By Kim Jin-heon
Lee Mae-chang was a “kisaeng,” or courtesan. She was talented in poetry, playing the “geomungo” (Korean harp) and dancing. She, along with Hwang Jinyi and Heo Nanseolheon, were known as the three lady poets of the Joseon dynasty period.
Lee was born in Buan, North Jeolla Province, in 1573 and lived until 1610. She lived as a government kisaeng, dancing and playing geomungo for officials. Her Chinese poems were especially well known, even in Seoul. Numerous famous people were eager to visit Buan to see her.
In those days, a great number of writers who were noblemen met her and exchanged poems with her for over 10 years. One such nobleman was Heo Gyun, a novelist and government official. Most of their poems were about love. As the years went by, Lee’s fame spread further.
One day, she was visited by Yoo Hee-kyung, who was from the lowest class in Seoul. At the time, she was 20, and he was 48. They fell in love through poetry. During that period, it was difficult to travel the distance from Seoul to Buan, so they couldn’t meet often. When they were able to be together, they expressed their feelings in poetry. Yoo wrote the following poem for Lee.
If Rain Drops on the Paulownia Tree
Your house is in Buan.
My house is in Seoul.
Even if we miss each other, we can’t see each other.
If rain drops on the paulownia tree, I love you more.
Lee wrote this poem to Yoo:
When the Pear Blossoms Are Flying
When the pear blossoms are flying,
I held you in tears and said goodbye.
Do you think of me in the autumn leaves?
Looking at you far away, I only dream about being lonely.
Unfortunately, the Japanese invaded the Joseon dynasty in 1592. Because of the war, Yoo had to leave Lee to become part of the civilian army. They never met again.
For the next 18 years, even though others flirted with her, Lee’s love for Yoo did not change at all. She died at the age of 36. At that time, middle-class men, called Ajeon, made a tomb and a tombstone for her. They published a collection of poems to preserve her passion and protect her beautiful poetry.
Residents of Buan County have maintained this beautiful tradition and have held a poetry contest since the early 1970s. In 1993, they helped arrange for the tomb of Lee to be designated as Local Monument No. 65.
At the time the monument was designated, the area was a cemetery. But in 2001, the county renamed the area Maechang Park. All the other graves were removed, and poem monuments inscribed with her numerous poems were placed around her tomb. Each monument reminds travelers of Lee’s sensibility and affection for her lover.
The writer is a retired English teacher who published the book “Flower Is Flower.”
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