Category Archives: 퓨전 사극 (fusion sageuk)

詩 經 Shi Jing – The Book of Odes

The oldest collection of Chinese poetry, more than three hundred songs, odes and hymns. Tr. Legge (en) and Granet (fr, incomplete).IIIIIIIV Section I — 國風 Lessons from the statesChapter 3 — 邶風 The odes of Bei Shijing I. 3. (41) 其虛其邪既亟只且 惠而好我攜手同車 莫赤匪狐莫黑匪烏 其虛其邪既亟只且 惠而好我攜手同歸 北風其喈雨雪其霏 其虛其邪既亟只且 惠而好我攜手同行 北風其涼雨雪其雱 北風 Cold blows the north wind ;Thick falls the snow.Ye who love and regard me,Let us join hands and go together.Is it a time for delay ?The urgency is … Continue reading

Posted in KDrama, literature, philosophy, Poetry, rhetoric, romance sageuk, song, 사극 (Sageuk) | Tagged , , | What do you think?

王維 Wang Wei (701-761) 終南別業 (Zhongnan Mountain Retreat)

中岁颇好道,晚家南山陲。 兴来每独往,胜事空自知。 行到水穷处,坐看云起时。 偶然值林叟,谈笑无还期。 WANG WEI (699-761) “Zhongnan Mountain Retreat” “Zhongnan Mountain Retreat,” by Wang Wei In my middle years I came to much love the Way and late made my home by South Mountain’s edge. When the mood comes upon me, I go off alone, and have glorious moments all to myself. I walk to the point where a stream ends, and sitting, watch when the clouds rise. By chance I … Continue reading

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성균관 스캔들 – ’tis not poetry

Without love for the people and concerns for the nation, ’tis not poetry. Without aching for our era and outrage at the world, ’tis not poetry. Without striving for good and guarding against evil, this too, is not poetry. attr. Jeong Yak Yong (Sungkyunkwan Scandal)

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선덕여왕 (The Great Queen Seon Deok)

“Chess” may be the word best suited to conveying the drama of open-faced intrigue and gamesmanship that is 선덕여왕 (The Great Queen Seon Deok). The war between Princess Deokman (the future Queen Seon Deok) and the formidable Mi Shil for control of Silla is the stuff of epic. And perhaps because our contenders are both women, heroic prowess is here not framed in terms of brute force and naked aggression, but rather through strategic craft … Continue reading

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Notes on 자명고 (Ja Myung Go)

There is so much to say about Ja Myung Go, the first of which must be that it is beautifully complex… and also rather narratively intricate at the beginning. The complexity is wonderful: it is in the characters, in the political intrigue, in the lost history of Naklang, in the legend of Prince Hodong’s tragic love(s). But the initial narrative intricacy can be disorienting, especially since the significance of what happens in the … Continue reading

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Series or Feature Film? Hwang Jin Yi and Shin Yun Bok, a Case Study.

who tells the better story? – who tells the story better? It’s one thing to watch two kdrama adaptations of the same story, like MBC’s  The Return of Iljimae and SBS’s  Iljimae. It’s quite another to have at your disposal feature film interpretations of stories already elaborated in full length dramas as happens with two artistic geniuses of the Joseon era whose lives are dramatized in the television series Hwang Jin Yi and Painter of … Continue reading

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Notes on 돌아온 일지매 (The Return of Iljimae)

Chapters 1-2 Okay… the first adjectives that come to mind during episode 1 and most of 2: “weird” and then “bizarre” and then “camp.” I barely made it past the first (structurally very rocky and disjointed, hyper-didactic, excessively-yet-not-quite-adequately-expositional) episode… Were it not for the fact that I have committed to following this drama through, especially since I enjoyed SBS’s Iljimae so much, I would have had a very difficult time moving on to episode … Continue reading

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일지매 (Iljimae) – birth of a hero…

Just finished watching Iljimae and I thoroughly enjoyed it. I went in expecting little more than a two-dimensional comic book hero in a campy fusion sageuk. Instead I got a light-hearted yet touching folk-hero novel that is amusing and moving — with plenty a wink and a nod yet full of pathos as well. And tropes, tropes and more tropes… yet sooo much fun to watch as the story of Lee Joon Gi’s Iljimae … Continue reading

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