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Life of the AuthorHwang Sun-wn(March 26, 1915 - September 14, 2000) was aKoreanshort story writer, novelist, and poet.Hwang was born while Korea was under Japanese colonial rule inTaedong,South Pyongan, in modern-dayNorth Korea. Hwang Sunwon made his literary debut as a middle school student with the publication in 1931 of his poems My Dream (Naui kkum) and Fear Not, My Son (Adeura museowo malla) in Eastern Light (Donggwang). Hwang graduated from Waseda University in Japan with a degree in English. During his time at Waseda he founded a theater group called Tokyo Students Group for the Arts (Donggyeong haksaeng yesuljwa), along with fellow students Lee Haerang and Kim Dongwon.In November 1934, Hwang Sunwon published his first poetry collection, Wayward Songs (Bangga).Following thedivision of Koreahe lived in the South, becoming a professor atKyunghee University.Hwang published his first story in 1937 and continued writing through 1980s; during his long literary career, Hwang Sunwon observed firsthand the suffering of ordinary Koreans under many different forms of oppression: colonialism, ideological strife, Korean War, industrialization, military dictatorships. What he sought to capture was the resilience of the Korean spirit even in times of adversity, rather than the adversity itself, and the discovery of love and goodwill in unlikeliest of circumstances. Although he wrote many volumes of poetry and eight novels, Hwang achieved his greatest acclaim as the author of short fiction, which was regarded as the premiere literary genre through most of the twentieth century in Korea and Hwang was noted, particularly early in his career, for refusing to write in Japanese.(Yom Sang-seopwas another example of this stance). Hwang is the author of some of the best-known stories in the modern Korean literary canon, including Stars (1940), Old Man Hwang (1942), The Old Potter (1944), Cloudburst (1952), Cranes (1953) and Rain Shower(1959).In Cranes (Hak), for example, two childhood friends now on opposite sides of the ideological divide, find a way to rediscover their love for each other, and The Shower (Sonagi) highlights the pathos and beauty of love between two children. Children, in fact, often appear in Hwang Sunwons short stories as vessels of purity. The Swamp (Neup) and The Stars also manifest concern with the ephemerality of childhood. Hwang began writing novels in the 1950s, his most successful beingTrees on a Slope(1960), which depicts the lives of three soldiers during the Korean War.Sunlight, Moonlight(196265) depicts the lives of members of the former untouchable class in urban Seoul.The Moving Castle(196872) depicts the complex and problematic synthesis of Western and indigenous cultures in rapidly modernizing Korea. It is also one of the few depictions in fiction of gender roles in Koreanshamanism.

Summary of the storyThe story begins as the protagonist boy spies on the great-granddaughter of Mr. Yoon, who is sitting on a stepping stone ina streamplaying with the water.Sheis scooping upa handful of water to try to grasp her face reflected in the water. Suddenly she picks up a pebble, turns around and throws it to the boy shouting You fool!.The next day the boy returns to the stream but the girl is not there. From that day on he develops the habit of rubbing the pebble that was thrown at him.One day it is the boy who is sitting on the stepping stone trying to catch his own reflection in the water. As he is doing so, he sees the reflection of the girl in the water.Embarrassed, he runs away, but trips over a stepping stone.On a saturday the boy and the girl meet again and she shows him a silk clam. From now on they become good friends, running around the countryside playing with scarecrows in the field and a calf. After being reprimanded by the owner of the calf they suddenly find themselves in a severe shower. They seek shelter in an old lookout, but since the rain keeps pooring in, theytake shelter in a haystack. After the rain stops the boy carries her on his back, in order to cross a ditch.After this day, the boy keeps coming to the stream, but the girl is not there. After a long time, the girl appears to tell him that she has been ill ever since she got a cold in the rain and that she is still not feeling any better. She also shows him the dress that she wore that day, which was stained by the water from the ditch.She gives him some dates that she took from her familys ancestoral worship ceremony that day and leaves. In return the boy sneaks intoa walnut grove that same evening to give her some walnuts. As he returns and is lying on the bed, he overhears his father speaking to his mother that the Yoon familys fortune has declinedand thatthe girl has died. He also mentions that she must have been an extraordinary girl, because she said she wanted to be buried in the same clothes she was wearing that day.Literary ResponseBy far the most famous short story in Korean literature isShower( Sonagi, 1952) written by Hwang Sun-wn (1915-2000).For many Koreansit is the most representative story for portraying the sensibilities that are uniqueto Korean culture.All schoolchildren are raised with this story since it has been part of the required curriculum for a long time.It is a story of two young people on the verge of falling in love.This sweet but sad story about the budding love between the boy and the girl has become a popular topic for novelists and movie directors alike. Thatthe story remains to be popular can be seen in the many cartoons and moviesthat have been made over the years. Also Hwang Sun-wn rightfully got his ownmuseum() recently which is called theSonagi Villageand is located in Yangpyng. Established in 2009,the museum organizes all sorts of events to keep promoting Hwang Sun-wns legacy with a Festival in his name and even a Hang Sun-wn Sonagi Marathon.