1993 Korean historical fiction. Translation of the author's notes on the back of the book: Among the weeds commonly seen in our country, there is a plant called plantain. This weed, which grows in place of humans on roadsides and empty lots, is nicknamed "car front grass" because it grows in the middle of a road where horse-drawn carriages pass. This weed, which has no stem and whose leaves sprout directly from the roots, has roots that are stronger than those of any other wild grass because it has the sad fate of being trampled and crushed on a daily basis. Most of the characters in my novel have the same self-reliance as plantains, which stick their roots into the road, and the resilience to rise again the more they are trampled.