Beasts of a Little Land

Set against nearly five decades of Korean history, from Japanese colonial rule through independence and authoritarian rule, the novel traces the intertwined lives of several characters whose fates are shaped by love, sacrifice, and the struggle for freedom.

In 1917, a starving hunter named Nam KyungSoo tracks what he believes is a leopard through the mountains of PyongAhn province. When the animal reveals itself to be a young tiger, KyungSoo recalls his father's warning never to kill a tiger unless it attacks first and lowers his bow. He collapses in the snow during his descent but is found and revived by Captain Yamada Genzo, a young Japanese officer lost on a hunting trip with Major Hayashi and several soldiers. KyungSoo leads them down the mountain, and when a tiger charges, he drives it off with his voice. Hayashi shoots Baek, the group's Korean guide, in retribution for the failed hunt. Yamada argues for KyungSoo's release and privately gives him an engraved silver cigarette case, telling him to use it if he ever needs help.

The following year, 10-year-old Jade is brought by her impoverished mother to the PyongYang household of Silver, a celebrated courtesan who trains young women in the traditional arts. Silver offers to take Jade as an apprentice for 50 won, and Jade's mother accepts, knowing the money could transform the family's fortunes. They part with the understanding that Jade must never return home. Jade befriends Lotus, Silver's cheerful younger daughter, and meets Luna, Silver's older, strikingly beautiful daughter. Silver is secretly channeling money from PyongYang's courtesans to independence fighters abroad.

The household is shattered when Japanese officers raid the unlicensed establishment. Hayashi selects 15-year-old Luna, beats a servant nearly to death, and rapes Luna in front of everyone. When Luna is found to be pregnant, Silver's cousin Dani, a grand Seoul courtesan kept by a powerful Japanese judge, takes all three girls to the capital.

That same day, a 12-year-old orphan named Nam JungHo, KyungSoo's son, arrives in Seoul. His father has died of starvation, and JungHo has fled his village so his older sister can accept a marriage proposal that excluded him. He joins a band of street children, defeats their leader, and takes command, carrying his father's cigarette case and mother's silver ring as talismans.

In 1919, independence activist Lee MyungBo enlists Dani's help rallying Seoul's courtesan guilds to fund the resistance. Dani maneuvers her former lover, the publisher Kim SungSoo, into printing 10,000 copies of the Korean Declaration of Independence. On March 1, a massive peaceful march erupts. Japanese troops attack with rifles and swords. Dani is arrested but released through her patron's influence; her loyal maid Hesoon dies in custody. MyungBo is imprisoned and tortured, transforming him into an advocate of armed resistance. Luna names her newborn Hesook in Hesoon's memory. When Dani discovers Jade gave JungHo a silk comforter, she forbids contact, and the two children lose touch for years.

Part II opens in 1925. JungHo, now 16, has built a protection racket across Seoul's Jongno district. He spots Jade on a streetcar and they reunite; she has become a courtesan of growing renown. At a benefit performance, Lotus's extraordinary singing and Jade's mesmerizing sword dance earn standing ovations, and a theater director offers both women starring roles.

JungHo falls under the mentorship of MyungBo, now a committed Communist who has traveled to Moscow. MyungBo teaches JungHo to read and write, giving his life purpose beyond survival. JungHo confesses his love, but Jade tells him she loves HanChol, a rickshaw driver whose education she funds. HanChol passes the university entrance exams near the top of the country, and their relationship deepens.

Lotus becomes the mistress of President Ma, the wealthy owner of the Grand Oriental Cinema, and bears his daughter Sunmi. When Ma is disappointed the child is not a son, his affection cools. Luna, devoted to raising Hesook, eventually marries Deputy Consul Curtice, the red-haired American who witnessed the March massacre.

Jade's relationship with HanChol collapses when he refuses to marry her, saying his family would never accept a former courtesan. By the late 1930s, Jade's film career has ended with the transition to talkies, and Lotus has descended into opium addiction. Japan's invasion of China tightens the colonial grip.

Part III covers the war years. JungHo is chosen for a mission with the Korean Provisional Government in Shanghai. He visits Jade, who is caring for the dying Dani, and offers to stay. Jade tells him the cause is bigger than either of them. Devastated, he smashes a mirror and leaves with cold finality.

Dani dies of late-stage syphilis, never having seen MyungBo or SungSoo, who both declined her final request for a visit. Ito Atsuo, a Japanese officer and art collector, encounters Jade on the street and later sends her money and a small celadon vase, a type of green-glazed Korean pottery.

In Harbin, JungHo shoots the deputy governor-general during a public speech, fulfilling his assignment. His backup, Cho, is killed. Returning to Seoul, JungHo is arrested during a conscription sweep, but General Yamada, presiding over the processing, recognizes the engraved cigarette case and sees the hunter's face in JungHo. He writes a safe-passage letter and releases him.

On August 6 and 9, 1945, atomic bombs destroy Hiroshima and Nagasaki, where Ito has returned with his porcelain collection. Yamada's army in Manchuria is overwhelmed by the Russian invasion. He flees into the forest and dies in the snow, recalling how he once found JungHo's father in the same position. On August 15, Japan surrenders.

In the new Republic, JungHo rescues Lotus from a brothel, and Jade pays for her freedom. Luna writes from San Francisco offering a visa; Lotus takes it and sails across the Pacific. Korea is divided at the 38th parallel. MyungBo is arrested by his own countrymen's government. SungSoo is tried for collaboration but acquitted. HanChol marries SeoHee, SungSoo's daughter, and builds an automobile empire.

Part IV takes place in 1964. Jade, now 56, visits HanChol to ask him to use his connections to save JungHo, who has been arrested on charges of espionage and communism. In prison, JungHo gives Jade his mother's silver garakji, a traditional Korean ring that Silver once sent to the hunter's family. He tells her his father's story: The hunter spared a young tiger, and when a mother tiger later charged the soldiers, she did not attack him. JungHo's father believed the tiger was his mother, reborn to protect the man she loved. JungHo tells Jade that if he returns in another life, he will find her. She promises to say yes.

At trial, JungHo is betrayed by Loach, his oldest friend, who testifies against him. Yamada's safe-passage letter, found in JungHo's home, is presented as evidence of collaboration with the Japanese. JungHo is convicted and paraded through the streets of Jongno. Jade stumbles upon the procession and calls his name. He finds her eyes and gives the smallest smile, remembering this is nearly the same spot where, as a boy, she threw a flower at his face. He is executed.

In the epilogue, set in 1965, Jade narrates from Jejudo, the southern island where she scatters Dani's and Hesoon's ashes into the sea, fulfilling a decades-old vow. A seawoman named Jindo daek flees her abusive husband and leaves her baby, CholSoo, in Jade's care. Jade learns to dive, and catching her first abalone, finds a pearl inside. She is certain JungHo is watching over her. She reflects: "Life is only bearable because time makes you forget everything. But life is worthwhile because love makes you remember everything" (399). Floating in the sea, she feels no wish or yearning, and is finally at peace.