"Brief history of 大长今
Dae Jang Geum, also known as
Jewel in the Palace, is a
2003 Korean television series directed by
Lee Byung-hoon. It first aired from
September 15, 2003 to
March 23, 2004 on
MBC, where it was the top program with an average viewership rating of 46.3% and a peak of 57.8% (making it the 10th highest rated
Korean drama of all time). It is known as one of the primary proponents of the
Korean Wave by heightening the popularity of
Korean pop culture abroad.
It tells the tale of an orphaned kitchen cook who went on to become the king's first female physician. In a time when women held little influence in society, young apprentice cook
Jang-geum strives to learn the secrets of
Korean cooking and medicine in order to cure the
King of his various ailments. It is based on the true story of Jang-geum, the first female royal physician of the
Joseon Dynasty. The main themes are her perseverance and the portrayal of traditional
Korean culture, including
Korean royal court cuisine and traditional medicine.
The theme song,
Onara, is in
Old Korean. This produced arguments about the lyrics and how they should be interpreted. As a result, different interpretations surfaced.
Eventually the songwriter, Im Se-hyeon, revealed the lyrics.
The song is in the pansori style, a particular type of
Korean music that emerged during the Joseon Dynasty and was very popular in the
19th century. It utilizes the vocals of one singer, a sorikkun, and one drummer, a gosu, to tell a themed story. The refrain ("He-iya di-iya he-iya naranino") is called chu-imsae and, in traditional pansori, it is supplied by the drummer to give rhythm to the song in addition to the beat. Chuimsae consists of meaningless vowel sounds or short words of encouragement. Chuimsae is analogous to scat singing in jazz nonsense syllables such as "
La, la, la," or "
Shoop, shoop ba doop" in
English-language popular songs.
Since the song is in archaic
Korean, the meaning of the song can be ambiguous. But one explanation is that the song depicts a girl who longs for a man that she cannot be with. So she accepts the way it is and moves on with her life."
^Did this quite some time ago.
Used sources from
Google.
- published: 14 Oct 2015
- views: 131