Dae Jang Geum (Jewel in The Palace)
Casts:
Lee Young-ae as Suh Jang-geum (서장금)
Ji Jin-hee as Min Jeong-ho (민정호)
Im Ho as Jung-jong (중종)
Hong Ri-na as Choi Geum-yeong 최금영
Synosis:
The story is set in Korea under the Joseon Dynasty, during the reigns of King Seongjong, King Yeonsan-gun (1494-1506) and King Jungjong (1506-1544). The story begins with the mother of young Yeonsan-gun (the Crown Prince at the time) being poisoned by a group of imperial guards under the order of the king.
After the incident, an imperial guard, Suh Cheon-su, who accompanied the group, returns to his home but suffers an accident on his way back. He is rescued by a Taoist hermit, who tells him that his life will revolve around three women: that he shall cause the death of the first woman, that he will save the life of the second woman but will also cause her to die, and a third woman who, finally, will cause his death, but who will be the savior of many lives. (It does not become clear until much later that the three women are Yeonsangun's mother, Jang-geum's mother, and lastly, Jang-geum herself.) The inner stress from the incident eventually causes him to resign. On the other hand, Lady Park, a royal kitchen apprentice, witnesses a conspiracy against the Queen Mother by Lady Choi (Lady Choi had mixed wolfsbane with other things in food to create dizziness to those who ate it) and is in turn indicted on false charges by the inner circle of senior kitchen staff, and ordered secretly executed per their internal procedures. She is saved by Lady Han, who secretly leaves a letter during the execution for her best friend in the palace, and later again saved inadvertently by the now retired Suh. The two depart to live in secret in a remote village, posing as lower class peasants; they marry, and raise a very bright young daughter, Suh Jang-geum.
In the year 1504, King Yeonsangun orders a massive investigation into his mother's murder, and eventually finds Suh and his family, partly because of a mistake on the part of his child, Jang-geum, in which Jang-geum had blurted out that her parents were not low-class citizens, that Suh was a military official in the palace. This is when people realize Jang-geum's father partook of the incident of the poisoning of the King's mother. Suh is arrested, and presumably later executed. Jang-geum and her mother flee, but Jang-geum's mother is severely wounded by her enemies, and before her death she tells Jang-geum her last wish, should she choose to do so, is for her to become the Top Lady (head chef in the royal palace kitchen) and record her case in the kitchen ladies' secret historical records book (to redress the wrong done to her honor).
Jang-geum goes through some adventures and manages to enter the palace. Through her courage, curiosity, talent, kind-heartedness and hard work, she helps Lady Han (her mother's best friend, which she does not discover until much later) to become the Top Lady. During her years in the palace, she is put under many ordeals and shunned because she is smarter than the other apprentices. Jang-geum, however, does not become discouraged and continues cooking with the mindset that no matter what, the goal of cooking is to bring good health and happiness to the person who eats the food. Unfortunately, a conspiracy headed by Lady Choi and her niece Geum-yeong, as well as high-rank officials and merchants who wanted the import market to remain a monopoly, results in the exile of Lady Han and Jang-geum to Jeju-do Island, in being accused for poisoning King Junjong with sulphur-laced ducks. On the way to Jeju-do, an exhausted Lady Han dies of a fever. Back in the palace, Lady Choi is chosen as Top Lady.
While Jang-geum is in the Jeju Island, she meets Jang-deok, whom she initially believed was a fellow slave. However she soon discovers that Jang-deok is a famous physician lady. Jang-deok's frank and pragmatic nature initially offends her, but she soon learns that she is truly dedicated to her profession of saving lives.
Jang-geum learns that competent medical women can be selected to through a test, and then can proceed to be trained as medical ladies in the palace. She realizes that only way to return the palace and avenge her mother and Lady Han, is to become a medical lady. Under Jang-deok, she learns medicine, and her hardworking and tenacious nature makes her extremely competent.
However, in her quest to become a medical lady, she has to learn to rid herself of the hatred that has welled up in her heart, in order to truly embrace the virtues of being a medical practitioner. This she does, and eventually successfully re-enters the palace.
Soon, she comes face to face with Geum-yeong, who has now become the Top Lady. Her predecessor, the ruthless Lady Choi, has become Chief Lady (head of palace ladies) after ousting the previous one. As they plot to rid themselves of her once and for all, Jang Geum's relationship with Lt. Min Jeung-ho intensifies, and the love story between them develops. Eventually, through a dramatic interrogation process, the past plots of Lady Choi and her subordinates are revealed, resulting in the destruction of the Choi family (with Geum-yeong as the family's last descendent) and high-ranking officials.
Through her selfless dedication to the royal family, her perseverance, and her talent and skill, she becomes recognised as the best medical personnel in the palace. Jang-Geum correctly diagnosed the Queen as having a stillborn foetus in her womb and saved her life as a result. With her daring wits, she managed to convince the Queen Mother to undergo treatment for her illness. She further earns the gratitude of the Queen, when she cured her son of smallpox, which was a fatal disease back in those days. Jang-Geum rooted out the correct causes of the King's chronic illness, which had been misdiagosed all this while by other royal physicians. With a strange turn of events, the King falls in love with Jang-Geum, but refrains from making her one of his royal concubines because he understood Jang-Geum's loves lie in Jeung-ho and in medicine. In order to see more of her, the King decides to make her his personal royal physician and confers on her the title of Dae Jang-Geum.
The King's wishes are met with much controversy and outcry from the scholars and male ministers, since having a woman placed at a position of such prestige was recognised as an open defiance of their patriachal society and confucianist beliefs. Jang-Geum, understanding that she would liberate the rights of Korean women by accepting the post, is reluctanly convinced and agrees. Min Jeung-ho, in his support of her, is recognised to be going against his scholar's teachings and is ordered to be exiled. They are then separated.
The King became critically-ill and there was little Jang-geum could do, despite her comprehensive understanding of his medical condition and attentive care. Jang-Geum knew that the King could no longer be treated with acupuncture or medicine. As a last resort, she carefully suggested a revolutionary approach, surgery. The court officials were horrified at her bold suggestion, as cutting up a person was totally unheard of and moreover, the King was considered too sacred to be allowed to bleed. Though the King believed in her, he was concerned that should the surgery fail, Jang-Geum would surely be put to death. With his condition deteriorating without undergoing Jang-Geum's proposed surgery, the King knew his end was near, but he was more worried about Jang-geum's fate when he passes on. To protect her, the King sent her away against her wishes. Under the King's arrangements, she reunites with Jeong-ho and they live together for eight years - married and with a daughter. All this while, Jang-Geum and Jeong-ho are compelled to lead vagrant lives, as their detractors have been searching for them since the King passed away. However, Jang-Geum continues to practise and help patients wherever she goes.
As a result, they were finally traced and ordered to return to the palace. Instead of being punished, they are both reinstated by the Queen Mother - formerly the Queen who favoured Jang-geum when she was a medical lady, and has now come into total power. Jang-geum is then ranked as an officer of the palace, and is reconferred the title of Dae Jang-Geum, while Jeung-ho also regains his previous post. She continues serving the royal family, and gains much-deserved respect and admiration from everyone. However, she and Jeung-ho were wary of the politics in the palace and decided to move on. The story ends as Jang-Geum successfully performs the first Caesarean surgery ever for a pregnant peasant-woman.
After the incident, an imperial guard, Suh Cheon-su, who accompanied the group, returns to his home but suffers an accident on his way back. He is rescued by a Taoist hermit, who tells him that his life will revolve around three women: that he shall cause the death of the first woman, that he will save the life of the second woman but will also cause her to die, and a third woman who, finally, will cause his death, but who will be the savior of many lives. (It does not become clear until much later that the three women are Yeonsangun's mother, Jang-geum's mother, and lastly, Jang-geum herself.) The inner stress from the incident eventually causes him to resign. On the other hand, Lady Park, a royal kitchen apprentice, witnesses a conspiracy against the Queen Mother by Lady Choi (Lady Choi had mixed wolfsbane with other things in food to create dizziness to those who ate it) and is in turn indicted on false charges by the inner circle of senior kitchen staff, and ordered secretly executed per their internal procedures. She is saved by Lady Han, who secretly leaves a letter during the execution for her best friend in the palace, and later again saved inadvertently by the now retired Suh. The two depart to live in secret in a remote village, posing as lower class peasants; they marry, and raise a very bright young daughter, Suh Jang-geum.
In the year 1504, King Yeonsangun orders a massive investigation into his mother's murder, and eventually finds Suh and his family, partly because of a mistake on the part of his child, Jang-geum, in which Jang-geum had blurted out that her parents were not low-class citizens, that Suh was a military official in the palace. This is when people realize Jang-geum's father partook of the incident of the poisoning of the King's mother. Suh is arrested, and presumably later executed. Jang-geum and her mother flee, but Jang-geum's mother is severely wounded by her enemies, and before her death she tells Jang-geum her last wish, should she choose to do so, is for her to become the Top Lady (head chef in the royal palace kitchen) and record her case in the kitchen ladies' secret historical records book (to redress the wrong done to her honor).
Jang-geum goes through some adventures and manages to enter the palace. Through her courage, curiosity, talent, kind-heartedness and hard work, she helps Lady Han (her mother's best friend, which she does not discover until much later) to become the Top Lady. During her years in the palace, she is put under many ordeals and shunned because she is smarter than the other apprentices. Jang-geum, however, does not become discouraged and continues cooking with the mindset that no matter what, the goal of cooking is to bring good health and happiness to the person who eats the food. Unfortunately, a conspiracy headed by Lady Choi and her niece Geum-yeong, as well as high-rank officials and merchants who wanted the import market to remain a monopoly, results in the exile of Lady Han and Jang-geum to Jeju-do Island, in being accused for poisoning King Junjong with sulphur-laced ducks. On the way to Jeju-do, an exhausted Lady Han dies of a fever. Back in the palace, Lady Choi is chosen as Top Lady.
While Jang-geum is in the Jeju Island, she meets Jang-deok, whom she initially believed was a fellow slave. However she soon discovers that Jang-deok is a famous physician lady. Jang-deok's frank and pragmatic nature initially offends her, but she soon learns that she is truly dedicated to her profession of saving lives.
Jang-geum learns that competent medical women can be selected to through a test, and then can proceed to be trained as medical ladies in the palace. She realizes that only way to return the palace and avenge her mother and Lady Han, is to become a medical lady. Under Jang-deok, she learns medicine, and her hardworking and tenacious nature makes her extremely competent.
However, in her quest to become a medical lady, she has to learn to rid herself of the hatred that has welled up in her heart, in order to truly embrace the virtues of being a medical practitioner. This she does, and eventually successfully re-enters the palace.
Soon, she comes face to face with Geum-yeong, who has now become the Top Lady. Her predecessor, the ruthless Lady Choi, has become Chief Lady (head of palace ladies) after ousting the previous one. As they plot to rid themselves of her once and for all, Jang Geum's relationship with Lt. Min Jeung-ho intensifies, and the love story between them develops. Eventually, through a dramatic interrogation process, the past plots of Lady Choi and her subordinates are revealed, resulting in the destruction of the Choi family (with Geum-yeong as the family's last descendent) and high-ranking officials.
Through her selfless dedication to the royal family, her perseverance, and her talent and skill, she becomes recognised as the best medical personnel in the palace. Jang-Geum correctly diagnosed the Queen as having a stillborn foetus in her womb and saved her life as a result. With her daring wits, she managed to convince the Queen Mother to undergo treatment for her illness. She further earns the gratitude of the Queen, when she cured her son of smallpox, which was a fatal disease back in those days. Jang-Geum rooted out the correct causes of the King's chronic illness, which had been misdiagosed all this while by other royal physicians. With a strange turn of events, the King falls in love with Jang-Geum, but refrains from making her one of his royal concubines because he understood Jang-Geum's loves lie in Jeung-ho and in medicine. In order to see more of her, the King decides to make her his personal royal physician and confers on her the title of Dae Jang-Geum.
The King's wishes are met with much controversy and outcry from the scholars and male ministers, since having a woman placed at a position of such prestige was recognised as an open defiance of their patriachal society and confucianist beliefs. Jang-Geum, understanding that she would liberate the rights of Korean women by accepting the post, is reluctanly convinced and agrees. Min Jeung-ho, in his support of her, is recognised to be going against his scholar's teachings and is ordered to be exiled. They are then separated.
The King became critically-ill and there was little Jang-geum could do, despite her comprehensive understanding of his medical condition and attentive care. Jang-Geum knew that the King could no longer be treated with acupuncture or medicine. As a last resort, she carefully suggested a revolutionary approach, surgery. The court officials were horrified at her bold suggestion, as cutting up a person was totally unheard of and moreover, the King was considered too sacred to be allowed to bleed. Though the King believed in her, he was concerned that should the surgery fail, Jang-Geum would surely be put to death. With his condition deteriorating without undergoing Jang-Geum's proposed surgery, the King knew his end was near, but he was more worried about Jang-geum's fate when he passes on. To protect her, the King sent her away against her wishes. Under the King's arrangements, she reunites with Jeong-ho and they live together for eight years - married and with a daughter. All this while, Jang-Geum and Jeong-ho are compelled to lead vagrant lives, as their detractors have been searching for them since the King passed away. However, Jang-Geum continues to practise and help patients wherever she goes.
As a result, they were finally traced and ordered to return to the palace. Instead of being punished, they are both reinstated by the Queen Mother - formerly the Queen who favoured Jang-geum when she was a medical lady, and has now come into total power. Jang-geum is then ranked as an officer of the palace, and is reconferred the title of Dae Jang-Geum, while Jeung-ho also regains his previous post. She continues serving the royal family, and gains much-deserved respect and admiration from everyone. However, she and Jeung-ho were wary of the politics in the palace and decided to move on. The story ends as Jang-Geum successfully performs the first Caesarean surgery ever for a pregnant peasant-woman.
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