Sunday, December 11, 2011

동이 (Dong Yi)



Dong Yi was a popular historical drama in 2010, set during the reign of King Sukjong in the Joseon dynasty that traces the life of Lady Choi Sook-bin. Although orphaned at a very young age and lowborn, Dong Yi first enters the royal palace as a water maid and later becomes a concubine of the King and eventually bears a son who will later become the 21st king of Joseon, Yeongjo. Through her warm and sincere personality, she makes many allies, including Queen Inhyeon, and succeeds in the political infighting in the royal courts in order to survive and protect her son. Even through her struggle with another concubine, Jang Hee Bin, who goes against every matter that involves Dong Yi in the royal court, Dong Yi is able to fight and survive while raising her son to be a well rounded king. This drama was one of m favorite shows when it came out. Not only did you see how a lowborn could become queen and eventually be the mother of the next king of Korea but also the intensity of the political issues to survive within the royal court. 


Also, if you like cute love stories, Dong Yi is a great drama to watch. The love story between Dong Yi and King Sukjong starts out with the King telling Dong Yi that he is a royal police. As Dong Yi really treats King Sukjong as a royal police and not as the King, King Sukjong slowly falls in love with her and her loving personality. 


One thing I love about historical dramas is looking at the beautiful hanboks Korean people wore in the past. You can clearly see how each person by status dressed differently. Looking at Dong Yi in the drama, you see her different outfits. Her outfit as a water maid with the white pretty apron, her outfit as a normal civilian of the low class, and then her special outfit as queen. You see the transformation of her status through her outfits. Even when the King pretends to be a police, he makes sure to change his outfit to fit the role. 

                                       water maid outfit                                              

    
                              outfit as a lowborn civilian                     outfit as a concubine





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