A Single Shard, By: Linda Sue Park

A Single Shard tells the Story of a 12 year old buy named Tree-ear. He is an orphan and lives in Ch’ul’po a village in 12th century Korea. He lives under a bridge with Crane-man, the man who took him in when he was orphaned.

When Tree-ear was very young, he lived in the Temple with his parents, and he was taken out of the temple when sickness was going around in the temple. When it was time for him to come back, his parents were dead. A monk had taken him to the village to see if someone would take him in, and Crane-man did.

Tree-ear liked to watch potter Min make his pots. One day he went to Min’s shop while Min was not there to see all the pots Min had made up close. While he was holding a pot, Min walked in and scared Tree-ear, and he dropped the pot. Tree-ear repaid Min by working for him for 9 days. Tree-ear had to chop wood for the kiln.

Once Tree-ear had worked his 9 days, he asked if he could continue working for Min. Min agreed and gave him a new task of shoveling clay. What Tree-ear really wanted to do was make a pot. After months of working for Min he ask if he could make a pot, but Min told him that the trade could only be passed down from father to son. Min’s son had died a few years before.

One day Emissary Kim came to inspect the pots all of the potters in Ch’ul’po had made. Another potter, Kang, was chosen to get a royal commission, but the Emissary liked what Min had made. He asked Min if he could do some of the inlay work that Kang had done. All the Emissary needed Min to do, besides make the pot, was transport it to the city of Songdo. Tree-ear overheard the conversation of the Emissary and Min and asked Min’s wife if he could make the trip for Min. She said she’d see if he could and all Tree-ear had to do was call her Ajima (Korean for close older female with no family relation) from now on.

Once Min had made two pots with inlay work, Crane-man made a special Jiggeh so Tree-ear could carry the pots so they would not break. Min gave Tree-ear some coins to buy food, and Ajima gave him some rice cakes she had made. Crane-man told Tree-ear that he needed to make a stop at The Rock of Falling Flowers.  Tree-ear left in the summer so he could be back before the winter. Each day Tree-ear came across a village. Someone always let him sleep at their house. When Tree-ear stopped The Rock of Falling Flowers, a man came and robbed him. For his own amusement, the man threw Tree-ear’s pots off the cliff. Tree-ear went down the cliff afterwards and was able to get a shard of pottery with some inlay work on it.  When Tree-ear got to Songdo he showed the Emissary the shard and the Emissary granted Min a Royal Commission. 

When Tree-ear got back to Ch’ul’po he was told that Crane-man was killed when the bridge collapsed. Min and Ajima adopted Tree-ear and gave him a new name.