A general goes on a search for a book that reveals the names of revolutionaries in the area, leading to a showdown at a Shaolin temple where he faces off against the revolutionaries.

Jang Seung-eop, also known as "Chihwaseon," drinks and paints all day. Through Mae-hyang, he learns the meaning of fate, sees art beyond even the smallest things, and sets out for the path he seeks.

Sam-po is a gambler living without concern for how his wife will manage their houselhold without his earning money. In order to get food and provisions, his wife An-hyeob, sleeps with various merchants in the village. One of the few men she does not sleep with, a lustful servant named Sam-dol, decides to reveal her activities to her husband for revenge.

R returns from studying in France and reunites with J, whom he used to live with in Paris.

In Japanese-occupied South Korea, a young man, newly-released from prison, is accepted into a gang for his fighting skills and quickly rises to the top. Based on the life of South Korean mobster and politician Kim Du-han.

Er Woo Dong translates to "entertainer," a rough approximation of the duties of 14th-century Korean courtesan Er Yoon Chang. After a lifetime "in service," Er Yoon Chang retires to a faraway village. Meanwhile, her powerful father, ashamed of his daughter's lifestyle, dispatches an assassin to do her in. Er Yoon Chang is protected by her faithful deaf-mute bodyguard, but only up to a point.

A sprawling story of one man's tumultuous life within the context of the South Korean political situation during the second half of the 20th century.

Once at a pagoda Mongryong Lee, a scion of a well-to-do family, meets Chunhyang, the young daughter of a courtesan and an aristocrat. Despite her low social standing she is smart and well-educated. The young people fall in love and think about marriage so that they could always be together. Mongryong is soon to go to the capital to take the state civil service exam. They part and in Chunhyang's life there appears the greedy and lustful Byun Hak-do, who tries to seduce her.

A well-known womanizer is set to marry the daughter of wealthy business man. However, on the day of the wedding, he goes missing. The police are called and begin an investigation, only to see some surprising witnesses come forward.

A comic book store in Garibong-dong is run by a beautiful woman better known as Madam. This store stays open late into the night, thus attracting varied types of people such as gangsters and hustlers.