Sixteen-year-old Seol is working as a damo, an indentured servant, for the police bureau in Hanyang, the capital of Joseon. She has been indentured for her entire lifetime, until she is forty-one years of age. Seol's father was said to have died of starvation while her mother died jumping off a cliff near the sea. At the age of seven, Seol was the family servant of the Nams. Seol was the nobi servant of Lord Paek who sold her to a nearby police bureau in Inchon. Four days after her indenture at the police bureau, Seol tried to escape and was caught and branded on the left cheek with Hanja character, bi which means female servant. She had made a promise to Older Sister to stay in Hanyang and find their brother's grave. Her older brother Inho had promise to write her but the letters stopped and he is now presumed dead.
The novel opens with Seol aiding in the investigation of the body of a woman, found face down, next to the wall that encloses Hanyang. She is ordered by Inspector Han to look at the corpse. Men are forbidden by Confucious's law from touching women not directly related to them. This is why the Capital Police bureau have female servants like Seol.
The woman's silk clothing with richly embroidered hem and sleeves indicates she is a noble. Seol notes she has been stabbed in the neck, but Inspector Han observes that the woman's norigae, a tassel-like ornament and a jewel pin still in her hair, remain. This means the motive for the murder was not robbery. In her examination, Seol finds that the knife belonging to the silver paedo knotted to the norigae is missing and is found beneath the victim's left shoulder. It is the murder weapon. The woman's identification tag, required by law of everyone in the Joseon kingdom, indicates she was Lady O, daughter of Cabinet Minister O and only nineteen-years-old.
Seol accompanies Inspector Han to the Northern District, home to high ranking officials in Hanyang. Lord O is not home and Matron Kim is ill but the gate keeper reluctantly lets them in. Inspector Han has Seol interview Lady O's personal maid, Soyi. In the inner mansion Seol questions Soyi who tells her that she saw a man in her mistress's room. Soyi, who was taught to read by Lady O, tells Seol about a letter that arrived yesterday morning before her death. The letter told Lady O to meet at the Hour of the Rat. The writer instructed Lady O to burn the letter.
In the Capital Police Bureau, Seol is instructed by Officer Kyon to lift the body of Lady O onto the table. Kyon tells Seol that all the corpses in the past week were moved to another region by Commander Yi to avoid autopsy, and their killers acquitted or lightly punished. This is because they were all Catholics, followers of the forbidden Western teaching which could result in execution. Seol wonders, "What was it about this teaching called Catholicism that terrorized the culprits enough to kill their own servants, their own children?"
Eavesdropping outside the examination room Seol listens as Damo Hyeyeon conducts the autopsy. Lady O's death occured around midnight. Despite the watchman patrolling, the killer took the time to cut off her nose. Commander Yi believes the murder was one of vengeance.
Seol accompanies Officer Kyon and Inspectory Han to Mount Inwang where Maid Soyi has fled. Inspector Han located Soyi but they encounter a tiger. When Officer Kyon freezes, Seol grabs his weapon and shoots the tiger in the side. This causes her pony, Terror to bolt with the tiger in pursuit, throwing Seol down an embankment and knocking her senseless. When she awakes, Seol encounters a mysterious lady dressed as a man.The lady tells Seol that they passed the officers earlier who mentioned they were missing a damo. She indicates that if Seol wishes to flee she may do so, as she does not believe in indentured servitude, since this is a form of oppression. But Seol tells her she will return to the police bureau. The woman mystifies Seol who notices that she carries a beaded necklace with a misshapen wooden cross.
Back at the police bureau, Inspector Han gives Seol a norigae and promises that when the investigation is over, he will giver her what she most wants, to return home. The next morning, Seol is informed that Inspector Han is now interrogating Soyi after Commander Yi had her beaten for running away. During questioning Soyi tells Inspector Han that she saw a man on horseback wearing a blue robe just before dawn. After Soyi is taken back to the prison block, Seol is questioned by Master Ch'oi Jinyeop, the son of Third State Councillor Ch'oi. He was betrothed to Lady O when they were children.The young master was at the House of Bright Flowers and has an alibi.
Seol visits Maid Soyi in her prison cell to help clean her wounds. Soyi tells Seol that Lady O promised to give her her nobi deed, freeing her because she was a rogue Catholic who didn't believe in the indentured system. She believes Lady O's lover murdered her. As she leaves the police bureau, Seol is summoned to meet Lady Kang at her mansion in the Northern District by her servant, Woorim. Lady Kang is concerned that Seol may have told the inspector about the books in her cart when they met in the forest. These books are copies of one book. Kang tells Seol that she in convinced the Heavenly Father loves her. Seol knows Lady Kang to be a Catholic and when she questions her about the recent deaths of many Catholics, Lady Kang tells her that they were people who refused to apostatize this foreign learning" but that after the five month formal mourning period before the king's burial, there will be a persecution. Every five households will be grouped together and if a Catholic is found in any one, all will be found guilty of treason. It will not only wipe out the Catholics but also the queen regent's opposition as well. She tells Seol that the "Southern scholar-officials were among the first to spread Catholicism when it was smuggled in." While it was spread as a way to reform society, the regent believes it to be a way to regain power in the government. Lady Kang advises Seol to be careful, that she should not jump to conclusions, to examine the evidence, and that she has a responsibility to care for lives. Lady Kang tells Seol she can read people and warns her that when she needs help, to seek her out.
Back at the police bureau, Inspector Han meets with Commander Yi who asks him about Councillor Ch'oi's visit. Councillor Ch'oi fears the regent's intent to purge the Southerners. He wants protection and is willing to obtain it by capturing the only priest of Joeseon, Zhou Wenmo. However, Inspector Han has no intention of letting Ch'oi help in the priest's capture.
That night, Officer Kyon brutally attacks Seol, punishing her for shaming him in the forest, by shooting the tiger. He also reveals that he has testimony from an eyewitness that "Inspector Han was the blue-robed man who crossed paths with Maid Soyi." This revelation stuns Seol who has developed a deep loyalty to the inspector. Filled with disbelief, Seol seeks to prove Inspector Han's innocence, but this only leads to more questions and intrigue.
As things become more complicated with another murder, Seol soon has a host of potential suspects and a startling discovery about Inspector Han to consider. But can she uncover the truth before another murder happens?
Discussion
The Secret Of Bones is a complex and engaging murder mystery set in the Joseon era of Korea. The novel weaves together a collection of stories, linked by the murder of a young Catholic woman in the city of Hanyang. There is the story of Lady O, the daughter of Madam Kim and Councillor O who has been murdered and who is a Catholic but who had a secret lover and bore an illegitimate child. There is the story of Seol, whose parents are both dead, and who is now an indentured servant in the police bureau in Hanyang, but who is also determined to find her older brother Inchon who left almost twelve years earlier. There is the story of Inspector Han, who seems to be implicated in the murder he's investigating and who also seems to be possibly connected to Seol. And there is the story of a young man, the illegitimate son of a Councillor, who seeks to repudiate his shame by hunting down a Catholic priest and therefore restoring some honour to his name.
This novel would have done well to have offered readers a bit of backstory to the Joseon kingdom in the form of a prologue, as it's unlikely most teens or adults will be familiar with this era. However, Hur does incorporate the main points of Catholic history into her story, through her characters.
The Joseon Dynasty was founded near the end of the fourteenth century when General Yi SEong-gye overthrew the Goryeo dynasty and founded a new one. The Joseon dynasty was based out of the city of Hanyang which today is called Seoul. It was chosen as the capital by King Taejo who was responsible for building Gyeongbokgung Palace and the Jongmyo Shrine. He also adopted the use of identification tags called hopae.
As Hur indicates in her Author's Note at the back, the story is set just prior to the Shinyu Bakhae of 1801, the first major persecution of Catholics in Korea. During the Joseon Dynasty, Korean society was based on Confucianism which stressed certain virtues such as loyalty, and duty as well as ancestor worship. Society in Korea was comprised of the nobility and scholars, with most Koreans being commoners or slaves.
Catholicism was brought to Korea, not by priests, but by the laity, sometime during the 17th century. Despite being a very isolated kingdom, Korean scholars were exposed to Catholicism through literature they obtained from China. European missionaries brought Catholic books which were translated to China. Because Catholicism presented a different social structure with a de-emphasis on class and no adherance to ancestral worship, it was seen as a threat to Korean society and was outlawed in the Kingdom of Joseon in 1758 by King Yeongjo. By 1776, western books were banned.
Despite this, Catholicism grew. In 1784, Peter Yi Seung-hun became the first Korean to be baptized into the Catholic faith, travelling to Peking, China to receive the sacrament. He returned to Korea and began evangelizing his countrymen, and despite having no priest to minister to them, the community grew. In 1791, the first Catholics were executed and martyred for their faith, because they refused to perform the ancestral rites.
When a priest finally did arrive in the Kingdom of Joseon, there were over four thousands Catholics. The first Catholic missionary, Father Chou Wen-Mu (Father Zhou Wenmo) arrived in Seoul, in 1795. Within six months, Father Wenmo was actively being pursued by the authorities and so Lady Kang Wansuk helped to hide him. By the turn of the century, there were over ten thousand Catholics in Korea.
The novel is set after 1791 and just prior to the coming persecution known as the Sinyu Persecution. Several of the characters The Secret of Bones were real, historical figures; Queen Jeongsun, Lady Kang and Father Zhou Wenmo. Queen Jeongsun had married King Yeongjo when she was very young, only fifteen years old. When he died she became Queen Dowager Yesun. When King Yeongjo's son, Yi San died at the age of forty-nine, his son, Yi Gong was to be come king but he was only ten years old. Queen Jeongsun became Grand Queen Dowager, acting as regent for the young king. It was Queen Jeongsun who began the Sinyu Persecution in 1801. The persecution may have been partially instigated by a letter sent and intercepted, asking for Western military intervention in Joseon. In the novel, Lady Kang's daughter Sunhui refers to this letter as the "Silk Letter".
The main character, Seol is a well crafted heroine: determined, courageous and loyal. It is her relentless pursuit of the truth that drives the investigation forward, ultimately placing her in mortal danger. Unknowingly, her pursuit of the truth also leads her through a voyage of self discovery, forcing her to face her family's past and how what happened may now be playing a part in the events of the present. It is a story of retribution, revenge and forgiveness. Because there are four or five storylines woven together, this gives the author plenty of opportunity to incorporate unexpected twists into the plot, which keeps her readers fully engaged.
Overall, The Secret of Bones is a well written novel, complex with many layers to the plot. A map of the city of Hanyang and the outlying areas might help readers and a more attractive cover might be worth reconsidering, to draw readers into this gem of a novel. Look for more in the future from this accomplished Korean-Canadian author.
Book Details:
The Secret of Bones by June Hur
New York: Feiwel and Friends 2020
320 pp.
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