Drama Queen

Hello guysJ. So Empress Ki aka Suriya Diyani ends in about a week’s time according to reports and it would show the end of the Yuan Dynasty. Of course Ming dynasty starts and Ki leaves the palace but her son becomes the next Emperor of Mongolia. I have to say that I was not impressed with this drama as it just destroyed the real historical facts. Trust me Ta Hwan was a great Emperor and if I am not wrong he was educated and was a Buddhist student. Also Wang Yu in real life was a Goryeo King who kidnapped and raped young women and was quite a nuisance to Yuan.  Even the good “Empress Ki” is all false. In reality she was corrupt and was one of the most hated rulers in both Yuan and Goryeo and she and her son exiled TalTal (yep in reality at the end of the Yuan dynasty and after Bayan’s death Ki and TalTal were enemies).  It is said that is Empress Ki who caused the Yuan dynasty to fall but Ta Hwan yet loved her.

Okay the new drama is a Chinese drama called a Weaver on the Horizon (天涯织女). It consists of 36 episodes each of which are 45 minutes. It is very feminist and talks of Haung Dao Po who was a woman who revolutionized the Chinese cloth industry. This story I have to say has everything you want from a drama. There is love, unrequited love, betrayal, war, cuteness, handsome men, Palace politics and beautiful women. All this time Rupavahini showed Sageuk dramas (Korean Historical dramas) but finally now they are showing Wuxia (Historical fictionalized Chinese dramas). 

Technically Wuxia is very similar to Sageuk but this time it’s about Chinese historical figures and not Korean. So we would not quite see a difference in the two except the clothing. Anyway I have to say that it’s good that Rupavahini is showing a drama of a different origin than Korean because I am quite sick of the Sageuk dramas Rupavahini showed this year. Either they should show KDramas which are modern or take dramas from other KDrama channels other than MBC because we need a bit of a change when it comes to drama themes.

.............................Beware Spoilers ahead J J J J J ...................

This new drama is about Huang who is talented in textile art. She is a poor orphan and is raised by her aunt. She is so talented at textile art that she even gets a chance to work in the Palace. This separates her from her best bud Fang Ning (He is soo cuteJ) who without her knowing is deeply in love with her. At the Palace she meets Princess Zhao Jiayi who is fun loving and a bit snobbish. This young Princess is helplessly in love with young and extremely cute General Lin. Of course this love is unrequited and Lin starts to fall head over heels in love with Huang. Huang too falls in love with Lin but this makes the Princess really angry and her friendship with Huang is over.

During this time the Mongolians rebelling against the Song dynasty (this is Ta Hwang’s great grandfather trying to establish the Yuan dynasty). This causes General Lin to go to war and a rumour starts to spread that the Song army has been defeated and General Lin is dead. At the same time Huang is harassed by Palace guards and is saved by Fang Ning who in the process cripples himself. Feeling sorry for Fang Ning and heartbroken because of Lin’s death Huang decides to marry Fang Ning.

Her story starts from here. She is abused by an alcoholic husband (Fang Ning), the love of her life returns from war to find her married and the whole Song Dynasty collapses. The Yuan Dynasty starts and Lin finds himself falling in love with the Princess after she comes to him seeking protection. Haung meanwhile still loves Lin but focuses on textiles. Realizing her dream is to revolutionize the textile industry she blesses General Lin and Princess Zhao who elope and get married. The Moguls take over the Song dynasty and thus begins the Yuan dynasty. 

I have to say that this is a very beautiful story but beware - it could get boring at times and quite annoying. However after how annoying Empress Ki was I could endure anything.  So I hope you enjoyed this post and I hope you enjoy this drama. It would most probably start off on the 4^th of July (I am not 100% sure though) on Rupavahini. Keep tuned in to Drama Queen as I would be putting up 2 introductory posts on 2 new foreign dramas which are about to enter Sri Lankan shores. J J J J J

So the horrible Canadian drama shown on Rupavahini in the popular 6.30 pm time slot finished off a few days back. I was just anxiously waiting for it to finish off as it was so very boring. Anyhow the new drama shown on Rupavahini is Empress Ki which was shown on MBC Korea. It consists of 51 episodes and has quite an engaging storyline. If it is 51 episodes in Korea and so it will add up to about 120 Sri Lankan episodes. The story itself is based on Empress Gi of Yuan who was married to Emperor Toghon Temur.

 Something which is quite strange is that Rupavahini is showing two dramas about strong women one after another instead of the normal strong woman- strong man sequence. If you guys can remember it all started off with Sujatha Diyani and then the sequence was strong female character to strong male character. Anyhow be assured that the next drama after Empress Ki will be headed by a strong young man in the lead role.

Anyhow let’s take a quick look at the background information of this drama and whether it is worth your timeJ .

Empress Ki aka Suriya Diyani is mostly about the Yuan Dynasty of China. At this time China was primarily governed by Mongolians. So the cute Prince (Ta Hwan) in the drama who would end up being the next Emperor is a Mongolian Prince. The story itself is based on a young woman who is taken away to Yuwan as a slave but ends up being the Empress and later the future Emperor’s mother of Yuan. The main character of this drama is Ki who is a daughter of a General of Goryeo. Her mother runs away from General Ki and is later sent away as a female slave to Yuan. Anyhow on the way there the mother dies while the daughter finds refuge in Prince Wang Go’s (the bad prince) care. She grows up as a girl behind the disguise of a boy. Fortunately our little “to be Empress” finds a special friend in Prince Wang Yoo the Crown Prince and later the King of Goryeo. With time the Ki is able to work under her father as soldier and this is where Ki first meets Crown Prince Ta Hwan of Yuan.

The story itself takes a bittersweet take when Ki or then Seung-nyang falls in love with King Wang Yoo. Their relationship is so sweet to watch and it’s sad that we know that it is heading nowhere. I have to say the actor Jo jin-mo is so cute in the role and I just love him (second lead syndrome hereL ). The thing is that half way through our dear Ki is forced to choose Ta Hwan over Wang Yoo and this choice pretty much kills the souls of the two lovers.

However this is not without hope. Ki later becomes the Empress of Yuan and slowly finds herself drawn to Ta Hwan the Emperor. The love story that blooms between them is one of sacrifice and honour. Ta Hwan is of course facing a lot of rivalry to the throne in the same way Wang Yoo did. Anyhow in this case those very much close to Ta Hwan poisons him and this slowly kills the Emperor. Ki is of course torn between her love for her son and husband as she has to make hard choices.

I love the fact that until the end Ki is a very strong woman. She did have her moments of falling apart and losing control but all this just strengthened her. Her love for her adopted country and her love for Ta Hwan drove her to make hard choices while remaining a strong leader like figure. Unlike in the case of Silla’s Seondeok (Janahithakami Rajiniya) Ki never actually became Queen but yet she was a strong woman. I hope that you too would be inspired by this strong woman’s story and you can watch this drama every weekday (except poya days) at 6.30pm on Rupavahini. Enjoy the Yuan Dynasty J J J J J .

             

In Bidam we come across a Silla era tragic hero. He is the hero of the story to some extent but due to one single mistake on his part his whole life turns around. The fault wasn’t one he makes but was something that was in him and that was his love for Deokman. His love for Deokman makes him do things which were not quite right.

When we first come across Bidam he is a playful, arrogant, hot tempered chicken lover. He was everything that Yushin was not. He had no such responsibilities, cared nothing and had a cunning mind. His playfulness and hilarious jokes usually made our day. I mean he was one of the main Hawarangs with a sense of humor.  To add to this I loved his bad boy style. He never bent down before anyone or anything. He made his own decisions and killed anyone he wanted. He had no sense of responsibility at the beginning and was pretty much never serious. He is someone who will be digging his nose in the most crucial battle but end up becoming the hero.  Since he had no such thing as obligations there was an air of calmness around him and when he comes on screen you kind of feel that the worst was over.

 

He is sooo cute :) Bidam's the best.

This calmness I am talking about is not the kind Yushin has but something less serious and less showing. I also loved the fact that he had this chumminess with everyone around him even when it came to Deokman. His endless happiness and boyishness made us feel happy and fall in love with him. Yet in the end Bidam was nothing more than a tragic hero.

It seems as if his kick ass style that actually made all the audiences love him. Kim Nam Gil’s extremely flexible face when it came to funny but sexy expressions made us love Bidam more and I am sure Deokman loved him for that too. However at times I was afraid of him because of the way his mind goes along with that of Mishil’s. The moment he starts to think like her his whole personality changes and he becomes a part of Mishil. At times I feel that it was a son like Bidam whom Mishil always wanted behind her. If Bidam was on Mishil’s side then she would have become the Queen. Anyhow it is Mishil and her connections which destroy Bidam. Her cronies cause a misunderstanding between Bidam and Deokman which drifts them apart. At the end of it we see the two lovers waging war against each other and each making very hard decisions.

When Deokman and Bidam wage war against each other Bidam still loves Deokman. He never stops loving her, he loved her till his very last breathe and Deokman knows this. His wages war against Deokman not because he is angry with her but because he wanted her next to him. He thought that by being the King of Silla he would be able to let Deokman have her freedom and be with him. Anyhow things do not go according to plan His last words whispered into Alcheon’s ear are D-e-o-k-m-a-n, D-e-o-k-m-a-n, and D-e-o-k-m-a-n. 

 In the end the fact they were sons and daughters of the wrong people destroyed their relationship. Deokman knows that Bidam loves her and because of Bidam’s death she too dies of that grief. In the end Bidam becomes the tragic hero but I have to say that the way he died and what he did all the while just won my heart over. His commitment, his love, his loyalty and his playfulness was just too much to forget. Kim Nam Gil is at the end of the day one of the best actors I have seen in the KDrama world.  His has done justice to Bidam’s character and for that and his sexy looks J I have to say hats off to him J J J J J J

Destined to be together, yet destiny pulls them apart.

Bidam and Deokman was pretty much the “it couple” through out Queen Seondeok/ Janahithakami Rajiniya. Of course there was the occasional “Yushin – Deokman” fever and half the time we hated the fact that Bidam came in between them in the first place. However Deokman and Yushin both gave each other up for the benefit of the nation. If their marriage was to be then Deokman would never have been able to be Queen. On the other hand Yushin would obviously been stuck between his loyalty to the people of Kaya and his citizens of Silla if he became the new King. So everyone could agree that both of them gave up their love for the love of their nation.

Bidam when it comes to this drama is a young, playful hooligan. However in reality Bidam was an elderly nobleman for Silla who was a misogynist. If records are right he was a famed martial artist and was very much against Queen Seondeok and thus waged war against her. Anyhow in Janahithakami Rajiniya is a young man who is only a few years older than Deokman herself.  He is everything Yushin is not and sometimes his thinking is dangerously like his mother Mishil’s. Maybe his is what attracted him to Deokman. He was this bad boy general who was always informal even with the Queen/Princess. I mean even I am attracted to his hot temper, arrogance and playfulness but mind you it is a dangerous combination.

Deokman is a woman with an aim and ability. Her responsibility is her country and her people but yet in Bidam she finds a lover, a companion and a trusted friend. This is not to mention how good these two look together. They were of course destined to be together. Others would even point out they were made for each other. As pointed out by General Mun Noh the initial plan was to marry both these two together and make them King and Queen. Anyhow as always plans don’t go as they are supposed to.

Bidam’s love and support however makes Deokman a stronger woman. Bidam’s ability to read others and his extremely sharp martial art skills do help Silla a lot. This of course lead him o be named the Prime Minister and this meant more time with the Queen. If things went well of course Queen Seondeok would have given up the throne in due time and got married to Bidam. However destiny intervenes. They are destined to be together but it is this same destiny which pulls them apart.

A few misunderstandings caused by Mishil’s followers caused Bidam to misinterpret that the Queen wants him dead. He under this false knowledge wages war against Deokman. This is not because he hates Deokman but because he loves her. He wanted to take over Silla and become King then he would make Deokman his Queen and he believed things would become better. Only later does he know that it was all a misunderstanding but by then it is too late to turn back. He comes before the Queen and right before her he is killed by Alcheon and Yushin. His parting words being “D-e-o-k-m-a-n” whispered into Alcheon’s ear.  Hearing this Deokman too dies out of grief and their love story ends.

What separated Deokman and Bidam was their destinies. It was who they were and where they came from that divided them up. If Bidam was never Mishil’s son but the son of a nobleman or if Deokman was never a princess then they would have ended up together forever.  If Mun Noh’s plan was carried out by Sowha then of course Deokman and Bidam would have been together but destiny had other things for them and they had to sacrifice themselves for it. At the end of the day this is one of the most tragic love stories I have seen in a Historical KDrama and I still feel sad when I watch these two even now, even after 5 years after first watching it. So guys get some buckets because I assure you, all of you are going to cry buckets and buckets after Janahithakami Rajiniya ends. J J J J J J

A matriarchy is a system within which the women hold the positions of power as oppose to a patriarchy where men hold positions of power. Within a matriarchy women are higher up in the social hierarchy than men and hold important positions within the country. This method is commonly seen among elephants where the older female leads and provides security for the herd. So simply speaking, it is the exact opposite of   our current system which is patriarchal.

Queen Seondeok aka Janahithakami Rajiniya a Korean Drama shown on MBC and presently airing on Sri Lanka Rupavahini is a perfect example of a matriarchy. In Janahithakami Rajiniya the country of Silla is solely run by women at one stage of its history (Note that Silla is one of the kingdoms of Korea before all three kingdoms united to be Joseon). In Janahithakami Rajiniya the nation is run by a Queen. Of Course she has men to guard and support her on some issues but other than that she has all the power to do what ever she wants. Moreover Queen Seondeok is trained as an army personal or a Nangdo and was part of the Hawarangs (the elite army of Silla). So she was a martial artist and was very capable of defending herself.

At one point Seondeok’s father, the King asks her to get married so that he could give his throne to her husband. Seondeok refuses this and claims that she will take the throne as Queen Seondeok.  Of course this is a decision which is opposed by all the nobles but at the end of the day Bidam, Kim Yushin and Kim Alcheon join together to make Seondeok the Queen. So this is a very feminist story as women are being empowered.

Yes and now we come to the villain. Most dramas would choose a man as the main villain however in Janahithakami Rajiniya the main villainous is Mishil. Mishil is a Hawarang and is the beholder of the seal. She has so much power that King Jinji and later King Jinpyeong (Seondeok’s father) were under her control. Not only this, she had many lovers and she used them for political gain. While she remained as a concubine to the King’s she had relationships with Sejong and Seolwon. Both these men were of high positions in Silla. Sejong was the Prime Minister and the 6^th leader of the Hawarang warriors and he was her husband.   Seolwon is Mishil’s lover; he is the Defense Minister and the 7^th leader of the Hawarang. Mishil had children with both these men and they were also Hawarang leaders or commanders. So through this she was able to gain power.

Something to note is that even though Mishil gave birth to these children she never looked after them. Their fathers were the ones who looked after and raised the children. I personally think this is very feminist and the equality of the genders is nice to watch. Even though Mishil is a villainous she is a character to admire. She being a woman never gave up, she never thought otherwise and she had so much power as a woman. She was never controlled by men; rather she controlled all the men.

Even Queen Seondeok never fell before a man; she never once thought that she will never survive without a man.  She even gave up her love for Bidam for her country. She gave up on him when he started a war to dethrone her because a woman was not fit to control Silla. Of course there was a huge misunderstanding but yet this shows how strong Seondeok /Deokman was as a women. Silla therefore is a prime example of a matriarchy and a very inspirational one.