Jewel in the Palace (Korean: 대장금; Hanja: 大長今; RR: Daejanggeum) is a 2003 South Korean historical drama television series directed by Lee Byung-hoon. It first aired on MBC from September 15, 2003, to March 23, 2004, where it was the top program with an average viewership rating of 45.8% and a peak of 57.1% (making it the 10th highest rated Korean drama of all time). Produced for US$15 million, it was later exported to 91 countries and has earned US$103.4 million worldwide, being known as one of the primary proponents of the Korean Wave by heightening the spread of Korean culture abroad.
Starring Lee Young-ae in the title role, it tells the tale of an orphaned kitchen cook who went on to become the King's first female physician. In a time when women held little influence in society, young apprentice cook Jang-geum strives to learn the secrets of Korean cooking and medicine to cure the King of his various ailments. It is based on the true story of Janggeum, the first female royal physician of the Joseon period. The main themes are her perseverance and the portrayal of traditional Korean culture, including Korean royal court cuisine and traditional medicine.
Contents
Synopsis
The story is set in Korea during the reigns of King Seongjong (1457–1494), King Yeonsangun (1494–1506) and King Jungjong (1506–1544). The epilogue also spans through the reigns of King Injong (1544–1545) and King Myeongjong (1545–1567), with the last scene from March 1550.
At the outset, King Seongjong has ordered the forced suicide by poisoning of his wife, the Deposed Queen Yun, mother of the crown prince (future Yeonsan-gun). After carrying out the execution, one of the royal guards, Seo Cheon-soo, is haunted by the cursing of the executed queen. Trying to calm his nerve by drinking at a local pub, the drunken Seo accidentally fells off a cliff on his way home and is rescued by a mysterious Taoist hermit with a cryptic message – that his life will revolve around three women: the first he has killed, but has never truly died; another he will save, but will die because of him; and the third will kill him, but will go on to save many lives. The hermit also leaves Seo three Hanja characters and refuses to elaborate any further before magically vanishing, and it doesn't become clear until later in the story that the three women are the deposed Queen Yun, Park Myeong-yi (Seo's eventual wife) and Jangggeum (Seo's daughter). Haunted by his prophesied fate at the hands of the third woman, he becomes paranoid and refuses to approach any woman. After many years the former king dies, and the Crown Prince ascends the throne and becomes increasingly violent and tyrannical, so Seo abandons his post in self-exile.
Park Myeong-yi is a palace girl and apprentice cook of the royal kitchen. She witnesses a fellow apprentice, a girl from the powerful Choi clan named Choi Seong-geum, slip poison into the Grand Royal Queen Dowager's food. Unaware that the senior kitchen officers are part of a conspiracy against the said Queen, Myeong-yi informs them. The officers, fearful that Myeong-yi might reveal their conspiracy, attempt to murder her by framing her committing adultery with a royal guard, then executing her with poison. Myeong-yi's best friend, Han Baek-young, manages to save her by secretly diluting the poison with a mung bean soup and leaves the unconscious Myeong-yi a letter explaining what had happened. As Seo Cheon-soo wanders through the forest, he stumbles upon and rescues the half-conscious Myeong-yi, and the two fall in love and marry. They end up living peacefully in a remote village as lower caste commoners and raise a clever daughter named Seo Jang-geum.
When Jang-geum is eight years old, King Yeongsan learns about the murder of his mother and vows revenge, seeking and killing people who were previously involved. Among them is Jang-geum's father, who so far managed to hide his identity. However, following an incident, Jang-geum accidentally reveals her father's identity and causes him to be arrested (and presumably executed later on). Her mother, rushing on the way to Hanyang to try save her husband, is spotted by the Choi family and eventually killed by an arrow. Jang-geum, now an orphan, is adopted by Kang Duk-gu and Na Ju-daek, a family making a living through selling wine. Two years later, Jang-geum enters the palace after King Jungjong ascends to the throne. She is committed to enter the middle kitchen (where her mother used to cook) to uncover a letter written by her mother. During this time, she meets Lady Han and they form a mother-daughter bond. The Right State Councillor Oh Gyeom-ho (the Choi clan's ally within the Royal Cabinet) frames Lady Han and Jang-geum as traitors in league with Jo Gwang-jo, the famous Joseon reformer. In an effort to save Jang-geum, Lady Han declares that she alone is guilty of treason. Nonetheless, both are judged guilty and sent to Jeju Island to work as government slaves. On the way to Jeju, Lady Han dies from her injuries. Lady Choi replaces her as head of the royal kitchen, while Jang-geum vows revenge. Official Min Jeong-ho, who's in love with Jang-geum, follows her to Jeju Island and offers to help her escape, but she refuses since doing so would mean never being able to return to the palace to not only clear Lady Han's name, but obtain justice for her mother's death. Min Jeong-ho declares he will wait for her and help her out throughout her stay in Jeju.
Cast
Main characters
Lee Young-ae as Seo Jang-geum
Jo Jung-eun as young Seo Jang-geum
An intelligent, beautiful, and introverted woman whose compassionate nature and enthusiasm allow her to stand out from the crowd. Ever since her parents died during a political massacre, she has suffered many hardships and obstacles, especially in the palace, but she overcomes them with strong determination and perseverance.
Being strong-willed, Jang-geum strives to reach her goal regardless of the obstacles she is facing. It is with her extraordinary medical skills and knowledge, as well as her integrity and high ethics to only use her knowledge to heal and cure, that she becomes the first female physician to the king, and named Dae ("the Great") Jang-geum, becoming a third-ranked official, something unheard of at the time for a woman during the Joseon era.
Ji Jin-hee as Min Jeong-ho
An educated, very intelligent and good-looking man, he is an outstanding scholar who combines both learning and the martial arts. Jeong-ho is a judge of the Hang Sung Boo, the ministry governing the affairs of the capital Hansung. Unaware of who he is, Jang-geum saves him upon being shot. They then meet again when she approaches him to borrow books. They become romantically involved as he moves to Nae Geum Wee (the Royal Military Guard) as Jong Sa Gwan, a senior officer.
Hong Ri-na as Choi Keum-young
Lee Se-young as young Choi Keum-young
Ambitious and arrogant, Choi Keum-young starts her life in the palace as the niece of the influential Lady Choi, a former friend that becomes Jang-geum's lifelong rival. Although she is part of the Choi clan, she yearns to find her own way - never really accepting the Chois' way of doing things but unable to find her own independent identity. Her intelligence and talent often put her head-to-head with Jang-geum. Eventually Lady Choi's influence and her unreciprocated attraction to Min Jeong-ho prompt her to keep mostly to the Choi clan's ways.
Supporting characters
Early life
Park Chan-hwan as Seo Cheon-soo - Jang-geum's father and a former royal guard.
Kim Hye-sun as Park Myeong-yi - Jang-geum's mother and a former kitchen lady. Best friend to Lady Han but she became an enemy to Lady Choi when they find out that she saw their planned conspiracy.
Im Hyun-sik as Kang Duk-gu - Ju-Daek's husband. Jang-geum's adoptive father and a palace chef.
Geum Bo-ra as Na Ju-daek - Duk-gu's wife and Jang-geum's adoptive mother. She and Duk-Gu earn a living by selling wine.
Time as a palace chef
Park Eun-hye as Lee Yeon-seng - Royal Consort Suk-won - Dowager Royal Noble Consort Suk-won of the Lee Clan , the 8th wife of King Jungjong - Jang-Geum's best friend. Naive, cheerful and lovely, she got the King's attention when the King saw her crying and playing the King's dog while missing her best friend Jang-Geum and Lady Han. She became the King's concubine when she became pregnant to the King's child (which is a princess). After King Jungjong's death, the Dowager Queen Munjeong treat her like her sister and also grant permission to her for remaining and stayed in royal harem.
Lee Ip-sae as Yoon Young-roh - niece of Yoon Mak-Gae and a loyal person to Choi family. She often supports the actions of the Choi family against Lady Han and Jang-Geum believing that their families shared the same fate. Her loyalty to the Choi clan fruits, when she became the Attendant Lady of Head Lady Choi. Her life goes to jeopardy when Lady Choi asked her to hide while the Right State Councilor asked her to reveal the story between Lady Choi and Jang-Geum in exchange of Head Lady position.
Kim So-yi as Min Gwi-yeol - the mentor of Chang-yi and second teacher to Seo Jang-geum and Lee Yeun-seng. She became Attendant Lady of Suk-Won Lee after discovering that Lee Yeun-Seng is pregnant to the King's child. She also became the Head Kitchen Lady through competition.
Soundtrack
Theme song
The theme song, Onara (Korean: 오나라) is in Old Korean. This produced arguments about the lyrics and how they should be interpreted. As a result, different interpretations surfaced. Eventually the songwriter, Im Se-hyeon, revealed the lyrics.
The song is in the pansori style, a particular type of Korean music that emerged during the Joseon period and was very popular in the 19th century. It utilizes the vocals of one singer, a sorikkun, and one drummer, a gosu, to tell a themed story. The refrain ("He-iya di-iya he-iya naranino") is called chu-imsae and, in traditional pansori, it is supplied by the drummer to give rhythm to the song in addition to the beat. Chuimsae consists of meaningless vowel sounds or short words of encouragement. Chuimsae is analogous to scat singing in jazz nonsense syllables such as "La, la, la," or "Shoop, shoop ba doop" in English-language popular songs.
The end of each episode of Jewel in the Palace features "Onara" sung by three Korean children, Kim Ji-hyeon (Korean: 김지현; Hanja: 金智賢), Baek Bo-hyeon (Korean: 백보현; Hanja: 白寶賢), Kim Seul-gi (Korean: 김슬기; Hanja: 金슬기), who were elementary students learning Korean classic music at the time. The Jewel in the Palace soundtrack album also features a slower version of the song sung by E Ahn (Korean: 이안; Hanja: 李安; her real name is Lee Dong-hee (Korean: 이동희; Hanja: 李冬熙)), a Korean traditional music singer who graduated from the Korean classical music department at Seoul National University.
"Onara" has several other versions that were used with Jewel in the Palace's release outside of Korea. "Hope" (希望 Hèimohng) was the version sung by Kelly Chen in Cantonese for the Hong Kong release. "Baby" (娃娃 Wáwá) was sung by Angela Chang in Mandarin Chinese for the Taiwan release. "Calling" (呼唤 Hūhuàn) sung by Tang Can, and "Hope" (希望 Xīwàng) sung by five winners of the Super Girl singing contest were among those used for the China release.
For the Philippine release, Faith Cuneta sang an entirely different song (in contrast with her earlier work for the Philippine broadcast of "Winter Sonata"), titled "Pangarap na Bituin" (a remake of the original sung by the singer's 2nd-degree aunt Sharon Cuneta as the theme song for her 1984 film "Bukas Luluhod Ang Mga Tala"). The Shamrock song "Alipin" is also used and Regine Velasquez also sings a version of this during the first re-run.
Original soundtrack
고원 (高原)
창룡 (蒼龍)
하망연 (何茫然) Hamangyeon - feat. Safina
오나라 II
0815 (空八一五)
연밥
덕구
Hamangyeon feat. Safina
APNA
다솜
비 (悲)
단가 (短歌)
연도 (烟濤)
오나라 I
The Legend Becomes History
자야오가 (子夜吳歌) Techno Ver.
하망연 (何茫然) Hamangyeon-Instrumental
Awards
2003 MBC Drama Awards
Grand Prize/Daesang - Lee Young-ae
Top Excellence Award, Actress - Lee Young-ae
Special Acting Award - Yang Mi-kyung
Special Acting Award - Lim Hyun-sik
Best Screenplay - Kim Young-hyun
2004 Baeksang Arts Awards
Best Director (TV) - Lee Byung-hoon
Most Popular Actress (TV) - Yang Mi-kyung
Cultural impact
Jewel in the Palace was part of the Korean Wave in East Asia, where it gained immense popularity had a significant cultural impact.
Tourism
The Korea Tourism Organization promoted Jewel in the Palace-oriented tourism in East Asia and the United States and the main outdoor sets built by MBC for the shooting of the drama were purchased by the South Korean government. The Dae Jang Geum Theme Park was opened in Yongin, Gyeonggi Province in December 2004 at the site of these sets where much of the filming occurred.
Korean cuisine
Jewel in the Palace rekindled public interest in traditional Korean cuisine, both locally and abroad.
References in other shows
In an episode of King of the Hill, Kahn and Minh were watching Jewel in the Palace (which is dubbed in Laotian).
In episode 1 of Princess Hours, Chae-gyeong's family is watching episode 30 of Jewel in the Palace (Yeon-saeng being scolded for playing with the King's puppy).
In episode 32 of Love Truly, Yeo Bong-soon's mother (played by Geum Bo-ra) is watching Jewel in the Palace. Geum Bo-ra played Jang-geum's adoptive mother Na Joo-daek in Dae Jang-geum.
In episode 9 of Who Are You, there is a large Jewel in the Palace poster on the side of a building.
In episode 2 of Silence, a Taiwanese drama starring Park Eun-hye, Jewel in the Palace is mentioned as a famous Korean drama.
In episode 8 of Playful Kiss, Jewel in the Palace is mentioned despite the bad cooking skills of the main character.
In the final episode of the 2007 series, Yi San, a character played by Lee Ip-sae and her colleague have a moment of deja vu in the royal kitchen and come to believe that they worked there in their previous life. The same series takes place two centuries later in the Joseon Dynasty after Jewel in the Palace. Lee Ip-sae also starred in Jewel in the Palace and the other series is also produced by the same company and director.
In season 2, episode 9 of Learn Way, Im Ho reprised his role as King Jungjong to teach Mijoo about acting in historical dramas.
Musical theatre
In 2007, Jewel in the Palace was made into a stage musical titled "The Great Janggeum," staged at the Seoul Arts Center from May 26 to June 16. Following the same storyline, it condensed 54 episodes of the original TV drama into a two-and-a-half-hour-long musical which combined Western orchestral music with traditional Korean group dances. An eye-catching 400 different traditional Korean costumes enhanced the beauty and scale of the stage, coupled with beautifully detailed stage settings. Producer Han Jin-sup said the musical used music to substitute for visual effects, "rhythm and melodies that replace the enjoyment of watching beautiful sets of Korean food and also have lots of Korean colors and styles to amaze audiences". For example, when girls in the royal kitchen made dumplings to win the cooking competition, "plate dances" expressed the enthusiasm of the girls and the variety of dumplings. A total of 40 songs for the musical were arranged and written by Cho Sung-woo, a famous film composer. This was the first time that Cho had written vocal and background music for a musical, saying, "This is a great opportunity and an honor for musicians like me to have a chance to write songs for musical productions. I tried to make songs that have both the Korean and Western melodies." Asked about how to deliver a storyline that requires some knowledge of Korean history to foreign audiences, co-chairman of PMC Production Song Seung-hwan cited the familiarity of most Asian viewers with the drama's plot and said the musical will highlight "love," as a universal theme in the musical.
The musical was again staged at Sungjeon Hall in Gyeonghuigung on September 5–30, 2008. Hosted by the Seoul Foundation for Arts and Culture and the government of Seoul, it was the foundation's idea to put the ancient palaces to added use beyond mere preservation and protection for viewing. Gyeonghuigung was one of the Five Grand Palaces built in the Joseon period); about ten kings of the era stayed at the palace from King Injo to King Cheoljong. In the latter Joseon period, the palace served as a secondary palace ― a place where the king moves in times of emergency, as it was situated on the west side of Seoul. The palace was built incorporating the slanted geography of the surrounding mountain and boasts traditional beauty along with architecture rich with historical significance. The upgraded version of the musical highlighted the musical elements to better portray each character based on the more historical facts, reinterpreting the work through a new theme rather than the episodes. Keeping the colors, patterns, touches of the structures intact, the production used the natural backgrounds, traditional atmosphere and the outdoor characteristics. Audiences were surprised by the unconventional modern setting. While the story revolved around an historic palace from the Joseon period, the musical incorporated hip hop, fast tempos and a dynamic staging. The actors even broke into rap, creating an imaginative, gutsy and intense show.
Spin-off
The animated rendition of Jewel in the Palace, called Jang Geum's Dream is much the same story but focuses on Jang-geum in her younger years.
Sequel
In September 2012, MBC announced its plans to produce a sequel, Dae Jang Geum 2. In his opening speech at a cultural contents forum in Seoul in October 2013, MBC president Kim Jong-guk reaffirmed the project, saying, "We'll push for the production in the first half of 2015 after a year of pre-production."
In March 2014, writer Kim Young-hyun confirmed that the series would be aired in October 2014, and that lead actress Lee Young-ae who had previously turned down offers of a sequel since her semi-retirement from acting in 2006, is "positively considering" reprising her role. In Kim's synopsis, Jang-geum will reportedly lose her husband and her daughter will be kidnapped and taken to China, leaving Jang-geum to try to find her. The first half of the series will be about her journey to China, where the original series has a big following, and filming will take place there. But Jang-geum will return home without success, and resume her life by looking for a young successor to take under her tutelage. Jang-geum will choose to train the daughter of Geum-young, Jang-geum's rival from the first series.
International broadcast
In China, Hunan TV purchased the rights to Jewel in the Palace for US$10,000 per episode following the success of the program in South Korea and Taiwan. Ratings for the program peaked at 180 million viewers and generated unprecedented profits for the station.