#the tale of shim chong

[the-yuri-librarian]

Review: Her Tale of Shim Chong

Summary: Her Tale of Shim Chong (referred to as Her Tale from here on) is a Korean manhwa written by Seri and illustrated by Biwan. Set in feudal Korea, Her Tale is a historical, girls' love retelling of classic Korean novel The Tale of Shim Chong. It tells the story of Shim Chong, a beggar who is desperately trying to make ends meet to feed her and her blind father, and the soon-to-be second Madame Jang, who has been sold into marrying the Chancellor to give her family a better position. After a chance encounter, they build a friendship -- and eventually more -- that transcends class boundaries. But not everyone is happy with the Chancellor's new wife, and Chong's presence is far from welcome in the royal palace. When the Chancellor falls into a mysterious coma after the wedding night, his children make plans to oust Madam Jang, and it may be up to Shim Chong to save not only their relationship, but their lives.

Minor spoilers under the cut:

The Good: This writing in this manhwa is, overall, excellent. Chong and Madame Jang are complex characters with a variety of competing wants, needs, personalities, and flaws that elevate the conflicts in the story and bring them to life in an extraordinary way. As a result, their relationship is very realistic, developing organically thanks to their dazzling chemistry. But, not all is easy in this story; as our protagonists grow closer, they are met with fierce opposition, sometimes from each other, that adds much needed drama to the story. In particular, Jang's daughter-in-law and Monk Sumin are incredibly effective antagonists, each challenging Chong and Jang in unique ways. The long term conflict -- the raging waters of the Indangsoo Sea -- is also an ever-present threat, growing and growing until the characters in the story have no choice but to take drastic action. All of this is brought to life by Biwan's incredible art, which injects a vibrancy to the story that elevates it from a great story to an unforgettable one.

The Bad: Despite how much I clearly love this story, Her Tale does have some shortcomings, the most glaring of which lies in the pacing. This story has, putting it lightly, a lot of ground to cover and, though it is a solid 81 chapters long, there is not enough time to cover it. This results in some major plot points being resolved incredibly fast, particularly at the end of the story, and other plot points being seemingly dropped with no explanation. A good example of this is in the first half of the story, when it is revealed that Madam Jang may be poisoning the Chancellor and causing his coma. Initially, this seems like it is going to be a big deal in the story, but at a certain point, it is dropped and never brought up again. This leaves the audience no insight into why Madam Jang would potentially do such a thing, despite the crucial fact that the Chancellor's coma is actively making her life harder. Additionally, while some of the antagonists are well-written to the point of being lifelike, others are antagonistic to the point of being over the top, making them feel cartoon-ish and overall clashing with the tone of the rest of the story.

The Overview: All in all, Her Tale is an excellently written and plotted story that drew me in and raised the bar for what it means to tell a visual yuri/girls love story. Shim Chong and Madam Jang will stick with me for a long time and I really look forward to rereading this series sometime in 2024. It says something that my biggest criticism of the series is a complaint about the pacing, which ultimately boils down to wanting more of the story. I truly can not recommend Her Tales enough and will certainly be looking for more girls love stories by Seri in the near future.

Overall rating: A-

#her tale of shim chong #the tale of shim chong #yuri #girls love #gl #manhwa #webtoon #korean literature #review

[yoramkelmer]

In a video on the abduction of Choi Eun-hee and Shin Sang-ok to North Korea, I stumbled across these very, very rare stills from their 1985 north korean production of The Tale of Shim Chong (심청전) - and that even from the otherworldly sequence that was shot in the Bavaria Studios in Munich, Germany.

The first one shows the heroine, Shim Chong, sinking down do the underwater world, then stumbling upon the dancers who bring her to the God of the Sea, who then reunite her with her late mother, played by Choi Eun-hee.

I unfortunately don’t know the name of the actress who plays Shim Chong.

UPDATE: the actress is indeed Jang Sun-hee, who also played the lead in two other movies by them, Love, Love, my Love (1984) and Pulgasari (1985).

#Choi Eun-hee #The Tale of Shim Chong #North Korean Cinema #North Korean movie #North Korean movies #North Korea #Bavaria Studios #Shin Sang-ok #심청전 #Jang Sun-hee #장선희

[lazuilis]

lovers

#her shim cheong #her tale of shim chong #her tale of shim cheong #lesbian #gl #yuri #wlw art #my art

[lilium-dragomir]

#Manga #Geunyeoui Simcheong #Her Tale of Shim Chong

[aiku]

My kindness to you was [empty], yet you fell for it like a moth to a flame. And now I'm at a loss for what to do. If I knew this would happen, I'd have left you alone.

#her tale of shim chong #just read ch. 30 and that line makes it seem like it's gonna get angsty... #;w; #the elements of this manhwa kinda remind me of the handmaiden like poor girl + rich girl with ulterior motives fall in love type of deal? #idk but i'm enjoying this manhwa so far #the hands man.... #hands #mine #her shim cheong

[likeastars]

Congrats to the step daughter for her gay awakening, living proof that there's no age for discovering who you are-

Happy for Doki too <3

#I LOVE THAT WHILE THE MAIN CHARACTERS WERE HAVING THEIR DRAMATIC LOVE AFFAIR THE MOMS WERE HAVING ONE TOO #in the end the step daughter succeded in having a son #her tale of shim chong #her shim cheong

[yuripoll]

SEASON 2 ROUND 3

NOTE: Her Tale of Shim Chong contains depictions of abuse and misogyny.

#matches #yuri #gl #girls love #wlw #manga #manhua #webcomic #her shim cheong #her tale of shim chong #seri #biwan #the guy she was interested in #the guy she was interested in wasn't a guy at all #tgswiiwagaa #tgswii #sumiko arai

[haveyoureadthisyuri]

note: this work includes depictions of pedophilia, abuse, misogyny and sexual assault.

#have you read this yuri #her tale of shim chong

[rosasappho]

Yuri Election List

#yuri election #her tale of shim chong #loona

[archivitos]

그녀의 심청

Her Tale of Shim Chong

Volumes 1-7

#her tale of shim chong #covers #seri #biwan

[incoherent-orca]

listen. LISTEN. throughout the entire Her Tale of Shim Cheong, it's implied to be a tragedy, because we know the ending of the myth and unnie/the fortune teller keeps saying that cheong getting close to the madam will lead to her death

but cheong refuses to escape her fate because, well, her life wasn't very much worth living ?? the madam inspires her to live for herself, to fight for something, even though it will eventually kill her, and she would rather feel alive for that brief moment than live a long but miserable life

but what gets me is that whAT IT TAKES TO CHANGE THE FORTUNE ISN'T CHEONG CHOOSING TO LEAVE THE MADAM

IT'S THE MADAM CHOOSING CHEONG OVER EVERYTHING ELSE

the entire story, the madam has been trying to protect cheong from within the system that victimizes them both. it's such a good depiction of patriarchy to me--there's no amount of obedience or martyrdom that will ever make you win in a system that doesn't value you as a human being to begin with

especially in the finale when all the merchants are saying the most horrific shit like "why couldn't you just drown peacefully" or calling cheong's desire to live on her own terms "irresponsible" or "sinful"

so the fact that cheong's fate changes when the madam embraces her own agency, when she gives up the only kind of power she's ever known and rejects the system entirely for cheong is like, they saved themselves by choosing each other aND IF THAT ISN'T THE MOST BEAUTIFUL THING

#her tale of shim chong #her shim cheong #LISTEN !!!! #THE NARRATIVE DOESNT PUNISH CHEONG FOR CHOOSING LOVE AND CHOOSING HERSELF AND IM SO

[bluestonewings]

Just read one of the most well written GL manhwa I’ve ever read and now I’m rolling it around in my head nonstop.

It’s lesbians. It’s complex. It’s well illustrated. It’s a little toxic. It’s a slow burn. Its feminist. It’s cute. It’s well rounded. What’s not to like. Break your chains to the patriarchy. Kiss girls.

Pls read.

#her tale of shim chong #wlw post #queer #yuri manga #bluestonehieroglyphics

[sol-em-gemeos]

#her tale of shim chong #historical #girls love #romance #korean folklore #seri and biwan

[yeetmewithachainsaw]

#her tale of shim chong #yuri posting

[lilium-dragomir]

#Manga #Geunyeoui Simcheong #Her Tale of Shim Chong #Shim Chong

[aiku]

Our story will be passed down from one person to another, blurred and erased, scattered and distorted, expanded and abridged until at some point we won't even recognize it ourselves. Yet somewhere in the margins, in the pauses between each stroke of the brush will be the real us; together.

#her tale of shim chong #just finished reading this #🥹🫶 #i'm so glad they got a happy ending. big win for yuri nation #:") #mine #her shim cheong #manhwa