A Love That Transcends Death : The Letters of Eung-tae

Contemporary Koreans recreate the wedding garb of an upper-class Joseon Dynasty couple. Credit: wedinggritz.com

We cherish the death-fated love stories of Romeo & Juliet and Tristan and Isolde — but what about the story of Eung-tae and his beloved, to this day nameless wife? About a decade ago, a 16th century mummy was uncovered in South Korea that opened the world up to an entirely new, unforgettable love story. The discovery of the mummy, an elite society man named Eung-tae (1556-1586), was initially just a fascinating and informative example of medieval Joseon dynasty (1392-1910) burial traditions. The tomb Eung-tae was buried in contained a stately pine coffin, 72 articles of clothing for himself (as well as a wife and child) and a flurry of personal documents and letters from relatives.

Among these various documents, 13 papers were revealed to be love letters. But who were they from? None other than his pregnant wife:

“To Won’s Father,

June 1, 1586

You always said, “Dear, let’s live together until our hair turns gray and die on the same day.” How could you pass away without me? Who should I and our little boy listen to and how should we live? How could you go ahead of me?
How did you bring your heart to me and how did I bring my heart to you? Whenever we lay down together you always told me, “Dear, do other people cherish and love each other like we do? Are they really like us?”

A royal tomb of Joseon Dynasty. Credit: worldheritagesite.org

How could you leave all that behind and go ahead of me? I just cannot live without you. I just want to go to you. Please take me to where you are.

My feelings toward you I cannot forget in this world and my sorrow knows no limit. Where would I put my heart in now and how can I live with the child missing you? Please look at this letter and tell me in detail in my dreams. Because I want to listen to your saying in detail in my dreams I write this letter and put it in. Look closely and talk to me. When I give birth to the child in me, who should it call father? Can anyone fathom how I feel? There is no tragedy like this under the sky.

You are just in another place, and not in such a deep grief as I am. There is no limit and end to my sorrows that I write roughly. Please look closely at this letter and come to me in my dreams and show yourself in detail and tell me. I believe I can see you in my dreams. Come to me secretly and show yourself. There is no limit to what I want to say and I stop here.”

Eung-tae’s love letter. Credit: viralnova.com

It’s a letter that shows the remarkable, albeit tragic tendency for Love and Grief to thrive beside each other. For this widow, one could say the two truly tightrope one another’s periphery. But grief aside, Eung-tae’s wife has expressed a love for him that has stood the test of time, transcending even the power of death.

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