Gwanchon Essays, the only definitive edition published

The book that opens the door to the Munji Classic is Lee Mun-gu's "Gwanchon Essays."
This book is a collection of eight short stories written over a period of six years, starting in 1972. The author, who was born in Galmeori Village [Gwanchon] in Daecheon, currently part of Boryeong, South Chungcheong Province, uses rich local vernacular to describe the events in his hometown over a period of 30 years, from the end of the Japanese colonial period to the 1970s, when the October Yushin and Saemaul Movement took place.
From episode 1, "Ilrakseosan" to episode 5, "Gongsantowol", it can be said to be a story of memories of Gwanchon Village, with 'I's' family, friends, and acquaintances appearing as the central characters.
Episode 6, "Gwansan Chujeong," is a story about meeting a childhood friend from my hometown, and episodes 7 and 8 are about my experiences returning home.


The author, who lost his father and two older brothers to ideological issues during the Korean War and left his hometown as a young boy, tells his autobiographical story through this novel, while fiercely criticizing the negative aspects of our society brought about by industrialization and urbanization, and by re-creating the virtues of traditional life, he inscribed his name as Lee Mun-gu in the genealogy of Korean novels and secured his own literary world.


Munji Classic's "Gwanchon Essays" is the "definitive edition" compiled by Choi Si-han, a novelist, literary researcher, and special professor at Sookmyung Women's University, after comparing all the editions published to date and conducting thorough fact-checking.
The commentary included at the end of the book and the “Annotated Version and Vocabulary Explanation of Gwanchon Essays” summarize and describe in detail the points that have been repeatedly discussed since the first edition was published in 1977.
In addition, to help you understand the author's unique writing style, which is characterized by "thick talk," such as the rich use of multi-level vocabulary and the detailed descriptions of daily life using the local dialect of Chungcheong Province, a "Vocabulary Explanation" has been added at the back of the book, so please refer to it.

Time does not speak of what has passed.
It just shows what has been achieved.
Every time I see something new every day, I realize how old I have become, and sometimes I feel sad, but I don't think much about how much has changed.
Because it's more important to figure out what hasn't changed and why.
And it felt more urgent every time I visited Gwanchon Village.

---From "Gwansan Chujeong"