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bodashiri · 7 years

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The King in Love (2017) - History

Historical background to help understand The King in Love (2017 MBC)

Yes, I did write it as I promised a few days ago. (LOL)

First of all, this drama’s protagonist Wang Won (왕원 王謜) / King Chungseon (충선왕 忠宣王, 1275~1325), is the first ever half-blood prince/king in the history of Korea. His maternal grandfather is Kublai Khan, the famous Mongol emperor and the founder of Yuan Dynasty of China.

* Kublai Khan (played by Benedict Wong) from Netflix original drama Marco Polo. Venetian merchant traveler Marco Polo (1254~1324) served the Mongol emperor for many years. → Wikipedia Kublai Khan (1215~1294)

Then, I need to talk about why the Goryeo king got married with Kublai Khan's daughter in the first place. The story throws back to the Mongol invasion of Goryeo (1231~1259), about 40~50 years before this drama’s period.

After the death of Genghis Khan (1162-1227), his successors continued to conquer an immense territory and built the largest empire in the world. Like many other countries, Goryeo couldn't avoid their invasion. The Mongol’s Great Khans had frequently sent their troops to Goryeo for about 30 years but had failed to conquer it because of the strong resistance from Goryeo's common people. Despite Goryeo’s military regime, the puppet king, and incompetent nobles abandoned them and evacuated to the safer Gangwha island by themselves, the commoners desperately fought to the end against Mongols to save their own family. However, the long-time Mongol invasions devastated the whole country, and Goryeo's military regime was still on its way down due to chaotic internal strife.

* If you want to know about this chaotic period, go watch God of War 무신 武神 (2012 MBC historical drama). → Wikipedia

In 1259, King Gojong (고종 高宗, 1192-1259), the 23rd ruler of Goryeo Dynasty, made a secret decision to send his Crown prince to the Mongol emperor in order to negotiate a ceasefire agreement between the two countries, without notifying Goryeo's military regime. It was intended to end the war as well as to take back the royal authority from the military regime.

However, on the way to Karakorum (the capital city of Mongol empire), the Crown prince of Goryeo (Later known as King Wonjong 원종 元宗, 1219~1274) heard about the sudden death of Monke Khan (1209~1259) during the expedition to Southern Song Dynasty of China. He also got to know about an impending civil war over who should be the next Mongol emperor between Monke Khan's two younger brothers : Kublai and Arik Bukha.

Arik Bukha (1219~1266) had procedural legitimacy by claiming the throne in Karakorum first, but Kublai (1215~1294) had military advantages with powerful troops and abundant supplies. Which would be a sure bet? The Crown prince was in a muddled situation to choose between the two Khans with limited information. If he makes a bad choice, Goryeo will be over. He was bearing the destiny of the whole nation on his shoulders. After much consideration, he chose Kublai and started off on a transcontinental journey to meet him. It was a defining moment to change the history of Korea.

Kublai was so surprised and pleased that Goryeo's Crown Prince traveled all the way to meet him, even though Kublai was in a relatively disadvantageous position compared to his younger brother Arik Bukha. He considered it very auspicious, saying that even the previous Great Khans couldn't conquer Goryeo but now Goryeo’s Crown prince came to meet him voluntarily. The peace treaty with Goryeo would raise his authority and help him beat Arik Bukha when claiming the throne. That is how the truce between Goryeo and Mongols was concluded in 30 years after the war broke out.

Kublai guaranteed Goryeo's political autonomy and preservation of its tradition and cultural customs. But every king of Goryeo had to marry a Mongolian princess and be subordinate to the Mongolian Khans.

Their meeting broke up in a very friendly atmosphere. The crown prince had to go back to Goryeo after hearing the news of his father's sudden death and ascended the throne. (King Wonjong of Goryeo) A few years later, Kublai won the civil war against his younger brother and became the 5th Mongol emperor. He brought Song Dynasty of China to the ground and founded Yuan Dynasty.

Meanwhile, the peace treaty led by King Wonjong sparked Goryeo military regime's strong opposition. Blaming the royal family for selling the country out to Mongols, the remnants of military leaders called Sam-byeol-cho (삼별초 三別抄) protested against the decision and continued their resistance fights against Mongols for another 10 year. However, as the last resistance army was defeated in 1270, the war against Mongols had ended officially in 40 years.

In 1274, Kublai Khan's 16-year-old daughter Qutlugh Kelmysh (쿠툴룩 케르미시 忽都魯揭里迷失 1259~1297), also known as Princess Wonseong (원성공주 元成公主) or Princess Jeguk (제국대장공주 齊國大長公主) in Korean, married 39-year-old Crown prince of Goryeo (Later, King Chungnyeol 충렬왕 忠烈王 1236~1308) as their fathers promised to each other in the peace treaty.

However, this international marriage was the beginning of the couple's extremely unhappy married life. To say nothing of a language barrier and their age gap (he was 23 years older than her), the bridegroom already had 3 children of pure royal blood from his lawful wife, Lady Wang / Consort Junghwa (정화궁주 貞和宮主 ?~1319). She was also of royal blood.

Goryeo's royal family (Wang clan) believed that they were descendants from Dragon god, so incestuous marriages between half-siblings, cousins, uncle / niece, aunt / nephew were commonplace to keep their pure blood as well as to strengthen royal authority. (* If you watch Moon Lovers : Scarlet Heart : Ryeo (2016 SBS) and Shine or Go Crazy (2015 MBC), you can understand what I mean.) In such a mindset, it is safe to say that most Goryeo people didn't want their sacred future monarch would have the hateful enemy's blood in his vein, because it really hurt their national pride.

Goryeo people looked down on Mongols as uncivilized nomad barbarians but at the same time they were afraid of Mongol empire's power. In such a hostile atmosphere far away from her hometown, the newlywed Mongolian princess carelessly abused her authority and wielded her power to survive in the Goryeo palace.

For example, she took a golden pagoda from a famous Buddhist temple by force just because it looked good, even though the temple's monks desperately stopped her, saying that the pagoda was a national treasure for people to pray for health and peace in the country. She didn’t care about critical opinion at all.

In addition, after she gave birth to a son, she kicked Consort Junghwa (the king's first wife with royal blood) out of the palace and confined her in a remote house for over 20 years not to meet her husband again. Consort Junghwa's eldest son Lord Gangyang (강양공 江陽公) was also forced to become a Buddhist monk to get out of the new-born crown prince's way. (But he returned from the Buddhist priesthood to civil life after 4 years and lived his entire life as quietly as possible. )

All of these things made the king estranged from the princess and indulge in hunting and sex with other women, which in turn led to her resentment against her husband. In such a vicious cycle of marital discord, their only son Crown prince Wang Won grew up as one of Kublai Khan's favorite grandsons with genius brain and artistic talents.

The first scene where the little Crown Prince desperately tried to stop his father from going out to hunt is really recorded in the history. But the king's insult to his half-blood son is a fiction of this drama.

Among the 3 main characters of this drama, Warrior Wang Rin and Lady Eun San are fictional characters. But Wang Rin's family members -- his father (Wang Young), his aunt (Consort Junghwa), his elder brother (Wang Jeon / Lord Seoheung), and his younger sister (Wang Dan / Consort Jeongbi) -- are real historical figures. They are direct descendants of King Shinjong (신종 神宗, 1144~1204, the 20th ruler of Goryeo dynasty) and the ancestor of King Gongyang (공양왕 恭讓王, 1345~1394) who is the last monarch of Goryeo in Six Flying Dragons 육룡이 나르샤 (2015 SBS).

OK. This is the beginning of The King in Love 왕은 사랑한다 (2017 MBC). I hope it will help you understand the context of the drama. After this, Empress Ki 기황후 奇皇后 (2013 MBC) starring Ha Ji-Won, Joo Jin-Mo, and Ji Chang-Wook will be a good sequel because it deals with the next period.