Four short stories examing the lives of women in the last 18th and 19th century Story 1: 'Wives Should Be Submissive'--A father tries to marry his daughter into a wealthy family. Story 2: 'A Daughter-In-Law Is No Better Than A Stranger'--A woman thinks that her daughter-in-law has turned her son against her so she tries to kill the younger woman. Story 3: '7 Grounds For Divorce'--A wife begins an affair with her servant because of her husband's impotency Story 4: 'Prohibit Sex In Court'--A concubine's life is at risk when it is revealed that her infant child is not the king's.

The story takes place on a mountain slope where defectors from North Korea live. These families sell cheap things such as socks and pens to make a living and there is a serious gap between the parents and their children. A widower Kim Deok-sam nags his son Geo-buk to join the American army. Ok-Mae who lives next door teaches her daughter Bok-soon traditional Korean folksongs and forces her to become a gisaeng.

An oriental doctor Kim Hak-gyu is a cantankerous man who is the longest-term householder in a small village in Seoul. He often causes domestic trouble by being nasty to his wife and his children. Kim Hyeon-ok, a daughter of a young widow who runs Nahana Beauty Shop, is in love with Choi Du-yeol, an obstetrician across the street. Kim Hak-gyu has great distaste for western medicine, and at the same time, is jealous of the obstetrician. He always gets in the way of Choi Du-yeol. Kim's son, Hyeon-gu, dates Jeom-ryae, a daughter of a bar owner.

The wife of a painter complains that her husband ignores her whenever he is working on a picture. One day her husband unexpectedly goes to Paris to study and when he returns he works all the more. His wife sleeps with another man out of frustration and anger, but when she sees that her husband's painting is of her as a model of purity, she decides that she cannot go on.

It is the year of the white horse that arrives every sixty years. Three women avoid sleeping with their husbands so they won't conceive girls on the year of the horse. However, young and healthy husbands fall into great dilemma.

I Joong-saeng (Kim Seung-ho), a sign company president who believes power and money can solve anything, stages a fake suicide to escape legal troubles from fraud, embezzlement, and tax evasion, but ultimately fails and faces a tragic downfall.

Seok-Bong, a lowly man, goes to Seoul to study, but in the end gives up his study. On his way back to his hometown he gets to know Ok-Yeo and makes love to her. Ok-Yeo gets disappointed to know her future spouse is Hwang Seok-Bong, a noble man, not that Seok-Bong she made love to. Hwang drives Seok-Bong away, getting to know Ok-Yeo's relationship with him. Seok-Bong dies on Ok-Yeo's wedding day. On her first night of marriage Ok-Yeo hears Seok-Bong's voice that says she should kill Hwang. Ok-Yeo, stabbing Hwang with a knife, falls over the precipice. Seok-Bong mother Hyeon was laughing crazily there.

The only son of a government official Yun loves Ok-hwa, the daughter of former gisaeng Gye-seon. But his father doesn't feel good about having a daughter of a former gisaeng as his daughter-in-law. He matches him instead with the only daughter of another official. Soon, Ok-hwa dies of lovesickness missing Yun so much. The ghost of her appears to Yun, who betrayed her and married another woman, to make him repent for his fault.

The life of Lee Seung-man, a freedom fighter who struggled to liberate Korea from Japanese rule

英友和他的朋友们在李成浩老师的带领下组建了学生独立团，专门捣毁日本人的主要设施。为了躲避日军的追击，他们不得不告别家人和爱人，远渡豆满江，投奔身在满洲里的同志。英友得知妻子英爱已身怀有孕，仍决定毅然离开。英爱的舅舅为了取得矿山方面的利益把英爱一直携带在身边的学生独立团的照片交给了日本人。英友母亲在日军的严刑拷打下离开人世，英友认定是英爱背叛了自己，不禁愤怒。日军宪兵部队队长喜欢独立团成员昌焕的妻子妍花。妍花利用该队长对自己的贪恋之心为丈夫窃取情报，提供给学生独立团。英友一行和昌焕一行在豆满江山麓汇合。在敌人猛烈的围追堵截下，独立团的成员不断倒下。英爱为了消除英友对自己的误会，偷了舅舅的钱追随英友而去，并最终击毙了追赶上来的舅舅。在山沟老人和其女儿的帮助下，英友和英爱之间的误会化解了。妍花也带着儿子赶来同昌焕汇合。众人为了渡过豆满江，和日军展开了血拼。一场激战后，除了昌焕父子和英爱，余者全部倒在冰冷的雪地上……

When the eldest grandson of Mr. Kang (Choi Seong-ho), a prominent local figure in the village of Suri in Hwanghae-do, becomes afflicted with a mysterious, life-threatening illness, the entire household is plunged in anxiety. The imminent death of the direct heir to the family name is a serious matter indeed, since the Kangs have a history of seeing their sons die young a fact that has resulted in a household teaming with widows. The family matriarch (Hwang Jung-seun) calls in the most famous shamans and has them perform healing rituals, but the illness shows no sign of improving. The family steward recommends that they bring in Ok-hwa (Yoo Ji-in), who is renowned for her extraordinary spiritual powers. While she is performing the ritual, a large snake drops down from the eaves of the house and causes a commotion. Amazingly, the incident brings about a dramatic improvement in the condition of Mr. Kang's grandson. The household buzzes with glad excitement, with everyone clinging to Ok-hwa and asking her to cure the disease outright. But Ok-hwa searches all around as if possessed by a spirit and discovers a sinister-looking gourd bottle buried deep in the ground in the pine forest. This bottle hides a bloody secret. Some twenty years ago, there was, in the Kang family, a young widow by the name of Lee (Kim Yun-kyeong). Bound by strict moral codes, Lee was living a lonely life of enforced celibacy. She had taken to stabbing her thigh with a small silver knife every night in order to suppress her frustrated desires, but the wound became infected and she came on the verge of death. According to family tradition, the Kangs removed Lee to an isolated hut (called pi-makin Korean), and left her there to await her own death. The family matriarch, wishing to grant her daughter-in-law one final wish, arranged for her to spend a night with the hut keeper, Sam-dol (Nam Koong-won). Through Sam-dol's devoted care, Lee miraculously recovered and the two developed deep feelings for each other. The matriarch welcomed her daughter-in-law's recovery at first, but became enraged when she found out about Lee's adulterous relationship with Sam-dol. As punishment, the Kang family secretly murdered both Sam-dol and Lee. Ok-hwa, who is in fact Sam-dol's daughter, was merely pretending to be a shaman in order to exact revenge for her father. Possessed by a real spirit, she attempts to kill Mr. Kang inside the hut but lets him go unscathed. She enters the hut, sets it on fire, and dies in the flames.

解放前，庆南的统治营区范围中，和开港一起家族生意没落的钱药铺（金东远饰）一家生活窘迫，钱药铺打算把排行第三的女儿永兰（崔智慧饰）嫁给单身的渔夫（朴罗锡饰）可永兰已经和原先在药铺的长工（黄海饰）私订终身，一天夜里，她无意中发现父亲和下人容冰（严莺兰饰）偷情的事情，这被她作为反对和渔夫婚事的把柄。为掩饰自己的错误，钱药铺把容冰赶出家门，追容冰的途中，永兰遇见了佛教反对政治暴行的活动……变得发疯似的永兰见人就说自己亲手杀死了母亲，接受了大学教育的二女儿从国外归来，信奉基督教的她心身巨变，开始走上了振兴中落的家道，支持独立政治运动的旅途。

A young boy's village is overrun by the North Korean army soon after war breaks out. His uncle Sun-cheol joins the Communists, but tries to protect his in-laws; especially his intellectual anti-communist uncle Gil-jun. The tide turns and South Korean troops oust the Northerners and family members are forced to become blood enemies. 在韩战爆发后一个小孩子的村子很快被朝鲜军队占领，他叔Sun-cheol加入了朝鲜的党，但其尽力保护自己的亲家，尤其是那个反动知识分子 Gil-jun叔；形势扭转后，韩国军队赶走了北方军队，该家族的成员也不共戴天了。

A man tries to raise his two sons and two daughters under some of the most adverse conditions known to man. The father operates a horse-drawn cart, but in a city that is modernizing after the destruction of the Korean War, automobiles are making carts obsolete. The children are experiencing difficulties as well. The eldest son has flunked the bar exam twice and is not hopeful of passing it a third time to become a lawyer. The eldest daughter is mute and married to an abusive husband. The younger daughter tries to pose as a rich university student to move up in life. The youngest son has a penchant for petty theft.