![[Arirang Literary Hall]
The Arirang Literary Hall was built to pay a tribute to the writer Jungrae Jo, and his novel 'Arirang'. The hall was built within the Byeokgolje Museum Complex on May 16, 2003. The writings of Jungrae Jo mostly deal with the modern and contemporary history of the Korean people, and his novel 'Arirang', in particular, takes place in the Mangyeong fields of Gimje during the time of Japan's colonial rule over Korea.](../img/contents/img_04_02_01.jpg)
The novel 'Arirang' is the introductory part to Jungrae Jo's trilogy of modern and contemporary novels. It describes the tragedy of families being separated and also the numerous hardships and struggles that occurred during the 40 years of colonialization.
The novel 'Arirang' was first published as a newspaper series in the Hankook Ilbo starting from December 11, 1990. Later on, it was also published separately as a 12-book series. The 12th and final book of the series was published on August of 1995, the 50th anniversary of Korea's independence. In 1996, an in-depth study on the novel; "A Study on Arirang (Namhyeon Jo, et al.)' was published, and during the same year a contract for publication on the french version of 'Arirang' was concluded with the Armata Publishing Company of France. On January 29, 2007, 13 years after the first print of the first edition was published, the novel 'Arirang' broke through its 100th print (book 1)
and a total of 806 prints have been published up until now. The accumulated sales are estimated to be around 3.3 million copies, making it the most widely read historic novel based on the days of Japan's colonial rule.
In an interview, the writer Jungrae Jo notes that the reason for his choice of the Mangyeong fields of Gimje as the background of the novel was because it best represented the land and lives of the people that were robbed by the Japanese Empire. Just like the song 'Arirang', which was deeply rooted among our people as a song of labor, nostalgia, grief, and struggle, the Mangeyong fields of Gimje represent the souls of our Joseon ancestors, as well as the lives of the people who fought for our independence. And as a recognition of these painful struggles, the city of Gimje and the Arirang Literary Hall continues its plan on spreading the historical & cultural significance of the articles exhibited.
