When Buckwheat Flowers Bloom

''When the Buckwheat Flowers Bloom'' ( ko, 메밀꽃 필 무렵) also translated as ''The Buckwheat Season'' is a 1936 short story by Korean writer Lee Hyo-seok. That story has been described as "widely known to Koreans for its lyrical qualities", "outstanding" and a "modern classic", and even "the pinnacle of literary art in Korea", and has been adopted into a movie directed by Lee Song-gu in 1967.

The story has been subject to studies by Korean literature scholars.

Summary

Mr. Heo is a middle-aged itinerant vender, who goes market to market to sell his products with his friend, Mr. Jo. Heo has never had a serious relationship with a woman, despite his age, and has no family. The only memory he has and cherishes is about the night in Bongpyeong when he met a woman and spent the night with her. He tells this story to his friend Jo over and over again on their journey. And one night, under a luminous moon, Heo and Jo walks on a mountain road covered with full-blown buckwheat flowers, with a young itinerant vendor, Dong-i, who has decided to travel with them for a moment. Naturally, Heo repeats his story once again, and Dong-i tells the story of his mother. She is from Bongpyeong, but she had to leave her hometown after she had sex with a stranger and got pregnant with her son, Dong-i. Heo listens to the story carefully until he trips and falls into a creek. Dong-i carries Heo on his back, and Heo feels 'the warmth sinking deep into his bone.' Then he finds out that Dong-i is left-handed, just like himself.

Adaptations

The story has been adapted into several works in Korean:
* 이성구, <메밀꽃 필 무렵>, 1967. (영화) /  Lee Seong-gu, ''Memilggot pil muryeop'' (When the Buckwheat Flowers Bloom), 1967. Film.
* 김하림, , 1982. (드라마) / Kim Ha-rim, ''TV munhakgwan: Memilggot pil muryeop'' (TV Literature Hall: When the Buckwheat Flowers Bloom), KBS, 1982. TV Series.
* 홍윤정‧동희선, , 2005. (드라마) / Hong Yun-jeong and Tong Hui-seon, ''HDTV munhakgwan: Memilggot pil muryeop'' (HDTV Literature Hall: When the Buckwheat Flowers Bloom), KBS, 2005. TV Series.
* 안재훈‧한혜진, <메밀꽃, 운수 좋은 날, 그리고 봄봄>, 2014. (애니메이션) / Ahn Jae-hun, Han Hye-jin, ''Memilggot, unsu joeun nal, geurigo bombom'' (Buckwheat Flowers, a Lucky Day, and Spring, Spring), Yeonpillo Myeongsang Hagi, EBS, Gimyoungsa, 2014. Animation.
* 김도연‧김별아 외 4, 《메밀꽃 질 무렵—메밀꽃 필 무렵 이어쓰기》, 단비, 2018. (재창작 소설) / Kim Do-yeon, Kim Byeora and four others, ''Memilggot jil muryeop—memilggot pil muryeop i-eo-sseugi'' (When the Buckwheat Flowers Are Falling: Rewriting When the Buckwheat Flowers Bloom), Danbi, 2018. Reworked short story collection.
It has also received a number of translations, including at least three into English language.

References

{{reflist

External links

Original text of the story in Korean Wikisource

1936 short stories
Korean short stories