The Tale of the Patriotic Woman
by Jang Ji-yeon · 2026-08-25
The day for the speech has arrived.
The commander summoned the troops and moved to the speech venue, arranging the seats neatly and decorating the hall.
The speech venue was very spacious, capable of comfortably accommodating hundreds of thousands of people.
In the center stood a podium, which was naturally a small hill that had risen.
On top of the hill was a grove of trees, with green branches covering the sky and a thick shade blocking the sunlight.
It was pleasant to look at from all directions.
It was May, and the weather was just right for people to be out and about.
Men and women of all ages came to watch, flocking in from near and far, creating a massive crowd.
It seemed as if people had formed a wall of bodies all the way to the edge of the fields.
At ten o'clock that morning, the commander ascended the podium.
It was a time when the sound of people mingling and murmuring made the surroundings noisy.
Suddenly, a cannon shot rang out, awakening all ears, and the hall fell silent as if water had been poured over it.
The national flag was raised high, and a woman stepped forward.
She wore a gyewhakan on her head and a white, golden outer garment on her body.
In her hand, she held a flag, and the red hem of her skirt trailed on the ground while her silk belt fluttered in the southern wind.
It seemed as if the light of the full moon and the brilliance of pearls were pouring into the speech venue.
The gazes of hundreds of thousands of people in the hall all poured over one person like water.
People whispered among themselves.
“That female general is indeed as remarkable and extraordinary as the rumors say.”
“I have heard her beautiful name many times and wished to see her at least once, and today I finally get to see that beautiful figure.”
“She is truly a person from the heavens. How could there be another such figure in the world?”
“One cannot help but feel a sense of reverence.”
Eventually, the hall became quiet again, and everyone hurried to listen to the speech.
The commander wrapped the flag around himself and began to speak.
The voice spread out like breaking jade, as if it were vomiting the hot blood filled in its intestines into the air.
“Dear compatriots of France, who have gathered here with purpose, please take a moment to reflect.”
“How precarious and weak is our nation?”
“Which land today can be called French land?”
“Have not all the northern towns already been taken by the British?”
“What remains in the south is merely relying on one castle of Ariane.”
“That very castle is on the verge of collapsing, so if we lose this castle, will it not be the day when the entirety of France's sovereignty is destroyed?”
“Moreover, will it not be the day when all our people become the slaves and cattle of others?”
“Indeed, the most despicable, shameful, and disgraceful thing throughout history is to become someone else's slave.”
“Once a nation falls, all its people become slaves, and once one becomes a slave, there will be no day to see the sky, suffering under the oppression and abuse of others for a lifetime.”
“Wealth and possessions will ultimately be taken away by others, and even the graves of our ancestors will be dug up by others.”
“My wife and children will also suffer humiliation at the hands of others.”
“Look at Egypt. How brutally did they treat the Jewish people in the past?”
“Isn't this all a mirror for us?”
“Although our country has reached this state, if many compatriots unite with one heart and rise up, there is still a thread of hope.”
“However, if we only think of reclaiming what has been lost after all the people have become slaves and all the land has been taken, then it will be too late to regret.”
“Therefore, today I have one question to ask you all.”
“Do you wish to be an independent and free people, or do you want to become the lowly and shameless slaves of others?”
At these words, the hall fell completely silent.
Then the hair on people's heads stood on end and their eyes blazed like torches.
Everyone shouted.
“Absolutely not! Absolutely not!”
“How can we become the slaves of others! We would rather die together than become slaves!”
The sound shook the entire hall in unison.
The enemy general, seeing the people's spirits rise and the heat surge, struck the table hard and spoke again loudly.
“Since you already know that becoming slaves is a shameful and disgraceful thing, there is nothing more fortunate than this.”
“However, if you only know it is shameful but have no intention of washing it away, how are you different from those who do not know?”
“Is it not the rightful duty of every person in the world to fulfill the responsibilities of being a citizen?”
“Therefore, if there is an enemy and shame in the country, that is the enemy and shame of all the people in the nation.”
“Moreover, is it not something that all the people of the nation must repay together?”
“A famous politician said, ‘Every citizen has the duty to become a soldier.’”
“What does that mean?”
“If one is born a person and becomes a citizen of a country, is it not proper for each to follow the sovereignty and become a soldier to repay the nation's grace?”
“This is akin to protecting one's life and property with one's own body and strength.”
“Thus, washing away the nation's shame and disgrace is the same as washing away one's own shame and disgrace.”
“Is this not a principle that anyone who is a citizen should rightly understand?”
“In times like this, should we only place the responsibility on some hero or heroine,”
“while we only think of our own comfort, our hearts turn to ashes and our will cools, what good will it do to simply lament the downfall of our nation?”
“What kind of chaos will we seek?”
“Otherwise, some people will lose their sense of shame, endure insults, and risk their dignity to surrender to the enemy,”
“eager to become someone else's dog or pig; is there anything more unjust than this?”
“The rise and fall of a nation does not depend on the success or failure of circumstances, but solely on whether the spirit of the people is strong or weak.”
“Look at the history of past and present.”
“Among the nations that have once fallen, has there ever been a case where, after a thousand or a hundred years, the people rose again to wash away their shame?”
“Isn't this evidence clear?”
“Therefore, if today we rise up with one heart and one strength, how can there be a day when we do not wash away our shame?”
“The dignity of the nation and the repayment of our enemies depend solely on our fervent hearts.”
“Ladies and gentlemen! If you already have the will not to bow to others, you must truly attempt that task to not bow.”
“Consider this. Our country is in such a state that danger hangs over us morning and night.”
“If we lose the Aryan Fortress once, our nation will never be preserved.”
“When that time comes, your parents and wives will surely suffer indignities at the hands of others,”
“and your property and your ancestors' graves will surely be taken by others.”
“When that time arrives, even if you try not to become someone else's cattle, horses, or servants, it will be impossible.”
“It is said in a proverb, ‘A blind person rides a blind horse and arrives at a deep pond in the middle of the night.’”
“If one missteps even once, there will be no place for life to go, so isn’t this exactly what is being said about us today?”
“If we do not unite right now and risk our lives to confront the enemy, when will we wash away this shame?”
“Hurry, hurry, let a thousand people become of one heart and let ten thousand people raise one voice.”
“If each person, harboring the will to die, shakes off their fears and breaks the pot and sinks the boat,”
“no matter how much strategy England possesses, how could our country be suppressed by the enemy?”
“Ladies and gentlemen! If you covet life and fear death, when the country falls,”
“living under the increasing oppression of others will be worse than death.”
“I am originally a lonely and weak woman from a remote countryside, with neither talent nor knowledge.”
“I only wish to fulfill the duty of a citizen, feeling the anguish of the country in peril.”
“I could not bear to see our citizens become the cattle and horses of others, so I threw myself into this crowd.”
“Fortunately, thanks to the general's grace, my intentions were acknowledged, and I was able to participate in the military.”
“Today, facing all of you here, I solemnly swear.”
“With this body, I will die for the nation's affairs and protect our citizens.”
“Ladies and gentlemen! If you already have a heart that loves the country, what should we do?”
“I hope and wish to be taught by some miraculous strategy.”
The speaker could not finish the speech and tears streamed down like rain from both eyes.
Then, he wept out loud.
The people who were observing were all moved and cried together, unable to stop their lamentations as their hot blood boiled over.
“The enemy is just a weak woman, yet she has such a passion for patriotism,”
“We were born as men and call ourselves heroes, yet we are even worse than women; how can we not feel ashamed?”
There were those who scolded themselves, those who lamented, and those who wailed.
There were also those who struck their chests with their fists and rubbed their palms together, having lost the will to live.
Finally, everyone shouted in unison.
“We swear today that we will die with our country!”
“If the country falls, we will resolutely not live!”
At that moment, countless men and women stirred, and as the tide rises and spring water wells up, the passion for patriotism surged from all directions.
Everyone volunteered to become soldiers under the enemy, and the momentum was immense.
When a woman struck the heart of love for her country,
a million people rallied with the spirit to repel the enemy.