Hwajung 화정(2015): Basic History you
need to know to enjoy this #Kdrama
#ChaSeungWon #LeeYeonHee #KimJaeWon #Hwajung #화정 #Saguk #사극 #광해군
Hello. This is Prof. AkIA.
This is my lecture about the Historical background in which the new 50 series
Korean drama Hwajung (2015) is placed in.
The show!
“Hwajung” (2015) is a 50 episode
Korean Historical drama set during the 17th century Joseon Dynasty.
The literal meaning of the title “Hwajung” can be translated into “Glamorous
Politics” in which the adjective is used sarcastically. You can just think of it in
the same vein of “Game of thrones”.
It is a story about cutthroat court politics.
The
leads of the show are Cha Seung-Won 차승원 who is returning to TV after last year’s “You're All Surrounded” , Lee
Yeon-Hee 이연희 who is returning after some lack luster projects including 2013’s TV
show “Miss Korea” and the movie “Detective K: Secret of the Lost Island”,
and Kim Jae-Won of 2013’s TV show “Scandal:
A Shocking and Wrongful Incident”.
 |
| Cha Seung-Won 차승원 |
 |
| Lee Yeon-Hee 이연희 |
The
show is set during the reign of Prince Gwanghae who is one of the only 2 Joseon Kings who got dethroned.
Abdication is the separate thing.
Recent
TV shows such as “The King’s face” (2015),
“Gu Am Heo Joon” (2013), “The Jingbirok: A Memoir of Imjin War”
and the movie “Masquerade” (2012) was set around this period. In “Hwajung” (2015), “Prince Gwanghae” is
played by Cha Seung-Won. Considering
the actor, “Prince Gwanghae” will more or less be portrayed in a negative
light.
Cha
Seung-Won does not do straight out noble or nice!
*Jung Yi, The Goddess of Fire (2013) also starred Prince Gwanghae
 |
| “The Jingbirok: A Memoir of Imjin War” |
 |
| “Gu Am Heo Joon” (2013) |
 |
| “The King’s face” (2015) |
 |
| Jung Yi, The Goddess of Fire (2013) |
 |
| “Masquerade” (2012) |
Prince
Gwanghae & his Rise
Compared
to more traditionally popular stories of Joseon royal politics, the figure of “Prince
Gwanghae”
has not been well discussed in popular media until pretty recently. Even among
the 2 dethroned kings, “Prince Yeonsan”, other one, had gotten
more press because he was seen as the Joseon “Nero”.
Excess makes for great stories!
 |
| “Prince Gwanghae” is played by Cha Seung-Won |
In
the case of “Prince Gwanghae”, his tale was far less flashy although, in some
ways, is far more interesting. In the last 2 decades or so, the reputation of “Prince Gwanghae” has
been rehabilitated
considerably as one of the historical “What if” scenarios. His reign is seen as
the pivotal crossroads between early Joseon period and the decline of the late Joseon
period.
What if “Prince Gwanghae” remained king, would Joseon not have decline?
“Prince
Gwanghae” was born as the second son of King Seonjo who is viewed as one of the
more pathetic and
incompetent Kings of the Joseon Dynasty.
You may catch him portrayed to the absurd in “The Jingbirok: A Memoir of Imjin
War” (2015) as the petty king that let the Korean-Japan war happen. I
would say that he is the King John of Joseon.
You know the King from Robin Hood Fame!
“Prince
Gwanghae” had many things against him in regards to becoming
a King. Not only was he not the eldest son, but him and his older brother were
born of a royal concubine. In other words, he was a bastard in the eyes of the ruling
class of Joseon. Ironically enough, the Korean-Japan war was
somewhat of the blessing for Prince Gwanghae as he was named “heir apparent” in
the crisis over his brother who had a poor reputation.
 |
| Father and Son |
However,
things were not smooth sailing for Prince Gwanghae even after this. During the war, he garnered much
praise for his part in the war as the head of a front line government. However,
this created a rivalry between him and his “petty” father. After the war, his father
constantly undermined his position and threatened to name a new heir apparent.
 |
| “Princess Jeongmyeong” played by Lee Yeon-Hee |
This
is where “Princess Jeongmyeong”
played by Lee Yeon-Hee comes into
play. After the war, the king married a 19 year old and made her the official queen.
This meant that Prince Gwanghae had a step mother who
was 9 years younger than him. Among the many reasons for this marriage, one of
the more obvious ones to everyone was that his father was trying to produce a
new heir to replace him via this young queen of prime breeding age. And when Prince
Gwanghae was 28 years old, “Princess Jeongmyeong” was born.
In
regards to the show, this creates some problems as the age difference between
the actors playing this role is only 18.
Since
this new child was a girl, it was not a political hit
to Prince Gwanghae.
However, 3 years later, the queen gave birth to a prince who would become a noose
around Prince Gwanghae’s neck.
In
Joseon, you were likely to lose your head if you cannot become king after being
named “Heir apparent”. To everyone, it was obvious who the King had in mind to
succeed him. However, he died a few years after he got his legitimate son to
the relief of Prince Gwanghae.
The fall of Prince Gwanghae
Prince Gwanghae became 15th king of Joseon in 1608 A.D.
and ruled for about 15 years. On one side, his policies during his reign can be
seen as being competent, progressive, and practical. This is one of the reasons
why he is being reevaluated positively in modern times. It is not easy to find competent
and practical Kings in the late Joseon period.
On
the other side, he was disliked by the ruling classes because
of both his policies and his lineage. And to a degree, this view was shared on
the part of Prince Gwanghae also. As
a result, he became more isolated and had to rely on a few members of his inner
circle. In addition, he kept on slowly purging out his enemies which eventually
included his half-brother who his father wanted to replace him.
In
this period, Princess Jeongmyeong also was exiled and later was falsely reported to
be dead. In 1623, Prince Gwanghae’s half-nephew with the support of the ruling classes initiated
a successful coup and removed Prince Gwanghae to become the 16thKing .
Princess Jeongmyeong returned from hiding at this point.
Prince Gwanghae
lived 19
more years in captivity after he was dethroned but all of his immediate family either
died or were killed earlier on. In the case of Princess Jeongmyeong, she lived the rest of her
life far from politics until 1685 A.D.
How to view Prince Gwanghae?
Objectively,
his reign can be viewed as a failure.
If
you want to view him in a positive light, Prince
Gwanghae can be seen as Roman Empire Hadrian who was competent but not
well liked. If you want to view him in less flattering light, Prince Gwanghae can be seen as Roman
Empire Domitian who was at the least
competent but was dethroned because of the distain of the ruling classes.
Basic competence as ruler
A poor relationship
with the ruling classes
These
are common element here!
Prince Gwanghae became King during a very bad
period in Joseon history and,
because of his lineage, was in a serious disadvantage
from the start. It did not help that, because of his experiences with the machinations
of the ruling classes, there was no love lost between him and the ruling classes. And this gap could never be bridged.
And
this is actually the reason he is being reevaluated from the ashes of history.
He represents a new way that Joseon could have taken apart from the trajectory
the ruling class had the dynasty on.
It
would be interesting to see how the show would portray all this.
As
a side note, considering that Princess Jeongmyeong was not that politically
active, I wonder how she will be portrayed.
This
was Prof. AKIA and this is the end of my lecture.
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