The film is adapted from the traditional Korean folk novel "The Story of Heungbu", which is known as one of the three great classical masterpieces of Korea along with "The Story of Sim Cheong" and "The Story of Chunhyang". It tells the story of Heungbu (played by Jung Woo) and the nobleman Cho Hyuk (played by Kim Joo Hyuk) helping poor people during the reign of King Heonjong of Joseon.