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Post by jewel on Jun 18, 2016 21:08:25 GMT -5
Yes, you're completely right. Wow. I'm gonna print this and frame it!!
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Post by excelsior on Jun 28, 2016 18:03:59 GMT -5
Did you guys know that Jeong Do Jeon is now nearly fully subbed (except ep 33).
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Post by sageuk on Jun 28, 2016 21:53:16 GMT -5
? That's news to me. Dramacool, correct?
Edit: I took a look. They look like the subtitles that I downloaded. Videos in good quality too.
I can finally have an easier time showing this show off to certain friends who don't know Korean.
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Post by truth on Jun 28, 2016 23:22:26 GMT -5
Didn't know where to post this, so I'll just post it here. The North Koreans just discovered the tombs of Emperor Deokjong and Emperor Jeongjong of Goryeo this week according to the Korean news. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deokjong_of_Goryeoen.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jeongjong,_10th_Monarch_of_Goryeo They've apparently uncovered bunch of gold jewelries, golden arrows, and silver dishes inside. Will we ever have dramas on them? Probably not.
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Post by excelsior on Jun 29, 2016 17:41:18 GMT -5
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Post by ajk on Jun 30, 2016 1:27:01 GMT -5
WOW truth that is quite a piece of news! I hope the North Koreans don't do anything stupid with the artifacts like sell them for plutonium.
Was looking at my timeline and there's never been a drama covering those years. Maybe this find will spur some interest. (We did meet their parents in Iron Empress; Hyeonjong held the throne for the final eight episodes and we saw him meet Wonseong and her two sisters in the second-to-last episode.)
If you find anything in English about it please do share it. I couldn't find anything yet, not even on the official North Korea "news" website.
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Post by excelsior on Jun 30, 2016 12:26:26 GMT -5
Did you guys know about the sad story of Yi Seok, one of the last remnants of the house of Yi? He was crawling by in America as an illegal immigrant. Came back to South Korea unwelcomed. Lived in bathhouses and vans. talk about a fall from grace. www.nytimes.com/2006/05/19/world/asia/19iht-profile.html?_r=0
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Post by sageuk on Aug 27, 2016 21:26:24 GMT -5
I've been reading Samguk Yusa. I realize that its more myth and legend than it is actual fact and history, but its at the very least a fine time to satisfy curiosity regarding what kind of folktales there were. One story that caught my interest was the Goguryeo spy Baekseok.
I saw his name in the cast list for Great King's Dream, so that story was probably covered, so I assume with less supernatural aspects (I caught a glimpse of lines from a subtitle transcript, him saying that he's loyal to the queen. I belive truth said that one of the Silla queens was made into a villain?)
THe story goes like this. The king asks a diviner why the river at the SIlla Goguryeo border is flowing backwards. The diviner, named Ch'uson, says its the queen's fault for misconduct (the notes in it say its because the queen is more in charge than the king is, disrupting the energy flow as a result). King and queen take offense to it, and the queen asks tests his powers by asking him how many rats are in this box. He says eight. There's only one rat though, and the queen calls for his execution. Before he dies, the diviner says he will reincarnate into a general who will destroy Goguryeo.
Later, they discover that the rat had seven babies inside, showing that Ch'uson was right. They begin to fear his words. The king dreams that Ch'uson's spirit goes into the womb of Kim Yushin's mother, and they dispatch the spy, Baekseok.
(It should be pointed out that Samguk Yusa says that the king in this story was Bojang, the last ruler of Goguryeo. Historically, Bojang, however, was not on the throne when Kim Yushin was born).
Yusa says that not much is known about Baekseok, but he's been with the Hwarang for a long time. One day, he suggests to Yushin to scout the areas into Koguryo, hoping to lure him to an ambush. Yushin avoids trouble after being warned by three mountain spirits about what's to come.
Has all the makings of a good espionage and fantasy plot.
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Post by truth on Aug 27, 2016 23:03:26 GMT -5
I've been reading Samguk Yusa. I realize that its more myth and legend than it is actual fact and history, but its at the very least a fine time to satisfy curiosity regarding what kind of folktales there were. One story that caught my interest was the Goguryeo spy Baekseok. I saw his name in the cast list for Great King's Dream, so that story was probably covered, so I assume with less supernatural aspects (I caught a glimpse of lines from a subtitle transcript, him saying that he's loyal to the queen. I belive truth said that one of the Silla queens was made into a villain?) THe story goes like this. The king asks a diviner why the river at the SIlla Goguryeo border is flowing backwards. The diviner, named Ch'uson, says its the queen's fault for misconduct (the notes in it say its because the queen is more in charge than the king is, disrupting the energy flow as a result). King and queen take offense to it, and the queen asks tests his powers by asking him how many rats are in this box. He says eight. There's only one rat though, and the queen calls for his execution. Before he dies, the diviner says he will reincarnate into a general who will destroy Goguryeo. Later, they discover that the rat had seven babies inside, showing that Ch'uson was right. They begin to fear his words. The king dreams that Ch'uson's spirit goes into the womb of Kim Yushin's mother, and they dispatch the spy, Baekseok. (It should be pointed out that Samguk Yusa says that the king in this story was Bojang, the last ruler of Goguryeo. Historically, Bojang, however, was not on the throne when Kim Yushin was born). Yusa says that not much is known about Baekseok, but he's been with the Hwarang for a long time. One day, he suggests to Yushin to scout the areas into Koguryo, hoping to lure him to an ambush. Yushin avoids trouble after being warned by three mountain spirits about what's to come. Has all the makings of a good espionage and fantasy plot. The only queen that I can recall being a villain from Great King's Dream is Queen Seungman, who was not a villain in history. Baekseok comes out as Queen Seungman's spy instead of Goguryeo spy in the drama though.
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Post by ajk on Aug 28, 2016 1:27:42 GMT -5
Wow, I never realized there was an English-translated version available until you got me curious, sageuk. Now I'm curious. Thanks for sharing the story.
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Post by ajk on Aug 28, 2016 1:31:37 GMT -5
excelsior I apologize, I didn't notice your post here until just now. That is a very interesting article--interesting and very sad. You're right, it would make for a very good story. Not easy to watch but very powerful.
Thanks for linking the article--it's one of those stories that I'm glad to have represented here.
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Post by sageuk on Aug 29, 2016 20:15:05 GMT -5
Of course, there are some questions regarding the folktale to the nitpicky side of me. They said they dispatched the spy when they figured who the diviner reincarnated into. Does that mean they kept an eye on Yushin since he was an infant? Did they not bother to try killing him during this time? Granted the myth also says he has a birthmark of the Big Dipper on his back, symbolizing great fortune, so he probably had great luck.
How old was Baekseong when infiltrated Silla? Hwarangs are supposed to be young men. Was he an infiltrator since he was a child, or was he an older man who just happened to look alot younger than he really was?
I can't believe I'm nitpicking a folktale that's three pages long.
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Post by sageuk on Sept 30, 2016 22:25:54 GMT -5
Here's a fun fact. Joseon soldiers actually fought the Russians. scholar.harvard.edu/files/kang/files/jcmh_2.2_big_heads_and_buddhist_demons.pdfBasically Russian frontiersmen started occupying the Chinese borders, and since the Qing Dynasty was busy with suppressing the southern part of China, they asked Joseon for help. King Hyojong, who had plans to invade Qing and avenge the loss from the Manchu invasions, agreed to deploy his reformed army to see how well they would do. Indeed, they proved to be formidable gunmen who were integral to driving the Russians out. They probably did a dramatization of this event, since there was a series in the 80s that was about King Hyojong. In fact, its KBS's first Saturday-Sunday historical drama. There's cannon fire, musket fire, even ship battles on the river. If this were made today, comparisons with Yi Soon Shin related material is almost inevitable. Heck, I'm not even sure if Koreans would approve of watching a work having Korean warriors helping out an oppressive empire, when they prefer fighting against it. There's also some interesting information. The Koreans were nicknamed "Big Heads" for their headwear by the Russians and nomads living in the area. At first, I thought they were referring to this: But then realized the Qing had something similar and yet they weren't called Big Heads: One Korean source says that the Joseon soldiers were actually wearing this
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Post by ajk on Oct 2, 2016 20:16:06 GMT -5
Great post sageuk, thanks! Yeah that would make an interesting series, with so many angles to show. And I love links to hardcore history scholarship; great to have those here. Will definitely read the paper.
The series you're referring to, "Great Vocation" aka "Dae Myung"--if you happen to find anything about it please do share it. I've searched in English and haven't even been able to locate an episode count. Probably 100 episodes but that's just a guess. Remains one of those annoying colored unknowns in my timeline.
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Post by truth on Oct 2, 2016 20:39:10 GMT -5
Here's a fun fact. Joseon soldiers actually fought the Russians. scholar.harvard.edu/files/kang/files/jcmh_2.2_big_heads_and_buddhist_demons.pdfBasically Russian frontiersmen started occupying the Chinese borders, and since the Qing Dynasty was busy with suppressing the southern part of China, they asked Joseon for help. King Hyojong, who had plans to invade Qing and avenge the loss from the Manchu invasions, agreed to deploy his reformed army to see how well they would do. Indeed, they proved to be formidable gunmen who were integral to driving the Russians out. The question is, who are going to play the Russians? They're gonna have to cast every white Korean TV personalities out there for this drama. Ilya Belyakov is probably going to be cast since he actually is Russian lol. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ilya_Belyakov
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