Simcheongga

Infobox Korean name
hangul=심청가
hanja=
rr=simcheongga
mr=simch'ŏngga

"Simcheongga" is one of the five surviving stories of the Korean "pansori" storytelling tradition. The other stories are "Chunhyangga", "Heungbuga", "Jeokbyeokga", and "Sugungga".

From the National Changguk Company of Korea [http://www.ntok.go.kr/family/changguk/intro_e.jsp] website:

"Simcheong-ga is a story about a girl Sim, Cheong, and her father, Hak-Gyu Sim, who is called Sim-Bongsa(a blind person) by everyone. Sim-Bongsa is blind and to be cared for totally by his daughter Sim, Cheong. The story is filled with sadness, though humor enters occasionally to give balance.

"Cheong's mother dies at childbirth and her blind father is left with his daughter, who cares for him with the utmost sincerity and devotion. One day, Sim-Bongsa falls into a ditch but is rescued by a Buddhist monk who tells him that Buddha would restore his sight if he donated three hundred bags of rice to the temple. When Cheong learns that some sailors were offering any price for a virgin sacrifice, she offers herself for three hundred bags of rice. The sailors wanted to sacrifice a virgin to the Yongwang (the Dragon King of the Sea) in order to placate him to guarantee the safety of their merchant ships wherever they sailed.

"After being tossed into the sea, she finds herself in the palace of the Dragon King of the Sea who, deeply moved by her filial piety, sends her back to earth wrapped in a lotus flower, which is carried to an emperor's palace. The emperor falls in love with Cheong and makes her his empress. The empress later holds a great banquet for all the blind men of the kingdom with the hope that she would be able to find her father again. When Sim-Bongsa finally appears at the banquet, he is so shocked upon hearing his daughter's voice again that his sight is suddenly regained."

References

* [http://www.ntok.go.kr/family/changguk/intro_e.jsp National Changguk Company of Korea]