The Cloud Dream of the Nine

The Cloud Dream of the Nine, also translated as The Nine Cloud Dream, is a 17th-century Korean novel set in the Chinese Tang dynasty. Although widely-attributed to Kim Man-jung, there have been some arguments about whether he was the original author. It has been called "one of the most beloved masterpieces in Korean literature." It was the first literary work from Korea to be translated into English, by James Scarth Gale in 1922. Richard Rutt's translation entitled A Nine Cloud Dream appeared in 1974. In 2019, Heinz Insu Fenkl published a new translation entitled The Nine Cloud Dream including his lengthy introduction with Penguin Classics which was hailed by The New York Times as one of the most anticipated books of 2019.

The Cloud Dream of the Nine is written in a philosophical style, expressing Confucianist and Buddhist concepts. The oldest existing text of the book was written in Classical Chinese.

In popular culture

 * Uhm Jung-hwa's 2017 studio album The Cloud Dream Of The Nine is named after the novel.