The King in Love (2017) - History
Historical background to help understand The King in Love (2017 MBC)Yes, I did write it as I promised a few days ago. (LOL)
First of all, this drama’s protagonist Wang Won (ì™•ì› çŽ‹é¡˜) / King Chungseon (ì¶©ì„ ì™• å¿ å®£çŽ‹, 1275~1325), is the first ever half-blood prince/king in the history of Korea. His maternal grandfather is Kublai Khan, the famous Mongol emperor and the founder of Yuan Dynasty of China.
* Kublai Khan (played by Benedict Wong) from Netflix original drama Marco Polo. Venetian merchant traveler Marco Polo(1254~1354) served the Mongol emperor for many years. → Wikipedia Kublai Khan (1215~1294)
Then, I need to talk about why the Goryeo king got married with Kublai Kahn’s daughter in the first place. The story throws back to the Mongol invasion of Goryeo (1231~1259), about 40~50 years before this drama’s time period.
After the death of Genghis Khan (1162-1227), his successors continued to conquer an immense territory and built the largest empire in the world. Like many other countries, Goryeo couldn’t avoid their invasion. The Mongol’s Great Kahns had frequently sent their troops to Goryeo for about 30 years but had failed to conquer it because of the strong resistance from Goryeo’s common people. Despite Goryeo’s military regime, the puppet king, and incompetent nobles abandoned them and evacuated to the safer Gangwha island by themselves, the commoners desperately fought to the end against Mongols to save their own family. However, the long-time Mongol invasions devastated the whole country, and Goryeo’s military regime was still on its way down due to chaotic internal strife.
* If you want to know about this period, go watch God of War ë¬´ì‹ æ¦ç¥ž (2012 MBC historical drama). → Wikipedia
In 1259, King Gojong (ê³ ì¢… 高宗 1192-1259), the 23rd ruler of Goryeo Dynasty, made a secret decision to send his Crown prince to Mongol emperor in order to negotiate a ceasefire agreement between the two countries without notifying Goryeo’s military regime. It was intended to end the war as well as to take back the royal authority from the military regime.
However, on the way to Karakorum (the capital city of Mongol empire), the Crown prince of Goryeo (Later known as King Wonjongì›ì¢… 元宗, 1219~1274) heard about the sudden death of Monke Khan (1209~1259) during the expedition to Southern Song Dynasty of China as well as an impending civil war over who should be the next Mongol emperor between Monke’s two younger brothers : Kublai and Arik Bukha.
Arik Bukha (1219~1266) had procedural legitimacy by claiming the throne in Karakorum first, but Kublai (1215~1294) had military advantages with powerful troops and abundant supplies. Which would be a sure bet? The Crown prince was in a muddled situation to choose between the two Khans with limited information. If he makes a bad choice, Goryeo will be over. He was bearing the destiny of the whole nation on his shoulders. After much consideration, he chose Kublai and started off on a transcontinental journey to meet him. It was a defining moment to change the history of Korea.
Kublai was so surprised and pleased that Goryeo’s Crown Prince traveled all the way to meet him even though he was in a relatively disadvantageous position compared to his younger brother Arik Bukha. He considered it very auspicious, and thought even the previous Great Khans couldn’t conquer Goryeo but now they came to him voluntarily. The peace treaty with Goryeo would raise his authority and help him beat Arik Bukha when claiming the throne. That is how the truce between Goryeo and Mongols was concluded in 30 years after the war broke out.
Kublai guaranteed Goryeo’s political autonomy and preservation of its tradition and cultural customs. But every king of Goryeo had to marry a Mongolian princess and be subordinate to the Mongolian Khans.
Their meeting broke up in a very friendly atmosphere. The crown prince had to go back to Goryeo after hearing the news of his father’s sudden death and ascended the throne. (King Wonjong of Goryeo) A few years later, Kublai won the civil war against his younger brother and became the 5th Mongol emperor. He brought Song Dynasty of China to the ground and founded Yuan dynasty.
Meanwhile, the peace treaty led by King Wonjong sparked Goryeo military regime’s strong opposition. Blaming the royal family for selling the country out to Mongols, the remnants of military leaders called Sam-byeol-cho (삼별초 三別抄) protested against the decision and continued their resistance fights against Mongols for another 10 year. However, as the last resistance army was defeated in 1270, the war against Mongols had ended officially in 40 years.
In 1274, Kubali Khan’s 16-year-old daughter Qutlugh Kelmysh (ì¿ íˆ´ë£© 케르미시 忽都é¯æ里迷失 1259~1297), also known as Princess Wonseong (ì›ì„±ê³µì£¼ å…ƒæˆå…¬ä¸») or Princess Jeguk (ì œêµëŒ€ìž¥ê³µì£¼ 齊國大長公主) in Korean, married 39-year-old Crown prince of Goryeo (Later, King Chungnyeol ì¶©ë ¬ì™• å¿ çƒˆçŽ‹ 1236~1308) as their fathers promised to each other in the peace treaty.
However, this international marriage was the beginning of the couple’s extremely unhappy married life. To say nothing of a language barrier and their age gap (he was 23 years older than her), the bridegroom already had 3 children of pure royal blood from his lawful wife, Lady Wang / Consort Junghwa (ì •í™”ê¶ì£¼ 貞和宮主 ?~1319). She was also of royal blood.
Goryeo’s royal family (Wang clan) believed that they were descendants from Dragon god, and incestuous marriages between half-siblings, uncle/niece, aunt/nephew were commonplace to keep their pure blood as well as to strengthen royal authority. (* If you watch Moon Lovers : Scarlet Heart : Ryeo (2016 SBS) and Shine or Go Crazy (2015 MBC), you can understand what I means.) In such a mindset, it is safe to say that most Goryeo people didn’t want their sacred monarch would have the hateful enemy’s blood in his vein, because it really hurt their national pride.
Goryeo people looked down on Mongols as uncivilized nomad barbarians but at the same time they were afraid of Mongol empire’s power. In such a hostile atmosphere far away from her hometown, the young Mongolian princess abused her authority and wielded her power to survive in the palace.
For example, she took a golden pagoda from a Buddhist temple by force just because it looked good, even though the temple’s monks desperately stopped her saying that the pagoda was a national treasure to pray for health and peace in the country. In addition, after she gave birth to a son, she kicked Consort Junghwa (the king’s first wife with royal blood) out of the palace and confined her in a remote house for over 20 years not to meet her husband again. Consort Junghwa’s eldest son Lord Gangyang (강양공 江陽公) was forced to become a Buddhist monk to get out of the new-born crown prince’s way. (But he returned from the Buddhist priesthood to civil life after 4 years and lived his life as quietly as possible. )
All of these things made the king estranged from the princess and indulge in hunting and sex with other women, which in turn led to her resentment against her husband. In this vicious cycle of marital discord, Crown prince Wang Won grew up as one of Kublai Khan’s favorite grandsons with genius brain and artistic talents. The first episode where the little crown prince desperately tried to stop his father from hunting is recorded in the history. (But the king’s insult to his half-blood son is a fiction of this drama.)
Among the 3 main characters, Warrior Wang Rin and Lady Eun Sanare fictional characters. But Wang Rin’s family members – his father (Lord Susa), his aunt (Consort Junghwa), his elder brother (Lord Seoheung), and his sister (Wang Dan) – are real historical figures.
OK. This is the beginning of The King in Love (2017 MBC). I hope it will help you understand the context of this drama. After watching this drama, Empress Ki (2013 MBC) starring Ha Ji-Won, Joo Jin-Mo, and Ji Chang-Wook will be a good sequel because it deals with the next time period.
source
https://bodashiri.tumblr.com/post/163250121216/the-king-in-love-2017-history
