Suh Seung Ji

It’s interesting to note that what they were subjected to was actually much worse than what the Muslim haters blather on about. Muhammad very quickly changed the way women were treated. Previously everything was tribal rule, men could do whatever they wanted without impunity. They often buried women alive just because they wanted to.
Muhammad passed new laws of Islam that women could own businesses, any money they inherited or acquired thru their own efforts could not be touched by family, including the husband and were entitled to learn to read and write. Even the multiple wife rules were changed. He dictated that any women added to the harem but first be approved by the other wives.
As we have both mentioned…..people in general have many opinions but few have true knowledge of a situation they have opinions about.

September 2024. This drama is on YT channel, CN Drama, under the title “Held in the Lonely Castle”. Excellent English subs. I rate this drama as a 10……it’s a no nonsense type historical drama…..more for history buffs than entertainment romance type drama…..same type of drama as Ming Dynasty. This is pretty close to the historical recorded truth…..just fictionalized to make it entertainment instead of a documentary

You might enjoy the book “Land of the Morning Calm” by Percivel Lowell. He was an envoy to Korea in the early 1900s. His is the only book I have ever read that talks about the depth of isolation of the women.
Not anything like you see in KDramas….NO woman, except the low born who did slave work were allowed out in public. They lived and died within the property they were born on. They were not allowed to ever speak to any male except the males in their family; not even allowed to be seen by non family males.
And the smart beautiful gisaeng you see in the KDramas? Nope. Almost all of them were low born, non educated….think streetwalker kind of low born. Only a few were talented in music, etc.
So…….why don’t we see stories about those women in the early Chosun area? Because it doesn’t make money for the shareholders of the film company…….sex sells. Ironic.

I have found, in my long years spent in this lifetime on earth, that often it’s the “foreigners” who are more educated about history in another country than the ones born in that country. 😂.

Also, be aware that Hulu, most of the time, doesn’t make you wait for episodes forever. Shop of Killers was available pretty quickly. Only those with multiple seasons parse the episodes out. The nice thing about this policy is you can wait till all the episodes are released and just sign up for a month then put it on the back burner till the next one you want to watch is released.

It’s been years since Disney+ has had any KDramas on its site. You also have to be aware that Disney+ out and out lies.
As an example, when Bloody Heart premiered, Disney+ advertised it as being available on its site. So I signed up. Not there. I contacted them and they told me, soon. This went on for six months. At this point I was out over $100. Finally they said it wasn’t available in my region but would be. To this date, it isn’t. I finally watched it on Drama Cool.
Hulu has a myriad of really excellent KDramas that they said would be on Disney+. Long, but pertinent story.
Wait till whatever you are waiting for, to show up on Hulu.
I won’t play this game anymore concerning this regional restriction nonsense…..If I pay $, they should make it available.
I have changed my mind about previously not watching pirate stations. If enough of us take a stand maybe Disney+ will regain their morality.
Meanwhile, if you care to……check out Drama Cool or the Asian Viki, which is pirate, and free.

I would also like to mention that everyone has had many, many lifetimes in each culture, in each country, it is only the ignorant limited mind that would use such a ridiculous rationalization as “you don’t know because you are white”.

Agreed on all points. The CDrama historicals have managed to balance out that situation splendidly. I just finished Ming Dynasty, which I loved….and they handled that part of history extremely tactfully.
In fact, we are so over saturated with physical violence now, in the fantasy and real world alike that I don’t think showing explicit sex scenes really has the desired emotional response it might have had in the past.
I was very moved, emotionally, the way they depicted the mistreatment of women, even the Empress, in the Ming Dynasty series.
Showing the utter isolation even the Empress endured at the hands of the court….was quite heartbreaking to watch. Explicit sex scenes, to me, sullies the waters……it titillates the senses but not the heart.
I have enjoyed are discussions also. 🌺

The main problem in MDL comment sections is that people want to make blanket statements and rather than discuss, they argue and hurl insults at one another.
I am watching a CDrama called Enemy….and it’s violently dark, rather surprising…..so it’s somewhat amusing that the Chinese government restricts harmless BL content but allows explicit “grey” scenes of murder and rape.
Another point to bring up is subtle brainwashing. I see some Koreans here rationalizing explicit scenes, not realizing that our culture is one of extreme conservatism and respect, they do not realize they have already accepted the Western value system and are appropriating it as part of their own cultural ideaology.
However, I do not feel it is wrong to show how women were treated during the Dynasties…..it’s history. The line is blurred though, when it comes to present day depictions.

If you will re-read my first sentence, it says first “tongue in cheek” which means “playfully said”, followed by the word “many”, which is of course, a nebulous word.
Yes, the races are mixed. I am Korean/Chinese/American. However, I am devout Confucian/Daoist. I live traditionally as the Elder rural people’s do in China.
What Rowoon is doing now, is not the same as what he “might” do. Conjecture is just that…conjecture. My comment meant that there aren’t modern day morality/sexuality traits entering into the dramas he acts in now.
Would I watch him in a BL drama, of course.

I was born in 1948. All movies in the 50s depicted married couples sleeping in twin beds side by side - LOL. With full granny pajamas. No swearing. Things have really changed since then and not for the better.

My concern is the increasing preponderance of inserting Western entertainment ideals into Asian ones. It makes me nervous that we will lose the whole conceptual ideology of KDramas.
TBH, I watch more CDrama nowadays than KDramas. I will still always watch something with my favs like Rowoon or a drama like My Dearest, but I have grown increasing weary of the dramas flooding the market that are basically the same script with different actors. Copy and paste has become a reality and it disgusts me.

Great comment. I would add, tongue in cheek, that many of these same people who are offended by the sex scenes, are regular watchers of BL. LOL.
I really don’t understand the issue about the Chinese versus Korea nonsense. The only thing I can think of is these people have not read one history book. At one point in the Chinese occupation of Korea, literally everything was Chinese…from clothing to reading and writing. It was considered to be more of an embracing of higher ideals i.e. snobbishness. It was a status symbol.
I am not into sex scenes, I prefer the innocence of the type of drama that Rowoon does. Will I watch it…..maybe.
In my day there was a catch phrase often used “Age of Aquarius”. This age is “let’s be easily offended and feel compelled to rage about it to everyone” 😂

Previously Disney+ has showcased all their KDramas in the U.S. on Hulu. They did run Snowdrop on Disney+ and I think one more, then moved all KDramas to Hulu.
I have adored almost every single KDrama they have produced, they don’t go for trope scenarios and so I look forward to the new productions.

This is quite good. A word of warning though….if you are not familiar with Chinese cultural language idioms and concepts…you will be very confused. The subs were done by someone who “short speaks” (concepts, not individual words strung together)
Although you get English subs, they are conceptual…true to Pinyin. The sentence grammar structure is going to be written by Pinyin/Mandarin rules…..so verbs, adjectives, nouns are going to be in different physical areas within the sentence, than you are used to.
However, for the Westerners who are working toward learning our language, culture, etc….this is a good playground for learning.
In closing, it’s not bad subs, rather it’s more like you, the English speaker, who is conversing with someone in China who knows your language but is speaking to you with a Chinese mindset. Enjoy!

It appears so. I was taken aback, reading the comments under this series, how almost everyone is focused on the small romance part. I mean, we are talking about a series that almost entirely focuses on the traumatic period of Japanese occupation, so the stunning shallowness of comments really concerns me.
As I mentioned earlier, I am 80…..so my mindset is different but is it possible that so many now have no emotional attachment to how many people died during the occupation, nor or grateful for their sacrifice? How can anyone watch these Republican dramas with such callousness that empathy is totally lost and like seventeen year old children they are focused on silly boy girl narratives?
This series is spot on realistic. The ML is a smart, wise, and patient spy…tbh, although I totally loved Lost Identify, in reality that kind of swashbuckling character that Huang played, would have never survived in that time period.
There is a reason spies are called “grey men”, and why the tactics of The Art of War are still successful in dealing with warring nations.

I am old enough I remember the 1955 movie with William Holden and Jennifer Jones “Love is a many Splendored Thing, based on Suyin’s book. Splendid author.

One of the reasons I adored the series Ming Dynasty is it focused more on the women’s personal issues, or country issues, rather than “I can’t live if he doesn’t love me” nonsense. But you get stronger women roles in Chinese dramas than KDramas on the whole.

I have never cared for his work and still don’t but he did a splendid job with the deadpan face……he did a good job.

I don’t think they meant Lonely in that context. It’s not a personal loneliness as much as it’s a loneliness caused by a disconnection to the pre-existing cultural peace and harmony of China before the war. China is a land of community and they lost that during the war where everyone became distrustful of every one else and you couldn’t take a chance to trust someone. It left many confused and afraid.
His sister’s situation is a good example. Within the same family you had different political alignments, and one of those relationship divides ended in murder…..it behooves watchers to really think about not being able to trust a spouse, a sister or brother, a lifelong friend.
During peacetime those divides only result in severing of emotional ties….in war, those different divides of ideology could result in a family member killing you if you found out they were a traitor.