biology

The Book of Fish

The Book of Fish is a biology topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand The Book of Fish rather than just read about it. In short: The Book of Fish (Korean: 자산어보; RR: Jasaneobo) is a 2021 South Korean black-and-white historical drama film directed by Lee Joon-ik. The film starring Sul Kyung-gu and Byun Yo-han, is about an exiled Joseon era scholar and a fisherman and their exchange of knowledge in writing a book.

Key takeaways

The Book of Fish belongs to biology; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect The Book of Fish to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of The Book of Fish from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

The Book of Fish (Korean: 자산어보; RR: Jasaneobo) is a 2021 South Korean black-and-white historical drama film directed by Lee Joon-ik. The film starring Sul Kyung-gu and Byun Yo-han, is about an exiled Joseon era scholar and a fisherman and their exchange of knowledge in writing a book. It was theatrically released on March 31, 2021. The film won the Grand Prize at 57th Baeksang Arts Awards in May 2021.

Background The Book of Fish is set in 1801 about the Joseon era scholar Jeong Yak-jeon (1758–1816). He was exiled to Heuksando Island during the Catholic Persecution of 1801 in King Sunjo of Joseon's reign. There he wrote a piscine encyclopedia titled Jasaneobo. In the film a fictional character Chang-dae, a young, conservative and eager to learn fisherman is introduced.

Plot In the first year of King Sunjo's reign, Jeong Yak-jeon is exiled to the remote island of Heuksan due to the Sinyu Persecution. Curious by nature, Jeong Yak-jeon becomes fascinated by marine life and decides to write a book about it. To do so, he seeks help from a young fisherman, Chang-dae, who knows the sea better than anyone. However, Chang-dae refuses outright, declaring that he cannot assist a criminal. Upon discovering that Chang-dae struggles with self-studying, Jeong Yak-jeon proposes an exchange of knowledge. Though reluctant at first, Chang-dae eventually agrees. Despite their frequent bickering, the two gradually become both teachers and friends to each other. But when Jeong Yak-jeon learns that Chang-dae's true motivation for studying is solely to achieve success, he is deeply disappointed. Likewise, Chang-dae realizes that his path is different from Jeong Yak-jeon's and makes up his mind to leave his mentor's side and step out into the wider world.

Cast

Production The Book of Fish is a black and white film, which are making a comeback in South Korea.

Filming Filming was wrapped up on November 15, 2019.

Release The film was theatrically released on March 31, 2021 by Megabox. The Book of Fish has been invited at the 20th New York Asian Film Festival. It was featured in 'Standouts' strand and screened at Lincoln Center and SVA Theatre in the two-week festival held from August 6 to 22, 2021 in New York. It was also selected in 'Korean Cinema Today - Panorama Section' at 26th Busan International Film Festival and will be screened in the festival in October 2021. The film was also screened at 10th Korean Film Festival Frankfurt on October 23, 2021. On May 6, 2022, it was screened at the Habitat International Film Festival (HIFF), at the Habitat Center in New Delhi. In 2022, it was selected as one of the films in 'The Actor, Sol Kyung-gu' special exhibition event at 26th Bucheon International Fantastic Film Festival to honour actor Sul Kyung-gu.

Reception

Box office The film released on March 31, 2021, on 1250 screens. It was at the number 1 place at the Korean box office by collecting 54,000 audiences on the weekend, taking its total commutative audience to 255,000 persons in the second week of its release. According to Korean Film Council data†, it is at 14th place among all the Korean films released in the year 2021, with gross of US$2.71 million and 342,540 admissions, as of December 11, 2021.

†The system of KOBIS (Korean Box Office Information System) is managed by KOFIC.

Critical response Going by Korean review aggregator Naver Movie Database, the film holds an approval rating of 9.11 from the audience. Kim Boram reviewing The Book of Fish for Yonhap wrote that the film keeps interest of the viewers alive as the tone is not serious. He considered that the beautiful scenery of Heuksando Island made the viewing pleasurable. He praised the performances of Sul Kyung-gu as an open-minded scholar and Byun Yo-han as Chang-dae, a young but conservative fisherman. Concluding the review Boram said, "The black-and-white cinematography makes the movie feel like a Joseon Dynasty ink painting, .... and the viewers even get the sense that color is not really important in the script-driven and performance-based piece."

Awards and nominations

References

External links The Book of Fish at HanCinema The Book of Fish at the Korean Movie Database (in Korean)

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with The Book of Fish

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what The Book of Fish claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In biology, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to The Book of Fish before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about The Book of Fish ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of The Book of Fish

In research: The Book of Fish appears in biology research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses The Book of Fish in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: The Book of Fish is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 2021 Korean-language films, 2021 black-and-white films, 2021 films, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for The Book of Fish outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study The Book of Fish in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what The Book of Fish means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain The Book of Fish out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is The Book of Fish in simple terms?

Why does The Book of Fish matter?

Because it connects several biology ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study The Book of Fish?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on The Book of Fish.