Video about a Korean eunuch
Posted: Sat Nov 22, 2008 2:45 pm
A Korean historical drama, The King & I (Wang gwa Na) is being released on DVD with English subtitles. It was very popular when it ran on television in 66 hour-and-a-half episodes. While the drama covers a many year swath of Korean history, the central figure for much of it is Kim Cheo-seon (childhood name Chun-dong), the most important eunuch in Korean history. The trailer on the web site centers on him. He was the adopted son of a shaman (untouchable caste) and was castrated at age 18 to serve the young woman shown in the later part of the trailer. She was the daughter of a minor noble and became concubine to King Seongjong. After the death of his first queen, she became Queen Jehoen and her son became the 10th king of the Chosun Dynasty in 1494. (The Chosun Dynasty ruled Korea 1392-1910.)
A five minute trailer is currently available, though it may not be up for very long:
http://www.yaentertainment.com/catalog/king1.html
I now have the first set of DVDs episodes 1 through 21 and have watched the first six. From my reading of Korean history, they have done a very nice job of it, though the peasants are far too well-dressed and spotlessly clean most of the time. The palace eunuchs are mostly played by adult male actors, though the residents of the eunuch school and the young eunuchs of the palace are played by boys and girls ages about 8 to 13.
The two castration scenes in the first 6 episodes (the second of which is in the trailer) seem accurate. They fit with what Chang Hui-hung wrote in his doctoral dissertation in history, which was published in 2006 as Naeshi by Kyongin Munhwasa. Its painful viewing, especially the earlier castration scene, which is not in the trailer. The first one includes the preservation in salt of the removed parts and a discussion between the castrator and his young assistant (Chun-dong at age 13) about why they are so important to preserve. A eunuch is reborn as a male if they are buried with him, as a female mule if they are not.
A five minute trailer is currently available, though it may not be up for very long:
http://www.yaentertainment.com/catalog/king1.html
I now have the first set of DVDs episodes 1 through 21 and have watched the first six. From my reading of Korean history, they have done a very nice job of it, though the peasants are far too well-dressed and spotlessly clean most of the time. The palace eunuchs are mostly played by adult male actors, though the residents of the eunuch school and the young eunuchs of the palace are played by boys and girls ages about 8 to 13.
The two castration scenes in the first 6 episodes (the second of which is in the trailer) seem accurate. They fit with what Chang Hui-hung wrote in his doctoral dissertation in history, which was published in 2006 as Naeshi by Kyongin Munhwasa. Its painful viewing, especially the earlier castration scene, which is not in the trailer. The first one includes the preservation in salt of the removed parts and a discussion between the castrator and his young assistant (Chun-dong at age 13) about why they are so important to preserve. A eunuch is reborn as a male if they are buried with him, as a female mule if they are not.