Post by 𝔰𝔢𝔞𝔫𝔪𝔞𝔠𝔩𝔞𝔦𝔯 on Mar 5, 2022 2:08:12 GMT -5
Episodes: 143
Broadcast Date: September 22nd, 1975 to April 9th, 1976
Broadcast Time: Mondays to Fridays @ 9:35 PM
Director: Pyo Jae Sun
Writer: Lee Eun Seong
Assistant Director: Go Seok Man
Cast:
- Kim Mu Saeng as Heo Jun
- Jeon Yang Ja as Choyeon (replaced by Dahee in later adaptations)
- Jung Hye Seon as Mrs Son, Heo Jun's mother (reprised same role in 1999 version)
- Lee Young Hu as Heo Ryun (Heo Jun's dad)
- Lee Hyo Chun, Song Jae Ho, Kim Ho Jeong, Lee Sun Jae, Hong Seong Min, etc...
"A record of the painful yet glorious life of Heo Jun, author of the Dongui Bogam."
First of the Heo Jun adaptations. Totally lost, of course. The show was so successful that it spawned a movie the year after, featuring Lee Sun Jae as Heo Jun. Fun fact that you probably already know - Kim Mu Saeng's son Kim Ju Hyeok was also the lead of his own Heo Jun daily, 2013's Guam Heo Jun.
What's different?
We can see some of the novel in its unfinished form here, such as Heo Jun's wife being named Choyeon, or the fact that Lady Yejin here is just another nurse Heo Jun met in the Capital rather than a noblewoman. This version spends a bit too much time on before they left for Uiju (like 30 or so episodes??) only to spend 10 episodes on him working in the Palace and maybe 5 on the Imjin War (the author hadn't finished writing that part yet). At least there's no childhood section like in the 2013 version. Some more specific plot changes include Heo Jun treating Prince Gwanghae as soon as he enters the Palace, rather than Lady Gong Bin's annoying and abusive cousin. Heo Jun has more children in this version - 2 sons and a daughter named Sukyoung, who starves to death during the Imjin War. I'm not even sure if Prince Gwanghae even becomes King or if they covered his exile in this version, and they definitely skipped Heo Jun writing the Dongui Bogam itself. Some poetic plot I wish stayed in the final version - for all Yu Doji's hate and jealousy for Heo Jun, it's Heo Jun who ends up saving his life after he gets sick during the Imjin War.
Plot:
Heo Jun, son of magistrate Heo Ryun and his concubine Mrs Son, is frustrated with his life as a concubine's son and turns to crime, eventually culminating in bossam'ing a mourning noblewoman named Choyeon. Heo Ryun jails and tortures him, but eventually releases him after a flogging. Heo Jun marries Choyeon and eventually runs away to Uiju with his mom and wife. He ends up working for Yu Uitae, the local doctor - first as a herb picker, then a doctor in his own right, learning medicine along the way. He gains Uitae's trust and his son Doji's jealousy after treating a paralyzed noblewoman, but gets kicked out after taking a recommendation letter from her husband. Yu Uitae burns the letter and defiant, Heo Jun prepares for the medical exam. When he sets off to Hanyang, he gets detoured to a village halfway, where he runs into other test-takers and Yu Doji, who blames Jun for why his father is always harsh on him. The entire village swarms the doctors for medical care, not having a doctor of their own, and all the doctors leave the next day except for Heo Jun, who takes care of each and every patient, causing him to miss the exam.
Heo Jun returns in time to see Doji returning in glamor as first in the examination. He drinks in despair for months, but decides to practice on his own after recognizing the sorry state of his family. He meets Monk Samjeok, Yu Uitae's friend, who takes him to volunteer at the lepers' village. Heo Jun works on his prejudice against leprosy (minus the Sanghwa subplot), while Samjeok relays his progress to Yu Uitae, who orchestrated this in the first place. Eventually, Jun finds out that Doctor Yu has stomach cancer. Knowing he's terminal, Yu Uitae asks Heo Jun to take apart his body after death and learn about the human body, then bury him somewhere nobody can find him. Heo Jun prepares for the next exam, and comes first that round, catching the eye of Yang Yesu, the Royal Physician. But, being a concubine's son, he gets sent to the general hospital. He eventually works his way up to the Palace (in like 10 episodes) and is favored by all the royals and Yang Yesu. Upon his request, Seonjo establishes a committee dedicated to making medical prescriptions more understandable and accessible to the common man. All seems well until the Imjin War breaks out. As Seonjo runs away from the Capital to Gaeseong, the people revolt in anger and burn the Palace down. Heo Jun runs back to the Palace to save the medicine library that everyone abandoned, and unable to find his family, decides to set off for Gaeseong. He finds his family there (minus the daughter who died of course) and is rewarded for his loyalty to the King.
