The Cloud Dream of the Nine, also translated as A Nine Cloud Dream (Korean: 구운몽; Hanja: 九雲夢; RR: Kuunmong), is a 17th-century Korean novel set in the Chinese Tang dynasty.[1] Although widely-attributed to Kim Man-jung, there have been some arguments about whether he was the original author. [2] It has been called "one of the most beloved masterpieces in Korean literature."[3] It was the first literary work from Korea to be translated into English, by James Scarth Gale in 1922. Richard Rutt's 1974 translation is entitled A Nine Cloud Dream. In 2019, Penguin Classics published a new translation by Heinz Insu Fenkl entitled The Nine Cloud Dream.[4]
The Cloud Dream of the Nine is written in a philosophical style, expressing Confucianist and Buddhist concepts.[5] In the preface of the book (first written in 1922), Elspet K.R. Scott describes the book as being about the romance of polygamy;[6][7][8] others believe that it is meant to be a cautionary tale about the illusory nature of Earthly delights and the fleeting nature of the fulfilment of "libidinous drives".[9]
The oldest existing text of the book was written in Classical Chinese.[10][11][12][13]