This was my first historical drama and was a great introduction to ancient Korean traditions. If you are interested in seeing a glimpse into the life in ancient Korea this would be a great place to start.
Technically it’s based of off a real story, but that real story is not very much. Apparently there really was someone named Jang Geum who received gifts from the king and was his doctor. Those are really the only facts this story was based on (or so I hear). They took a lot of creative liberty in forming the rest of the story, which is very well developed.
This is a story about love and revenge that spans generations. Jang Geum is a very smart child who has to fight through the bureaucracy in becoming a palace cook and eventually the doctor to the King in a time when women were heavily discriminated against. Add in a forbidden love story, hidden pasts, foretold futures, and deceit and you have one of the best Korean dramas ever. Out of all of the dramas I have seen, I was able to feel more of a connection with the characters. I really identified with Jang Geum and REALLY hated the villains.
Be forewarned that historical Korean dramas are very long (though it’s totally worth it). Dae Jang Geum weighs in at about 70 one-hour long episodes so plan on watching it for a long time (it took me like half a year).
Culture Notes
Food
You get to see a lot of interesting foods that are presented to the king. Just about every episode involves making delicious food.
Medicine
Herbal remedies and acupuncture were the methods used to cure just about anything. Surgery was not allowed on humans (but was apparently for animals).
Royalty
There was an impressive palace system with a very distinct hierarchical system. The king even had many concubines.
Buddhism and Confucianism
You can see Confucianism in the way the people act just about everywhere. It seems like it was much more strictly followed than in even China. There are also some Buddhist rituals I hadn’t seen before which I won’t go into since it might give away some things.
Confucianism led to a strong blood tie between what you can do.
Men and Women
At this time women were still a very back part of society. They weren’t allowed to go to school or do certain jobs.
Japan
I don’t know exactly what the extent of the fights were, but there were some Japanese pirates or soldiers who attach Jeju Island. There isn’t very much, but it is interesting to see that Korea and Japan have a long history of contention.
u sure korea was at war with around this time? 1600s? 1400s?
the only war that i can think of is the imjin war (1592-1598) & that was really devastating. all the palaces were burned down –> no daejanggeum story
couldn’t they have been pirate attacks, rather?
@박준범
It could have been pirate attacks, I just remember Japan invading 제주도 in the series. I’ll change the wording since I don’t really, thanks for the tip.
Some clarification that others might find helpful:
The series is 54 episodes long, each episode about one hour in length. As for the Japanese invaders, they looked more like an expeditionary force in the show, as opposed to an all-out war outfit (not pirates, since they included samurai). I don’t think Korea was at war with Japan at the time, but it sounds like skirmishes were common, as various people in the show comment about beefing up the military to counter Japanese invaders. The show isn’t clear on the nature of the invasions, but we’re talking mid-1500s Korea, so maybe someone who has studied this subject can shed some light on these invasions.