The Cloud Dream of the Nine
Are the wealth and glory I strive for ultimately just a mirage that will fade like a fleeting dream?
📝ONGO's Reflection
An enchanting tale said to have been composed in a single night, in exile, to console the author's mother. Following Seongjin—who dallies with the eight fairy maidens, then is reborn into the human world as Yang Soyu and enjoys every kind of wealth and glory—I find myself, before I know it, sinking into that sweet dream as well. Yet before the deep emptiness that arrives once all has been attained, I come abruptly to my senses, as though struck by a cold wind. Has any other novel painted the vanity hidden behind life's splendor so beautifully and so philosophically? When life feels heavy and hard, set off for a while into this dream of nine clouds.
"Wealth and glory are like dew on the tip of grass, and life is like a candle in the wind. How can it not be but a passing dream?"Kim Man-jung, The Cloud Dream of the Nine
"부귀영화는 풀끝의 이슬이요, 인생은 바람 앞의 등불 같으니, 어찌 한바탕 꿈이 아니겠는가."
🌱Apply It Today
Bring to mind the one thing you cling to most. Then ask yourself whether it will still matter as much in ten years, in fifty years.
