in their eyes, all perched up in the trees. he wonders what they were clasping in their hands, held up to their mouth in what looked like a kiss. though he didn’t have to for long. as he passed by under them, he felt a flutter of white plum blossoms raining down on him, most of it falling off him except for a lone petal that stuck on his lower lip. he picks up the petal in between his fingers, feeling the corner of his lip crook up in amusement.

he should ask them about that stunt they pulled when he comes back.

and he should probably also tell them how pretty they were with that white ribbon he gave them, all braided into their hair, when he came back from this.

finally, it was over.

cheon-ma has finally been defeated.

all at the cost of so many lives. all taken too soon, too cruelly and all for what? who was going to remember the names of those that died here today? who would mourn for these lives? chung myung couldn’t think of an answer to that.

his body grows limp and he collapses on top of the mountain of corpses. he’s lost too much blood, probably from losing his whole left arm.

to be born alone and to die alone like a common mutt, what a life he had lived as the thirteenth disciple of the great mount hua sect.

all that was left for him to do, as his consciousness walked on the thin line between life and death, was to wallow in his regrets. he could see his memories flicker before his eyes. was this what people talk about seeing when your life is drawing to a close? all that he has done so far, had led to this sorry end?

if only he had been more diligent in training.

if only he had been just a little stronger then he was now.

if only he could have saved a life, any life. a single innocent life spared from the cold clutches of an unjust death.

ah.

and one more thing.

he wanted to apologize to them, for breaking his promise. he hoped they would curse him out a little, because at least that meant they thought of him. he hopes they wouldn’t get too lonely and join them all too soon.

he feels his senses grow numb.

it’s been a few years since chung myung had somehow traversed through time and had woken up a hundred years into the future from when he had died on that mountain of corpses.

he’d kept himself busy with building the now fallen and derelict sect, back into the glory it once had.

this new body of his, it was going to turn twenty-two soon. in his downtime, he’d slipped away from the sect and had gone down the mountain to the town as he usually did.

though it was a little different today. he finds his feet taking him down the almost familiar path out of the town and on an overgrown grass patch where a dirt path once lay. and sure enough, he could see the familiar shadow of a house, almost shed standing in the distance.

time had worked it’s damage on the structure.

he peers in from the broken-in door to see the place left to it’s bare bones. whatever furniture or item had all been looted and taken. in the middle of the room was a mess of broken wood, remnants of when the roof caved in.

chung myung walks into the dilapidated room, looking around for anything that could have survived the past hundred years of wear and tear. anything that could remind him of them.

nothing. there was really nothing left.

a breeze came in from a window, and the corner of his eye catches a fluttering movement. he swings his head and there, on the window sills, was a ribbon, turned light brown from the layers of dust and dirt, it’s once long silky edges now choppy and frayed.

hands shaky, he unties the ribbon from the window, holding it carefully, as though it would fall apart in his grasp. he could feel the barely buried feelings of regret crash upon him all over again. he wonders if they had left this behind with the blind hope that he would come back?

he was back, against all odds. he had managed to come home, but, they weren’t here to see it. nobody he used to ever care for was here to see him anymore.

he should leave. before his feelings get the better of him.

he holds his hands to his face, sighing deeply. steeling himself to move on. but when he drops his hands and opens his eyes, he is once again stunned in his tracks. was it really?

there, past the open window and on the clearing right outside looking at him curiously was a face he would know anywhere. a startled squeak leaves them as they realize that their eyes met, trying their best to block his view with the laundry basket they held in their arms. backing off and beginning to scurry away from the scene.

chung myung knows that it was a long shot, an impossible shot into the dark even, but what if they had been reincarnated like he had? it wasn’t out of the question, right? he thinks as his legs swing over the window, jumping down from it and begins to give chase to the one running away from him.

really, what sane person would ever think that they could outrun a martial artist? chung myung caught up so quickly it was honestly laughable. he catches them by the collar, yanking them back and they let out high-pitched yelp in fright.

he could barely hold back his laugh as he looks down at their face, eyes screwed shut and lips pursed in anxiety.

steadying them on their feet, he turns them to face him. they look different from all those years ago, but his soul knows. it knows better then anyone that this is them, a different face, a different voice and maybe even another name but all of that cannot trick his soul from knowing who they were.

he searches their face, there was no look of recognition. no matter, they could start over, he couldn’t let this chance slip past him like it had back then. he would make things right by them, he wouldn’t keep them waiting in vain like he had back then.

chung myung clears his throat, grinning boyishly at them, hands formed together in greeting, bowing his head before he looks back at them.

ah, really sorry about chasing you down like that. my name is chung myung, and i come from mount hua sect in the mountains back there. it’s nice to meet you.

they look at him, up and down, assessing him for a bit. crazy guy. chasing them down like a predator hunting their prey. crazy. batshit insane. who does that? who even does that? but, they would be lying if their heart was swayed by that grin, he was a little cute, and who in the world wouldn’t be swayed by a face like his? not them, that’s for sure.

besides, when they saw him through the window, something about him...

it felt familiar. it’s almost like, they have known each other from long ago. but wasn’t that weird? how could one know a stranger for a lifetime? unless this was what others call a fated encounter? they bite back a gasp.

hello.

a soft, shy smile graces their lips. quietly telling him their name. chung myung couldn’t help the fondness growing in his gaze. truly, it was a miracle sent from the heavens. maybe this time, the two of them would finally work out what they couldn’t last time. maybe this time, they would find the ending they’ve both always wanted.

#enihkwrites #return of the mount hua sect #return of mount hua #return of the blossoming blade #rotbb #rotmhs #cheong myeong #chung myung #cheong myeong x reader #chung myung x reader #return of the mount hua sect x reader #return of the blossoming blade x reader #not going to lie babes this one took me two weeks to finish writing #i had a plan and i lost the plan and now look at this ending yall #i lost the plot somewhere in the fic #can you believe im still going through the novel #imagine being a writer that hates reading #absolute insanity

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