The Robinhood of Korea: 홍길동 (Hong-Gil-Dong)
Disclaimer: the original classical story is very long this is a simplified children’s version*
Today we will be talking about the Robinhood of Korea whose name is Hong Gil Dong! This is one of the most popular folktales that pretty much everyone knows about. The story was written by Heo Gyun which is actually rumored to be based on real events!
Some of you have asked me to write about Korean children’s stories so this newsletter is definitely for you! Here goes nothing: 😁
One day, Hong-gil-dong was outside his house practicing with his sword in the night time. His father, a high-ranking official, walked by and asked him why he was doing this so late at night and not sleeping. He replied with the legendary line: “I don’t get to call my father, father. And my brother, brother.” And expressed his sorrow about this. The reason he couldn’t was because of the ranking systems back then and him technically being considered an “illegitimate child” because he was born of a concubine. Because of this, he wasn’t allowed to call his father his father or his half-siblings, siblings because it would be a disgrace. 😥
One day late at night, Gil-dong was reading a book. An intruder came in and tried to attack him. Thankfully he was able to fight off the intruder and asked him why he was trying to kill him. The intruder admitted that he was sent by Gil-dong’s father to kill him. Gil-dong was devastated but in order to protect his life, decided to flee and become a free man. He met a gang of thieves who basically stole from the rich and gave to the poor. Gil-dong joined their gang and soon became their leader. Hong Gil Dong ends up killing assassins, battling monsters, and conquering kingdoms, he was a legend! There are so many stories about him bringing down his enemies and fighting for the weak. He was the representative of righteousness. 😎
One of the reasons I wanted to introduce this folklore to you is because you’ll actually see Hong-Gil-Dong’s name a lot if you come to Korea! Why, you may ask? Because we use him as the example for all names. You know how in like the US on files and stuff the name section will be ex. Jane Doe. Well, Hong-Gil-Dong is our Jane Doe! 😜 When you’re filling out forms and you see “홍길동” as the example, I’m sure you’d be surprised because it sounds like a really rare name! But now you know where it came from~!!!! I’ve linked a video below if you guys want to watch it and see how much you can understand~❤️ | 
