the Wanpan woodblock editions were issued from 1905 to 1916. Although referred to as novels, many of these (especially Wanpan editions) were virtually theatrical scripts in their style of writing, in fact, they are not much different from the p'ansori libretti. And they are referred to as "p'ansori novels" or "pansori-based novels" for that reason (Cf. §Pansori novel below). More like conventional novels, and written in the "literary style" () are the Seoul editions. Although the woodblock-printed texts are entirely in hangul, there are handwritten transcriptions which supply information on the equivalent Chinese characters. Content-wise, the major differences among the three versions are: 1) the appearance of a celestial being who comes down to earth (Hannam edition version), 2) the appearance of Bbaengdeok's mother (Songdong edition version), and 3) the appearance of Lady Jang (Jeonju edition version). Generally, the Hannam edition is considered to be the earliest version of Sim Cheong-jeon, followed by the Songdong edition and the Jeonju edition. Sometimes the different editions of Sim Cheong-jeon are grouped by whether the writing style shows characteristics of pansori or written fiction; by the different spellings of the name of Sim Cheong's father; and by the differences in the section featuring Lady Jang. Most handwritten editions of Sim Cheong-jeonare considered to be the Jeonju edition version. Plot A summary of the tale, common to both the Wanpan/Jeonju and Seoul editions, are as follows: Long ago, northern Korea's Hwangju County had a district named Dohhwa-dong (), literally "Peach Blossom Village"), where lived a destitute family descended from the yangban class. The daughter Sim Cheong () had Blind Man Sim, full name Sim Hakgyu () as father, raising the girl alone after the death of the mother, Lady Gwak (). Blind Man Sim received a tip from a Buddhist monk that he might recover his sight by offering 300 or "sacks" of rice to Buddha, and the Blind Man pledges to do so. In order to pay for this donation, the daughter Sim Cheong (who is now 15 years old) decides to sell herself to sea merchants who plan to sacrifice her to the Indang Sea (). But after Sim Cheong throws herself into the water, by the grace of the Jade Emperor she is taken to the Dragon Palace of the Dragon King. She is later sent back up to the terrestrial world, contained inside a lotus flower, and is chosen as