Current mood:	pensive
Current music:	Murealism - Aural Vampire
Entry tags:	cultures, dramas, history, korean, manhwa

Whimsical tale of royalty and some naming controversy
Few evenings ago I went to a friend's house to pick up books she borrowed from me recently. The family members were watching the DVD version of 궁 (Gung, The Palace / Princess Hours), the highly popular Korean fantasy series about a modern Korea that's still under dynastic rule. It is about the lives, loves and rivalries of young royalty and friends. A fairy tale of what if Japan did not invade Korea and the latter had maintained its empire until today?

The drama is a beautiful rendition of the original manhwa of the same name by manhwaga Park So Hee. By the way, the manhwa is licensed for English translation now, so no more scanlations to be found on the Net. I would share my scanlations, but I think people should buy the licensed translated comics to support this wonderful series of artwork!


Park So Hee, the brilliant artist behind the story.

The DVD they were watching was a Mandarin-dubbed, Mandarin-subbed pirated copy.

As I sat there waiting for my friend to get my stuff, I kept hearing Korea being referred to as "Da Han Min Guo" in the dubbed drama. Being anal like I usually am, naturally I got rather irked. Based on the hypothetical storyline, that term is actually politically incorrect.

IF the Imperial Household (House of Yi) still rules today, it means that Choseon Dynasty still exists. If Choseon Dynasty still exists, it means that there is NO "Da Han Min Guo" (Dae Han Minguk). Bearing in mind, Dae Han Minguk literally means "Great Han People’s Nation", in other words, Republic of Korea.

Korea was made a republic after liberation from the Japanese and that put an end to monarchy ruling as well as the influence of the Choseon Dynasty. The Imperial Household members were banned from entering the newly founded republic, in the attempt to prevent them from rebuilding their power.

THEREFORE, Korea in the drama should have been properly known as Choseon (or, Corea, to stir the nationalistic pot), and not its real-life modern-day name of Hanguk or Dae Han Minguk. Because NO WAY could it be ruled by a monarchy as well be a republic at the same time. The republic that it is today would not have existed if based on Gung's storyline.

Choseon Dynasty in the drama was a thriving monarchy, with a very much alive Crown Prince Yi Shin (acted by Ju Ji-hun) and Prince Yi Yul (played by uber hottie singer-turned-actor Kim Jung-hun). Of course, facts tell us that the royal bloodline was much threatened during the Japanese occupation, with the arranged marriage between the then-Crown Prince Yi Eun and a supposedly barren Japanese princess.

Gung is really a wonderful but also somewhat poignant tale of "what-ifs", really. Some would say it's a gentler form of nationalism. Not to mention, plentiful bishounen eye candy, especially Prince Yul! ♥


Partial cast (left to right): Song Ji-hyo (as Hyorin), Kim Jung-hun (as Prince Yul), Kim Hye Ja (as the Empress Dowager or Royal Grandmama), Yoon Eun-hye (as Chae-kyung) and Ju Ji-hun (as Prince Shin).

I remember that in the original Korean version of the drama, "Choseon" was used quite as frequently as "Hanguk", which means it was almost accurate to historical details, but with occasional bloopers. I guess in the dubbed version, "Cao Xian" is used with limitation, as in modern reality it is the name used for North Korea among Chinese communities around the world. People watching Gung in other parts of Asia might confuse Choseon Dynasty with that communist state instead. They might forget it's a fantasy about a Korea that was never invaded by a foreign power or split by ideological war.

Furthermore, I can't recall if it was only in the drama series that they use Hanguk for Korea, or was the mistake already in the original manhwa. I've seen the Korean manhwa in the collection of a good pal few years ago, but being the Korean-illiterate I was back then, I didn't bother to read them. Would love to get my hands on them now, though, as well as getting the licensed English and Japanese (up to volume 3 or 4 now, I think) translations.

As I said, Gung really sets one thinking whimsically about long-gone stuff concerning the Korean empire. What if Korea did not lost its sovereignty to Japan? What if after liberation, Choseon Dynasty was revived? What if the first president of the republic, Rhee Syngman, was a weak politician and had allowed the Yi Imperial Household to re-enter Korea? What if the remaining Yi family members were strong enough to wrestle back their dynastic power instead of living in disgrace and in exile?

Who knows, maybe Korea would still be a whole nation without the South and North divide and maybe we would have real-life high-profile Crown Prince Shin and Prince Yul to drool over. Kinda like Korea's very own Princes William and Harry, you know.



The last Choseon Crown Prince and grandson of King Gojong (1852-1919), Yi Gu, passed away exactly a year ago at age 74. He died without an heir. Now, the only high-profile Yi family members left are 65-years-old Yi Seok, entertainer-turned-history professor and 44-years-old Yi Won, the General Manager of Hyundai Home Shopping (and current designated Head of the Imperial Household). No bishounens for sure.

And the former royal ruling family sinks into obscurity. Sad, ne..