While working on a case with farmers, lawyer Heo Seung comes to believe that the rural development movement is the only lasting way to preserve the identity of the country. With conviction, Seung throws himself into the rural area. However, this position is against the Japanese occupation policies and eventually, even his wife, Yun Jung-sun, ends up leaving him. The Japanese judge Masaki Hiroshi determines that Seung's rural development activities are actually a rebellion against Japan. He has Seung imprisoned as an ideology criminal. After spending five years in jail, Seung returns to the country to see his wife, Jung-sun, continuing her husband's work and waiting for him.
Choi Seok, the principal of a girl's high school, adopts Jeong-nim, a Japanese student there. However, they develop a disturbing relationship that scandalizes the local region. His family is disgusted and sends the girl back to Tokyo whil Choi Seok loses his job, but the two cannot stop thinking about each other
Mo-Hwa is a famous shaman. When the Christianity is introduced to this small fishing village, Mo-Hwa's divine power is declining. Mo-Hwa is furious when she happened to know that her own son Wuk has studied theology. She performs an exorcism to throw away evil spirits from her son and tears up the bible. The conflict between mother and son breaks up the family. Mo-Hwa decides to show which spirit is stronger when she is asked to perform an exorcism for a drowned lady. Even though she performs shaman, the body doesn't come up to the surface. Mo-Hwa doesn't stop to perform and gradually she is going down into the water and never comes back.
A lonely old potter saves the life of a young woman. She is grateful to him, but does not return the love he feels for her. However she feels obligated to marry him. In time, her former boyfriend finds her and takes a job working with the potter until he can convince her to run away with him.