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Post by jojo on Mar 2, 2009 12:18:00 GMT -5
ep 70 Loved Wang Zhen getting zinged by Yun Hwe!! ;D Sorry to see Dami go. It looked like another Jurchen came up from behind her and sliced her back. The Jurchens are making an alliance again? Wonder how long this one will last.
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Post by wangdangman on Mar 2, 2009 15:43:31 GMT -5
Once again Sunday I forgot to set my tape so that I wouldn't miss the latest episode -- funny thing was I thought about setting it at about 11 AM, even looked at the VCR (I'm still old fashioned) but thought, "Naaaa, I'll be awake!" I fell asleep in the chair during the Tom Selleck movie on CBS. SO, Jo Mal-Dirtbag is back and has a government post! He must have been Korea's answer to Richard Nixon. The review made it sound like the attack on the bad guys was at the end of the show and if I'm lucky and remember to watch/tape Saturday's episode, I might actually see some of it. I hope so. After watching Wang Guhn and Dae Jo Yeong, this Sejong has had precious little fighting -- and that's what got me watching Wang Guhn in the first place. I was flipping around the dial one night and happened on channel 35 during one of the flaming arrow, catapault, sword fighting battles. Even though it was subtitled and I used to swear I would NEVER watch anything except a World War II movie that had English subtitles for German soldiers, I decided it was the most interesting thing on at that time-- and the rest, as they say, is (Korean) history! (sorry, I couldn't resist)!
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Post by tinkerbell on Mar 5, 2009 11:37:34 GMT -5
I was flipping around the dial one night and happened on channel 35 during one of the flaming arrow, catapault, sword fighting battles. Even though it was subtitled and I used to swear I would NEVER watch anything except a World War II movie that had English subtitles for German soldiers, I decided it was the most interesting thing on at that time-- and the rest, as they say, is (Korean) history! Good one wangdangman! ;D It was at the end of the episode, so I'm sure they will show it again at the beginning of the next one. We finally got to see some hwacha action and to make it more dramatic, it looked like they used some napalm too. EPISODE 71 I have to say it. For weeks I've been wondering, what the heck is on the top of Li Manzhu's head, or is that black thing supposed to be his head? I was surprised that Shin Jang died. We just found out he was sick. That was quick. There has been several interesting conversations between Sejong and the CP, reminiscent of the debates between Sejong and his father. Hyang seems to really care about the people. I'm not happy to see Jo Malseng back but at least this time his dirty tricks are directed at the enemy, for now anyway.
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Post by jojo on Mar 6, 2009 19:30:59 GMT -5
I have to say it. For weeks I've been wondering, what the heck is on the top of Li Manzhu's head, or is that black thing supposed to be his head? I've been trying to figure that one out too. It looks like the top of his head is shaved, and every now & then, he has a severe '5 o'clock shadow.' Looks like some kind of badge of leadership cause Tongmingge has one too. Nice strategy by Sejong & co in fooling the Jurchens!! I don't trust Jo Malseng either. It's only a matter of time before he is up to no good with the ministers.
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Post by tinkerbell on Mar 6, 2009 19:40:09 GMT -5
jojo, Tongmingge's head does look shaved or bald, but Li Manzhu's "spot" looks like a piece of black leather. ;D
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Post by jojo on Mar 7, 2009 9:00:32 GMT -5
I can never figure out men's hair fashions!
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Post by tinkerbell on Mar 8, 2009 12:56:12 GMT -5
EPISODE 72 I don't understand why Ming is so bent on acquiring information on Joseon's new weapons. The use of Chinese fire arrows (rockets) were first reported to have been used by the Southern Wu in 904. In 1221, Thundercrash Bombs (which were exploding grenades filled with black powder) were used by the Jin invaders during the attack of Qizhou. In 1232 when the Jin repelled the Mongolians in the battle of Kaifeng, they used Flying Firelances, which were bamboo tubes stuffed with black powder; the tube was ignited and used as a flamethrower. Gunpowder and knowledge of rocketry were later introduced to Korea, and evolved into the singijeon. You could tell the one masked man was Poongae. There's no mistaking those eyes. ;D He sure is giving it his all, including voluntary castration! Yikes! Is Poongae giving Joseon information on Dongchang? If he is, I don't know how he's getting the information out. Risky operation for sure. Ming is really working on Choi Manli. Jeong Changson is trying hard to entice him with the prospect of attending the Hanlin Academy. I'm glad Choi is suspicious of him (finally!). I can't imagine him being a traitor though no matter how he feels about the King's policies. Shocking things happen behind closed doors at the palace. Why did they show all those flashbacks from episodes long past? It didn't fit in with the storyline right now. I would think they'd do that after the final episode. I enjoyed it anyway and it made me think how much I missed some of those strong characters.
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Post by jojo on Mar 9, 2009 9:15:57 GMT -5
Ep 72 I was totally surprised to see Poongae! He seems too young and innocent to deal with such ruthless characters. Haishou looked a little threatened when Poongae said his goal is to surpass Wang Zhen! Haishou's probably thinking the same thing. Also suprising was the new scholar Jeong Changson talking to Wang Zhen! Jeong’s loyalty seems highly suspect to me. Why was he hiding the fact that he is a Hanlin scholar until now? I was wondering about those flashbacks too. I thought the writers ran out of material.
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Post by jojo on Mar 10, 2009 9:29:19 GMT -5
Ep 73 Oohhhh nooooooo!!! Don’t do it Choi Manli!! Don’t betray your king! Doesn’t he see how he is being used? Especially after Huang Zan becomes involved too? This is so depressing. I can hear Jo Malseng laughing in the background. Doesn’t anyone else realize that Jeong Changson is a spy?! I’m so disappointed in Gim Mun. He should know better. The water clock is cool. Reminds me of the game “Mousetrap.” ;D
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Post by ajk on Mar 10, 2009 16:46:49 GMT -5
Nice piece of research on the weaponry, tinkerbell. I wondered about that too, because I couldn't really find material indicating that the weapon was a radical new invention.
The one thing that occurred to me was that maybe the technology was lost over time and then "re"-discovered. There are plenty of examples of that kind of thing. Didn't something like that even happen involving the IYSS turtle ships? Rings a bell, although I can't recall the details at the moment. Anyway, that could explain it, although it's by no means for certain.
Mousetrap is right, jojo! I wish we'd have gotten a better look at the clock, because it reminded me of one of those Rube Goldberg contraptions that people design for contests. But it apparently got the job done, and I liked it too.
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Post by tinkerbell on Mar 12, 2009 11:08:15 GMT -5
I think it was a little different concerning the Turtle Ship. From what I've read, the first references to some type of first generation turtle ships come from the 1413 and 1415 records in the Annals of the Joseon Dynasty (this would be King Taejong's reign). Because of a long period of relative peace, early turtle ships soon fell out of use. According to Yi Soon Shin's War Diary, Yi decided to resurrect the turtle ship in 1591 once concluding that a Japanese invasion was possible, if not imminent. He and his men constructed the first modern turtle ships building upon early designs.
The "Huolongjing" is a 14th century military treatise that was compiled and edited by Jiao Yu and Liu Ji of the early Ming Dynasty in China. It outlines the use of various "fire weapons" involving the use of gunpowder. The book has descriptions of the 10th century Chinese fire arrow, a simple wooden arrow with a spherical soft casing attached to the arrow and filled with gunpowder, ignited by a fuse so that it was propelled forward and provided a light explosion upon impact. The book explains how the simple "fire arrow" evolved into the metal tube launched rocket. There are descriptions of various rocket launchers that launched tons of rockets at a time, the advent of the two stage rocket having a booster rocket igniting a swarm of smaller ones that were shot from the mouth of a missile shaped like a dragon, and even fin mounted winged rockets.
There are descriptions of the Chinese hollow cast iron grenade bomb, shrapnel bombs, and bombs with poisonous concoctions, explosive land mines and explosive naval mines. The book describes various proto–guns including the fire lance (a short burst flamethrower that emitted a charge of shrapnel), multiple metal barrel handguns (with up to ten barrels), and descriptions of handguns with possible serpentine locks, used as components in matchlock firearms. The book provides descriptions of the early bombard and cannon, including the use of hollow gunpowder packed exploding cannonballs, cannon barrels filled with tons of metal balls containing poisonous gunpowder solutions, and cannons that were mounted on wheeled carriages so that they could be rotated in all directions.
The Chinese had used the weapons against the Mongols and in turn the Mongols made use of the fire arrow during their attempts to invade Japan.
That's why I'm puzzled over the situation of "the new weapon".
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Post by tinkerbell on Mar 12, 2009 11:48:58 GMT -5
EPISODE 73 jojo, I thought the same thing about the water clock, a very elaborate Mousetrap. Now we have Huang Zan (Heuk Sudol from DJY). He's an interesting character so far. I hope Choi Manli doesn't become a traitor too. I'm trying to have faith in him yet. I'm also disappointed in Gim Mun. He should be grateful he even has the position he does, especially after conspiring with Jo Malseng. I hope it's some kind of setup. Will we ever see the Emperor's face? He and Wang Zhen like talking behind curtains. Wow, the Crown Princess is really pushing the envelope. I feel sorry for her the way the CP ignores her though. I've noticed the subtitles went from Peking to Beijing. The person(s) doing the subs must have changed. The Chinese capital did not change its name but Chinese words became spelled in English differently. In Chinese, the name stayed exactly the same and most Chinese people are not even aware that some Westerners think that there has been a name change. The old spelling had been Peking. After the establishment of the People's Republic of China in 1949, the government adopted the pinyin transliteration method and used this to write all of the proper names (including place names, people's names, etc) using the Latin alphabet. Theoretically, this was when Peking became known in the West as Beijing. In reality, however, the West has been using the old spelling long after it has been replaced in China. It is only sometime in the 1980s that China started to enforce its official name on all flights, sea routes and official documents.
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Post by tinkerbell on Mar 15, 2009 16:31:18 GMT -5
EPISODE 74 The man at the end of this episode that has a knife to King Sejong's throat is the actor that played Dae-man in IYSS. Why should Choi Manli be punished? I don't get it. Yes he was tempted but he didn't give in. He gave Huang Zan a book with empty pages and he remained loyal to the King even though he disagrees with him. I was relieved and proud of him. I loved what he said to Haishou and Jo Malseng! On the other hand, Jeong Changson and Gim Mun should get the boot from The Hall of Worthies. Why do they keep spies and traitors around? History seems to be repeating itself with the Royal Princes. Yikes, the Crown Princess is busted again! I bet she regrets ever marrying the CP.
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Post by wangdangman on Mar 15, 2009 23:50:41 GMT -5
Sunday night -- March 15 -- the crown prince gets blasted because his wife wife -- how can I put this nicely -- is like a door that swings both ways (how's that). ;D The King goes incognito and saves the life of a peasant with the help of Dr. Quincy -- the 1400's Korean version. That was pretty good, I enjoyed that! What happened to The King of Ming (hmmm, sounds like a question about a Chinese Benny Goodman)? They didn't bother to explain that little tidbit, or did I miss something? Then, after Sejong decides, "Hey, I know, I'll invent an alphabet!!," the show had an ending that looks for all the world like the final episode -- but I'm pretty sure there is more to come. Finally, what was with that "tribute" to Jang Youngsil, the dude that invents the fireworks and stuff that goes BOOM in the night? Questions, questions. Without reading the next summary, anybody have any answers?
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Post by jojo on Mar 16, 2009 9:15:42 GMT -5
I think Choi Manli was punished, not so much for the actual incident with the weapons book, but for his persistence in influencing the Crown Prince. It appeared that the Crown Prince and Choi Manli were working together: the CP met with the King and Choi Manli met with Huang Zan at the same time (remember when they compared notes later?). I thought it was odd that the Queen talked to the Crown Prince about being more involved with his wife, without making sure that the Crown Princess had first cleaned up her act. It was almost a set-up! I can’t see Queen Soheon making such a blunder, so I’m wondering about the writers. I wish we had seen more about how Sejong came up with the idea that a new writing system was needed. While all of the inventions and new laws were extraordinary, the new writing system has to be the biggest invention of all. I hope we will see more about the development and implementation in future episodes. What’s up with Yun Hwe clutching his chest and then sneaking off for a drink?! Was it alcohol? This can’t be good. Every time we turn around, the Ming emperor is dying. The new one didn’t last very long. What a scary thing for a nine year old to be head of the country. The end of the episode was strange. I thought it was over after the narration part and turned off my VCR. But then there was a second or two of someone falling into water and then a tribute to Jang Youngsil starts. Who's in the water? Unfortunately, I didn't tape the water scene so I can't check. Did anyone else see this? (I also don't get the tribute to JY. Seems like filler.) (thanks for recent military info tinks!)
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