Post by Maalii on Nov 26, 2004 18:34:28 GMT -5
I was rummaging through some of my dad's old books and came across an English language history of Korea--the History of Korea by William Henthorn. The accounts of the Age of Warriors is pretty brief, although all the main military leaders, Chung Jung Bu, Kyung Dae Seung, Yi Ui Min, and Choi Choonghon are mentioned. There is also a blurb on Manjok's rebellion that contains two paragraphs of quotes attributed to Manjok. Interestingly enough, in the paragraph where he outlines his strategy for the success of the slave rebellion he says that the first priority is to kill Choonghon. In any case, the very brief account of events told in this history is pretty similar to the AOW version including the key betrayal by one of the slaves (this character would no doubt be Jaunsoon's slave in the drama) that leads to the defeat of the slaves before they could really get their uprising off the ground. The other part that rings true is the fact that the widespread support Manjok et al. anticipated never materialized. There is also a nice poem by Yi Kyubo included in this history (a poem that speaks to the shipping trade). Yi Kyubo lived a pretty long life in spite of his outspoken nature and drinking because he died in 1241 (22 years after Choonghon)at the age of 73.
Perhaps more interesting, given that AOW did not go this far forward in time is the accounts of event between the end of AOW (1219) and the conquest of the Mongols that was essentially complete by 1270 (the first Mongol invasion began in 1231). It seems that Koryo's resistance to the much larger Mongol forces was indeed exceptionally fierce and heroic, including one city that withstood a very prolonged siege and forced the Mongols to withdraw--it looks like this period in history could alone give rise to a future epic drama. It took the Mongols nearly 40 years to conquer Koryo. It also appears that the Choi clan was toppled before the Mongol conquest was complete and the Chois were overthrown by one Kim Chun in 1258. Choi haters will like this little story about the demise of Choi Ui (Choonghon's great grandson) the last Choi leader. "It is ironic to note that Choi Ui failed to escape because he was too fat for his bodyguard to boost over the back wall while the attackerrs were breaking down the front gate." For those fans of ROTK this sounds a lot like the scene where Cao Cao's father is assasinated. In that scene Cao Cao's father flees with a concubine, but she is too fat to fit through the back door, so they have to try another route and eventually hide in an outhouse where they are found and killed.
By the way, the author of this particular history considers the era of military leaders to extend all the way to 1270, which is when the Mongols gained full control. Just imagine, we could have had another 150 or so episodes in AOW! Seriously, though, for dramatic purposes it makes perfect sense to have ended AOW as of Chooghon's death because if we went beyond him we would have no more key players who were born before 1170. On the other hand, to use the ROTK analog, nobody alive at the beginning of ROTK is alive at the end, given that the epic covers 120 years. So if AOW had been built around a more multi-generational blueprint... Do you get a sense I miss AOW? Heck yes.
Perhaps more interesting, given that AOW did not go this far forward in time is the accounts of event between the end of AOW (1219) and the conquest of the Mongols that was essentially complete by 1270 (the first Mongol invasion began in 1231). It seems that Koryo's resistance to the much larger Mongol forces was indeed exceptionally fierce and heroic, including one city that withstood a very prolonged siege and forced the Mongols to withdraw--it looks like this period in history could alone give rise to a future epic drama. It took the Mongols nearly 40 years to conquer Koryo. It also appears that the Choi clan was toppled before the Mongol conquest was complete and the Chois were overthrown by one Kim Chun in 1258. Choi haters will like this little story about the demise of Choi Ui (Choonghon's great grandson) the last Choi leader. "It is ironic to note that Choi Ui failed to escape because he was too fat for his bodyguard to boost over the back wall while the attackerrs were breaking down the front gate." For those fans of ROTK this sounds a lot like the scene where Cao Cao's father is assasinated. In that scene Cao Cao's father flees with a concubine, but she is too fat to fit through the back door, so they have to try another route and eventually hide in an outhouse where they are found and killed.
By the way, the author of this particular history considers the era of military leaders to extend all the way to 1270, which is when the Mongols gained full control. Just imagine, we could have had another 150 or so episodes in AOW! Seriously, though, for dramatic purposes it makes perfect sense to have ended AOW as of Chooghon's death because if we went beyond him we would have no more key players who were born before 1170. On the other hand, to use the ROTK analog, nobody alive at the beginning of ROTK is alive at the end, given that the epic covers 120 years. So if AOW had been built around a more multi-generational blueprint... Do you get a sense I miss AOW? Heck yes.
