27. She/her. wlw Multi-fandom. 🌈 Remember that consciousness is power. - Yuri Kochiyama, Revolutions are made out of love for people - Jimmy & Grace Lee Boggs
I know I'm late to the party by almost a decade, but I love the wordplay here. In Korean language flower is 꽃 (kkot) and flame is 불꽃 (bulkkot) 불 means fire so flame is fire+flower
Well, the winter break was with us for the past 3 weeks and the kids came home from college.
So I finally found an article that outlines all the ‘Korean Opera’ the gukguek plays’ plot lines depicted in the drama ‘Jeongnyeon: The star is born’. It made the rewatch so much more enjoyable. I’m linking the article but for the lazy people out there I’m also putting the excerpts from the plots here.
*Warning the SPOILERS ahead*
The 4 GukGeuk Plays
1: The Story of Choon-hyang
JeongNyeon in her prime idiot era learning the basics and stressing everyone else out.
Set in Joseon Period Choon-hyang (leading lady) is the daughter of a retired ki-saeng (entertainer at private clubs of the day/borderline prostitutes) living in a southern city called Namwon . The main male character Yi Mong-ryong (played by YeonSeo), the son of the local magistrate, falls in love with Choon-hyang. Despite their class difference, they vouch for marriage.
Mong-ryong has a personal servant named Bang-ja (played by JeongNyeon) and Choon-hyang’s servant’s name was Hyang-dan (played by an extra), both of whom are what’s called gwan-no (public service nobi owned by the local magistrates). Bang-ja and Hyang-dan have a thing going on between them also and they play prominent roles in the story, for they act as conduits for communication between Mong-ryong and Choon-hyang.
Mong-ryong moves back to Hanyang (Seoul) when his dad’s term is over (Bang-ja stays in Namwon because he’s owned by the magistrate), and the new magistrate (not shown in the show) Byon is an abusive and corrupt jerk. Byon asks Choon-hyang for “service”, but she refuses (due to the fact she argues that she’s married, although not formally) and is jailed.
Choon-hyang is suffering and Mong-ryong after some time finally wanders into Namwon looking like a homeless person. Bang-ja sees him and scolds him. But, unbeknownst to Bang-ja and everyone else, Mong-ryong is King’s secret agent3 in disguise4, having passed the National Civil Service Exam at the top of his class, traveling the country and striking down on the wicked officials.On Byon’s birthday where he’s having a big feast on the grounds of the magistrate complex, Mong-ryong shows up in dirty clothes and is being derided by everyone. He sees that the city of Namwon is in bad hands—local officials corrupt and people suffering, and in particular Choon-hyang bound in a wooden neck collar. Choon-hyang doesn’t see him.
Mong-ryong’s seen enough and he orders his brigade of soldiers in disguise to appear and arrest Byon and his cronies. Mong-ryong sits at Byon’s chair and is coy—hides his face behind a big fan, asks Choon-hyang to give him “service.” She remains faithful and refuses, saying that she’s married. Mong-ryong finally reveals his identity to her and they live happily ever after.
2: Jah-myong-go (The Self-beating Drum)
The play that is basically Jeongnyeon’s rizz legacy - as the soldier (rizzing the audience), GomiGoel (rizzing our poor JuRan) and GaeSeulGi (rizzing our poor YeonSeo) also the first play she watches in the opening- her gukgeuk and gay awakening.
Almost exactly 2000 years ago, the third King of Goguryeo dynasty had a son named Prince HoDong (played by OkYeong our eternal toxic masc). In a neighboring city-state called Nak-rang , there was a Princess MokRyeon (Played by HyeRang our ever toxic high femme) who fell in love with Hodong.
The politics of the day dictated that Goguryeo was eyeing to destroy Nak-rang and absorb its land and people but was worried about the purported “self-beating drum” that Nak-rang had in possession. That took away the element of surprise attack to gain upper hand in the upcoming and unavoidable war.
Prince Hodong of Goguryeo, despite his love for the Princess MokRyeon, convinces the Princess to destroy the Drum. Nak-rang is destroyed, and its King, Choi Ri, kills his own daughter, the princess. Prince Hodong supposedly commits suicide soon after. All this takes place in the year 32 AD.
This part is changed in the play by introducing GomiGeol (Played by YeonSeo) who has a grudge against Hodong or is a jealous bastard who wants the Princess or just wants to break the two up so the Goguryeo and Nakryang don’t enter an alliance and continue to fight allowing Han (The Chinese) to gobble up both of them. He gets Goosooraghi/Precious (Played by JuRan and then JeongNyeon), who is Prince Hodong’s trusted spy in Nak-Rang to deliver a forged letter by Prince Hodong to the Princess MokRyeon asking her to destroy the Drum, hoping it will break the two apart. Somewhere during the last act when the Princess has been killed Hodong and GomiGeol have a fight to the death.
3: The Idiot On-dal and Princess Pyeong-gang
i.e. the root cause of all the trouble - our poor JeongRan divorce Era and Jeongnyeon being a grade A idiot as a result and then the inevitable toxic couple divorce.
Again set in the Goguryeo times 500 years after Prince Hodong’s time during the 25th king of Goguryeo’s reign. The princess was a big crier since she was a baby, and the King teased her all throughout her childhood by saying, when you grow up, I’m going to make you marry the village idiot On-dal.
On-dal was called a (PaBo/BaBo, idiot, imbecile) because he was dirt poor, dressed in rags, and would always simper instead of getting mad whenever kids would make fun of him. As for his actual intelligence, there is no mention of it.
When the time came for the princess to marry, she stubbornly insisted that she will indeed marry On-dal, despite her dad’s anger. Even On-dal tried to dissuade the princess but to no avail. The princess sold her valuables and bought a house, land, and horses for On-dal to look after. She taught him how to read and write, horseback riding, and military skills.
In late 6th century, Goguryeo was invaded by neighboring Northern Zhou and On-dal single-handedly fended off the attackers and the King, the princess’s previously unapproving father, bestowed an official title to his son-in-law and accepted him as a part of the family.
A few years later, Shilla dynasty down south invaded Goguryeo’s territory (thought to be around today’s Seoul area). On-dal, now a general, proclaimed, I will not return until I destroy the Shilla forces and set off to the battlefield. But during battle, he sustained a fatal injury and died soon after. When the Goguryeo soldiers try to lift his coffin, it would not move an inch. But when the princess came and whispered to her dead husband, The matters of life and death have been decided. Let’s now go home, the soldiers were finally able to lift and move the coffin and have a proper funeral.
3.5: The Tale of Sim Cheong
JeonNyeon’s comeback open air one woman show also the show that gave us false hope that JeongRan will be ok just to break our hearts
Sim Cheong-jeon is a story about the titular Sim Cheong, who throws herself into the Indang Sea as a sacrifice so that her blind father can regain his eyesight. This selfless act of filial piety causes her to be resurrected and become an empress to the god-king of the sea, and her father's blindness is cured. The song she sings is set after Shim Cheong has become the empress and misses her hometown.
But if anyone is interested there is a much better take on this story in the form of a Webtoon. It takes a feminist perspective that looks down on the practice of female sacrifice for the benefit of everyone else. And the webtoon is yuri with *spoiler* ending.
4: The story of Twin Pagodas
We all joke about divorced wives but our poor JeongNyeon was going through her WIDOWER era, going deranged and depressed because JuRan ‘Good Luck Babe’ -d her.
First the background:- In the Bukguksa temple - the most famous Buddhist temple in all of Korea, there are two of the most famous pagodas in all of Korea—one is called Dabo-tahp (built by YeonSeo’s character) and the other Seokga-tahp (built by JeongNyeon’s character). Bulguksa Temple is in Gyeongju, the ancient capital city of Shilla dynasty that was bitter rival of Baekje dynasty for centuries during the Three Kingdoms period [c. 1st ~ 7th century, Goguryeo was the third kingdom of this era, the setting for our previous two plays]. The Seokga-Tahp (built by Asadal) is as mathematically perfect as the pyramids of Giza and thus a marvel of a structure.
Now the story:- Baekje from the very old times was known for its handcraftsmanship—whether it’s pottery, architecture, or stone masonry. So, when the Shilla royal court was building or expanding the Bulguksa temple, the head architect invited Asadal, a well-known stone mason in Baekje, to work on the most beautiful pagoda that anyone has seen.
While Asadal was working on the “math” and the actual construction of the pagoda, his wife Asanyeo, missing her husband who’s been gone for three years, traveled to Shilla to see him. But she was forbidden to enter the grounds of the temple—something about the female presence on the “holy” grounds being inauspicious.
One day, a Buddhist monk (this is changed to YeonSeo’s Rival Stone mason character) appeared before Asanyeo and told her to go wait by the nearby pond When the pagoda is completed, you will see its shadow reflected on the waters, and when you do, you will be able to see your husband again.
So, Asanyeo waited by the pond every night, praying, but the shadow of the pagoda never appeared. Gravely distraught, Asanyeo threw herself into the pond and drowned to death. Soon after, Asadal finished his work on the Seokga-tahp and the same Buddhist monk told him that his wife had been waiting for him by the pond. Asadal ran but he couldn’t find her anywhere. After hearing of the tragedy, he started sculpting a likeness of her at the big rock nearby. He realized as he was working that the form of the sculpture was becoming that of the Buddha himself. Upon completion, he also threw himself into the pond.
Because the shadow of the pagoda was never cast on to the pond, Seokga-tahp has also come to be known as Moo-young tahp (무영탑, 無影塔), meaning “No Shadow” pagoda.
Some pictures for reference -
Seokga-Tahp - built by Asadal (Played by JeongNyeon)
Dabo-tahp - the pagoda built by Dalbi (Played by YeonSeo) [and the Seokga-tahp in the background]
The Buddha effigy near the lake that Asadal is chiseling during the final song while derilious and deranged cause his wife died (i.e. JuRan left to marry a 🤮 Man 🤮)
JEONGNYEON : THE STAR IS BORN | a love triangle is a situation in which three people are each in love with at least one other person in the relationship
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