The Human Jungle. Cho Chongnae
© Copyright 2016 by Bruce and Ju-Chan Fulton
Publisher:
Chin Music Press
1501 Pike Place, Suite 329, Seattle, WA 98101
All rights reserved
ISBN: 978-1-63405-911-4
First [1] Edition
Book design by Carla Girard
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Cho, Chong-nae, 1943- author. | Fulton, Bruce, translator. | Fulton, Ju-Chan, translator.
Title: The human jungle / Cho Chongnae ; translated from the Korean by Bruce and Ju-Chan Fulton.
Other titles: Novels. Sections. English
Description: First edition. | Seattle, WA : Chin Music Press Inc., 2016.
Identifiers: LCCN 2015051422 | ISBN 9781634059107 (paperback)
Subjects: LCSH: Koreans--China--Fiction. | China--Social conditions--Fiction.
| China--Economic conditions--Fiction. | Political fiction. | BISAC: FICTION / Literary.
| FICTION / Political. | FICTION / Classics. | LITERARY COLLECTIONS / Asian.
Classification: LCC PL992.17.C38 A2 2016 | DDC 895.73/4--dc23
LC record available at http://lccn.loc.gov/2015051422
Translated from the Korean
by Bruce and Ju-Chan Fulton
THE HUMAN
JUNGLE
정글만리
a novel by
CHO CHŎNGNAE
Summer 2016
Chin Music Press /Seattle
조정래
THE HUMAN
JUNGLE
Translators’ Note
The Human Jungle is our translation of Cho Chŏngnae’s novel Chŏnggŭl malli (literally, “the Great Wall jungle”), published in three volumes by Hainaim Publishing Co., Ltd., Seoul, in 2014. In this translation we utilize the following Romanization systems: McCune-Reischauer for Korean, pinyin for Chinese, and Hepburn for Japanese. We observe the East Asian convention of citing individuals’ names with the family name first, followed by the given name: thus, Chŏn (family name) Taegwang (given name).
We acknowledge with gratitude Ms. Lee Jin-suk of Hainaim for liaison assistance; professors Kate Swatek and Christopher Rea of the University of British Columbia Department of Asian Studies for expert advice on Chinese terminology; and most of all author Cho Chŏngnae for handling with characteristic aplomb the barrage of queries to which we subjected him.
At a time when the translation of Korean literature into English has become an increasingly mercenary enterprise, we wish to emphasize that we were neither asked nor commissioned to translate this work, and have received no foundation or other institutional funding for our translation. Rather, our decision to translate was based solely on the importance to us of the novel and its author.
Cast of Characters
Jacques Cabang: French businessman, a director of Cartier’s Chinese supply chain; business associate of Li Wanxing.
Chen Ke: Chinese official in the Xian foreign ministry handling foreign venture-capital inflow; Kim Hyŏn’gon’s guanxi.
Chen Wei: Well-connected member of Shanghai elite; Shang Xinwen’s wife; later, Chŏn Taegwang’s business partner.
Ch’oe Sangho: Chief prosecutor in Xian, an ethnic Korean; guanxi for POSCO’s Xian branch.
Chŏn Taegwang: Department head in a South Korean general trading company; Yi Chisŏn’s husband, Song Chaehyŏng’s uncle, and Chŏn Yusuk’s brother.
Chŏn Yusuk: Chŏn Taegwang’s sister and Song Chaehyŏng’s mother.
Chŏng Tongshik: South Korean manufacturer—formerly of tabletop grills, then of baby supplies—in Qingdao; fellow alumnus and business associate of Ha Kyŏngman.
Cooper: President at Gold Groups under Wang Lingling; white American man.
Ha Kyŏngman: Owner and CEO of Guangbao Accessories, a South Korean company based in Qingdao; business associate of Chŏn Taegwang.
Han Minu: South Korean doctor; Chŏn Taegwang’s high school friend and Sŏ Hawŏn’s South Korean colleague.
Han Mira: South Korean undergraduate studying at Beida (Beijing University) for the summer; a friend of Kim Minji; seeking a tutor through Yi Namgŭn.
Ishihara Shiro: Japanese businessman; friend of Ito Hideo and Toyotomi Araki; patron of Madam Jiang.
Ito Hideo: Japanese business broker; friend of Ishihara Shiro and Toyotomi Araki; patron of Madam Jiang.
Madam Jiang: Chinese madam, running a karaoke/brothel catering to Japanese businessmen.
Kang Chŏnggyu: A new employee at POSCO, the trading company where Chŏn Taegwang works; Chŏn Taegwang’s protégé.
Kim Minji: South Korean undergraduate studying at Beida for the summer; a friend ofHan Mira; seeking a tutor through Yi Namgŭn.
Kim Hyŏn’gon: South Korean steel salesman with POSCO; later, POSCO Xian branch sales manager; Chŏn Taegwang’s friend.
Li Wanxing: Chinese manufacturer; Li Yanling’s father; business associate of Jacques Cabang.
Li Yanling: Chinese history student at Beida; engaged to Song Chaehyŏng; daughter of Li Wanxing.
Andy Park: Architect and president at Gold Groups; US-born, Korean American, Berkeley-educated; married to a South Korean.
Shang Xinwen: Chinese customs official; Chen Wei’s husband, Chŏn Taegwang’s guanxi, investor in Sŏ Hawŏn’s clinic.
Sŏ Chiyŏn: Teenage South Korean girl; Sŏ Hawŏn and Yu Ŭnsŏn’s daughter, Sŏ Chunil’s older sister.
Sŏ Chunil: South Korean boy; Sŏ Hawŏn and Yu Ŭnsŏn’s son, Sŏ Chiyŏn’s younger brother.
Sŏ Hawŏn: South Korean plastic surgeon working in a clinic subsidized by Shang Xinwen; Yu Ŭnsŏn’s husband; Sŏ Chiyŏn and Sŏ Chunil’s father.
Song Chaehyŏng: South Korean student studying at Beida; originally a business major, now a history major; Chŏn Taegwang’s nephew and Chŏn Yusuk’s son; Li Yanling’s lover.
Sungqing: Chinese migrant worker; Zhang Wanxing’s wife; Yi Chisŏn’s maid.
Thomas: Head stockbroker at Gold Groups Hong Kong; white American man.
Toyotomi Araki: Japanese steel supplier; friend of Ishihara Shiro and Ito Hideo; patron of Madam Jiang.
Wan Yenchun: Gold Groups president for public relations in China.
Wang Itsan: Chairman of the Gold Groups; Wang Lingling’s adoptive stepfather.
Wang Lingling/Sophia: CEO of the Gold Groups; US-born, with a BA from Harvard and an MBA from the University of California, Berkeley; born to a French/Vietnamese mother and an American father, adopted by Wang Itsan.
Yanling’s mother: Middle-aged Chinese woman; married to Li Wanxing.
Yi Chisŏn: Chŏn Taegwang’s wife; Sungqing’s employer.
Yi Namgŭn: South