KOREAN CULTURE REFERENCES FROM 'DIVINE' - part two of two
*updated -images appear in order in mv
Jeongin, Felix, Han and Seungmin strike martial arts poses, Korean styles are Taekwondo, Hapkido, Tang Soo Do, and Taekkyon, each with unique techniques and philosophies. Felix and LeeKnow have studied Taekwondo.
Seungmin wears a veil, in the Joseon era due to the rules of Korean Confucianism, women were not to show their faces in public, in modern Cultivation Kdramas, both men and women wear veils.
Lee Know adopts a meditation pose, in this manner martial artists with supernatural abilities who are called Cultivators or Immortals channel their Qi, or spiritual force to defend themselves or others from harm. In legend they live on mountaintops in seclusion, having little to do with the outside world.
In the way of Heroes, when called upon to assist humanity, they can be compelled by a good argument!
Changbin dons the Emperor's robes - the Gonryongpo - this robe is embroidered with five dragons, representing the Emperor as the ruler between heaven and earth.
Seungmin sits in a prayer pose before a Tiger screen, in the Joseon Dynasty Korea was influenced by a Korean style of Confucianism which influenced the political structure, Buddhism was used in personal and community rites and indigenous tradition still permeated the culture. Most people practiced rituals from different religions.
With Stray Kids in all black, we are seeing the soldiers being surrounded by demons/ghosts.
Stray Kids in white descending from the clouds from their Mountain sanctuary.
Felix (in red) performing a ritual in the shrine, capturing ghosts inside the bottles,
Felix drops one of the ritual vessels which releases a Ghost Dragon
The dragon has scales made of spectral ghosts.
An Asian dragon is a symbol of good fortune, Asian dragons do not have wings and they live in and control water - life giving rain and rivers to irrigate crops - when displeased they can cause storms and floods.
However, this dragon is a manifestation of negative spiritual energy built up from all of the ghosts and demons now released.
Symbolically a Dragon (which in the mv is the symbol of the corrupt Emperor) is in opposition to the Tiger. (the people)
Stray Kids in black are surrounded by the Ghost Dragon, the Stray Kids leap into the air and subdue it.
The dragon is forced to descend to Earth where the Stray Kids in the palace remove their masks to reveal themselves.
Ancient masks (often called Bangsangssi) were meant dispel evil spirits. Crafted from pine or straw, the masks were buried or burned after being used in exorcisms. We can assume this is how Stray Kids infiltrated the palace.
Looking sad, Leader Bang Chan all in black is shown before the landscape painting from the palace that Seungmin had flown on earlier
Chan leaps into the painting
This aligns with Stray Kids lore on parallel worlds and portals.Stray Kids are Everywhere Around The World (and other Worlds) in their many videos.
Paintings as portals are frequent in Asian media, books and dramas as well as the recent animated film Nezha.
Chan in the painting becomes the dragon rider standing on top of a cloud over the mountains. - the painting peels off its support and flies off into the sky. Masked figures are left behind watching it fly away.
The Immortal Stray Kids, having attempted to 'right' the world' return back to their Mountain and seclusion.
mv ends with a talisman flying into the clouds with Felix standing on the mountain, clad in black and white, bringing us full circle.
*many of the Kids had elements of black in their white clothing when they came down to Earth, this might be a symbol that in becoming involved with mortal problems, they become subject to mortal concerns, Chan leaves alone, so we don't know whom among the Kids (if any) might stay behind.
Thanks for joining me, and of course, Bang Chan, Lee Know, Changbin, Han, Felix, Hyunjin, Seungmin and Jeongin and STAY.