Hwang Jin-Yi (kdrama, 2006, 24 episodes)

“Jin-Yi.”
“Yes, Mistress.”
“What do you think is the most important thing to a courtesan?”
“Is it wine?”
“No.”
“Then . . . is it talent?”
“Not exactly.”
“If that’s not it . . . is it love?”
“Impertinent girl! Do you know what love is?”
“Mistress!”
“Wine, talent, and love . . . although they belong to us, none of those are the most important. The most important thing to a courtesan . . . is pain. When you can swallow your pain and overcome your desires, that is when you become a true courtesan . . . and a true artist.”

-Quotes taken from WITH S2's subtitles

(Forgive my really bad attempt at getting some caps. I was going to put more effort into it, but then I realized I suck. But look, drunk!Ha Ji Won! =D)

At first I thought Hwang Jin Yi (kdrama, 2006, 24 episodes, also Romanized “Hwang Jin-I”) was Dae Jang Geum with artist-prostitute courtesans (gisaeng). For the first nine episodes, the parallels are numerous. You have two former close friends and now rival headmistresses, Baek-Moo of the Song-Do Troupe and Mae-Hyang of the Royal Troupe, who have different artistic/life/career philosophies and are vicariously competing with each other through their respective protégés. Baek-Moo is the consummate artist, herself exceptional in dance, and she seeks to bring out the consummate artist in her girls. She believes in the sincerity of art for art’s sake. Mae-Hyang, on the other hand, who has achieved the highest honor and position for a gisaeng as Palace Headmistress, sums up her philosophy in a simple phrase: “It is not the strong who survive but the survivors who are strong.” Like the historical gisaeng, she has political astuteness and is keyed to the political atmosphere in the palace. Her protégé, Bu-Yong, not only takes this lesson to heart as she matures but might even take it a step too far (or too impertinently).

Baek-Moo’s protégé Hwang Jin-Yi, however, is that frustrating creature: a true prodigy. (She’s also a real historical figure. Little is known about her life, though, so fictional license has had free rein imagining it for us.) Her talents in the arts of poetry, music, and dance inspire all the envy and rivalry in the talented-but-not-genius that Jang-Geum managed to fire up in Keum-Young. I thought that this was how the drama would go, with the rivalry playing out similarly in how it did in DJG, with petty tricks playing out into real hate with the steadfast devotion of the protagonist triumphing in the end.

But then the first nine episodes, which unfold the saccharinely sweet and tragic story of Jin-Yi’s first love (okay, I admit I found it not so sweet but probably because Eun-Ho [played by Jang Geun Suk] is so baby-faced at his tender nineteen years of age that it annoyed me--he’s eight years Ha Ji Won’s junior in real life), ended and Episode 10 jumped four years ahead.

Episode 10 made my jaw drop with cautionary delight because suddenly I realized I wasn’t watching Dae Jang Geum with prostitutes but possibly a Korean Sor Juana de la Cruz without the Catholicism or vows of celibacy but prostitution and class conflict. In that sudden time jump Jin-Yi transforms from youthful sweetness and light into the accomplished, famed and renowned courtesan Myung-Wol (or Myeong-Wol, literally “bright moon”), a downright arrogant, condescending bitch--and yet somehow it seems all justified by her searing intellect, her quick wit, and her enormous talents. Her hatred, malice, and spite in the wake of her thwarted love alter and complicate all the relationships in the show in a way that I found compelling. She is such a bitch you think you’d want to slap her but the way she puts high-class fools in their place with cleverness, (mocking) playfulness, and confidence (in both her mind and body) is oh-so-satisfying. Of course, this attitude has to come back and bite her in the ass later, but it’s awesome while it lasts and she’s completely misunderstood!

( I had a lot more to say . . . uh oh, SPOILERS! )

Links!:

TV Special (behind the scenes, making of, bloopers): part 1, part 2, part 3, part 4, part 5 (The subtitles are kind of atrocious in parts with things being blatantly and noticeably wrong in places.)

Bloopers: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 (No subtitles, some overlap here, but the bloopers are so cute. I especially like the one where Ha Ji Won tries to show Kim Jae Won how to look like he's playing the geomungo and where Wang Bit Na flubs her line during the sword practice scene.)