@pakalanapikake
Nothing much. but thought you’d like it. 🙂
Even though I can’t understand Korean and the editing is crappy at times…wow, think about an AU where this happens!

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    Wowser, @peony! You really have my number. I recognized the footage from THE KING’S DAUGHTER, SU BAEK HYANG — mashed up with scenes from QUEEN SEON-DEOK, I think. I haven’t watched the latter, just a few scenes of Bidam’s demise. It looks positively epic! Throw in scenes of Ha Ji-won in EMPRESS KI or DAMO, and it would be totally over the top. Many thanks! A great follow-up to the CROWNED CLOWN trailer. 😉

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      Oh. You haven’t watched QSD? I must say I’m surprised.😅 Then this video might not have worked on you to the maximum effect.☹️
      In QSD, Princess Deokman in disguise(Lee Yo won) teams up with her used-to-be-timid-but-now-sassy twin unni Princess Cheonmyung, and they go against Mishil.
      In the vid, Princess Cheonmyung’s footage is replaced nearly-seamlessly with Seol nan’s, so now it look likes the future Queen Seondeok’s unni is Seol nan!
      I love Cheonmyung, but Mishil gained the upperhand because of her previous weaknesses. Since it’s Seol nan this time, Mishil’s not gonna stand a chance against the epic twin sisters!!!!!
      (I *think* I did a sufficient job explaining the video to you.🤗)
      .
      Ah good ‘ol Bidam. Matter of factly, I was team Yushin. Bidam charmed me for quite a part in the drama, but then Yushin won me back!😉 A major side reason was I have this weird dislike/fear for characters/actors who sweep me off my feet WITHOUT me knowing it a one bit. LOL. So when I realised one day I was TOO much attached to Bidam and Kim Nam gil, I was like; “Hell. This won’t do!” Heh.
      Still, I sure did cry a lot at his death, but there were *other* scenes I cried more. You’d know if you’ve watched it.😉😆
      .
      Did you like Empress Ki? I watched it immediately after QSD, and compared to that EK failed to move my heart and feel connected to ANY of the characters. Yeah, great acting, expensive costumes, great plot….but almost ALL the characters were..so ruthless, so anti-hero like, SO typical-politician like, I didn’t feel sad at the tragedies that befell them. I was like; “You had that coming.”
      In contrast I felt for even the villians in QSD. Apart from Mishil, because of course everybody love her.
      .
      I’ve heard Damo is great, but I don’t “willingly” and knowingly watch tragedies anymore. My heart has grown weaker lol.

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        @peony,

        “Then this video might not have worked on you to the maximum effect.” LOL! Ah, but it’s the thought that counts. I am touched. 😉

        Yep, it’s shocking how many famous sageuks I haven’t gotten around to watching yet. Some simply don’t resonate, while others mess up the history. And some are just plain daunting at 50+ episodes. So many sageuks, so little time, especially since I started watching contemporary shows. I loved Jo Hyun-jae as Seja in TKDSBH, so checked out his earlier work, and watched 55 episodes of BALLAD OF SEO DONG, which took place in Shilla and Baekje.

        Thanks for filling in the blanks for me. At first I didn’t realize that the future Queen Seondeok had a twin sister – now played by Seolnan. What a great switcheroo. Seo Hyun-jin eventually spit nails in some of her scenes with her usurper sister, so I can see why she was recruited to whoop Mishil’s butt.

        I’ve seen some early scenes from EMPRESS KI, which aired at the same time as TKDSBH, and had a much bigger budget. (I don’t recall whether I’d seen Ha Ji-won in anything at that point. I don’t think so. Her turn in the film DUELIST made me a fan, and later led me to watch the drama version, DAMO, which I didn’t like the first time I tried it because of the wire-fu and rock soundtrack. DUELIST is one of the most beautiful sageuk films I’ve ever seen, and has a different ending from DAMO, so you might consider giving it a go.) Despite its shoestring budget, TKDSBH made the most of what it had – an inspiring story and memorable characters, a great ensemble cast, gorgeous cinematography, and oodles of heart. EMPRESS KI had a lot of pageantry, but just didn’t engage me. I can only take so much ruthless political stuff – or I have to be in the mood for it.

        Thanks again – and Merry Christmas! St. Nick should be attempting to get down our chimney any moment now. 😉

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      In a nice coincidence, Princess Seonhwa of Seodongyo is the younger sis of Deokman and Cheonmyung! You knew that?
      Anyway, I really love the Seodongyo children’s choir theme song you shared with me the other day, which is influenced by the 1st Korean written poem(?). It was pretty fun, and I always crack up at its meaning; “Seonhwa Gonju is going to be Prince Seodong’s secret bride tonight. What if the moon sees them? Aigoo, what to do!”
      LOL. SO kinky🤣.
      .
      I’ll go search DUELIST. Thanks for the suggestion!
      Merry Christmas! I hope you and your family get many surprisises from St. Nick! 😁

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        @peony,

        LOL at Shilla Six Degrees of Separation between QUEEN SEONDEOK and BALLAD OF SEO DONG. I did not know the characters were sisters. This is hilarious. Prince Seo Dong’s little ditty was the Three Kingdoms version of paparazzi cooking up a nice juicy scandal just to increase newspaper sales. The things some guys will do to get a date. Sheesh.

        As for DUELIST, I saw it mentioned in a comment on the 2008 Korean-Chinese wuxia BICHEONMU, which had all kinds of nifty swordfights, including in the tops of bamboo. One of them takes place in a big dye yard where long pieces of fabric are drying on clotheslines. DUELIST and CHUNO also have artfully shot scenes of swirling textiles and robes. Very beautiful. I enjoyed BICHEONMU very much. Joo Jin-mo plays the tragic protagonist. In DUELIST, Ha Ji-won and Gang Dong-won’s battles look like tangos with swords. Simply stunning. 😉

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          Exactly. Now, if I was Seonhwa, I would be super pissed off at Seodong for staining my name and status in SUCH a blatant way….but oh well, I’m Peony, not Seonhwa. (Hmmm. I wonder what kind of flower is Seonhwa?😋)
          I’ve the minor issue of not being a big fan of Joo Jin mo, but I’ll look out for both the films. Because I LOVE the fights in bamboo woods and also the flying-white-bedsheet fights! Lol. I won’t be able to resist if both of them are put together.

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          Haha you took it seriously and actually went out of your way to translate Seonhwa! I could’ve done it myself if I wanted- I use Google translate for Hanja names mentioned in Sageuks ALL the time. I was simply joking up there…because Peony is a flower and Seonhwa must be a flower too. It’s actually lame, I realize. Anyway I must say I’m touched. 
          .
          Oh ho. Then then they’re not white bedsheets but dyed fabric!?! Talking about flowing-sheets-fighting-sequences, I suddenly remembered that Bollywood “Sageuks” usually have plenty of them. Because those palaces, especially Moghul ones have BILLOWING silk curtains literally everywhere, so they more often than not get tangled up when a swordfight happens in the premises. LOL. But it’s very cinematic and gorgeous, if you ask. The most clear one in my mind is Jodha Akbar (the one with Aishwarya Rai and Hrithik Roshan, one of my all-time favorite Bollywood films).


          Because you shared those gorgeous OSTs with me, it’s only fair if I do the same! 😉 So here’s a bonus, one of my all-time fave Hindi songs- from Jodha Akbar. Look at the beautiful poetic lyrics. (And the sceneries, of course)
          https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G_E8euJ1sEg
          .
          Nocturne – Beautiful. How to say it…the lingering tone it is sung, quite sweetly matches that of the MV and the lyrics. Delivers the needed effect. At first I was bit off put with a Korean song in a Wuxia/Chinese setting/MV, but soon I noticed the Korean actors and features at the itch dissolved, heh. Joo Jin mo looks quite nice here (not to mention VERY appropriate looking for the period setting), I let go of almost all of my previous reservations of him, lol.
          Long story short, you sealed the deal for me, Ms. PP. I’m certainly going to watch this piece of art the first time I find enough time and peace. Green bamboos, huts, flute music, flowy white Hanfus and falling white petals in cool weather is MORE than enough for me, if nothing else. 😉
          .
          Have you seen Ghibli movie Only Yesterday? Overall, the movie had little to no message/story, but there was an interesting and beautiful bucolic scene of farmers plucking saffron flowers from since the dawn, drying them and making rouge, and dyeing clothes with the leftover byproducts. SOO beautiful. The whole sequence is backed with traditional Bulgarian(I think) farmers’ music, because the main lead is in love with those. Such a treat to the ears and eyes. I think you might like it.


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            Oh lord for some weird reason the pics are not getting posted. You can look here for that epic Moghul fabric-flying scene.
            http://specials.rediff.com/movies/2008/jan/31sli5.htm
            https://bollyspice.com/jodhaa-akbar/
            I’m REALLY sorry for the numeorus fake notifs I probably sent your way while trying to post this!
            I wasn’t able to find the site where the dissapeared Ghibli pics belonged, tho. Sorry. 🙁

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            Part 1 of 2

            @peony,

            We Beanies with flowery names have to stick together, sez Ms. Chinese Violet (Telosma cordata)-Jasmine. I’m kind of disappointed that Seon-hwa is a generic “good flower.” Good in what sense? Fragrance? Color? Durability? Ever-blooming? Medicinal properties? Ability to survive frost, flood, and drought? Pfft.

            I documented my translation process for other Beanies who cannot read hanja. Yeah, I’m pedantic that way. LOL. 😉

            You better believe it that all those Korean dramas and films I mentioned have scenes in dye yards, so the fabrics are a rainbow of colors. It would be so borrr-ing if the textiles were plain white. 😉

            I’ve watched very little in the way of Bollywood productions, mainly because Kdramas got to me first. Thank you for that excerpt from JODHA AKBAR. The sets are gorgeous – and the music is exquisite. Thanks for the links to the review and the swordfight article. It really does look like the Mughal version of DUELIST – but in broad daylight. Oh, joy! Netflix has it. It’s officially on my to-watch list now. 😉

            I posted “Jashn-E-Bahaara” on my own fan wall. So soothing. I used to regularly listen to Singh Kaur’s beautiful and uplifting recordings of Sikh devotional music. Javed Ali’s tender rendition of “Jashn-E-Bahaara” reminds me very much of her. Check out “Ardas” with Celtic harper Kim Williamson: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M2Ws6CYy74Y.)

            “Nocturne” is indeed beautiful, and I like both versions. Actually, all the music in BICHEONMU is lovely. IIRC, the drama is a joint Korean-Chinese production, which is probably why you were getting clashing wuxia-sageuk vibes. The Chinese version has 33 episodes as opposed to the Korean’s 14, and from what I’ve read, the story was fleshed out better, according to a comment I saw somewhere. Interestingly, it was the first pre-produced Kdrama. There was a copyright issue, and it didn’t air in Korea until 2008, years after it aired in China. I’ve only seen the Korean version, but if you have access to the Chinese one, that might be even better, although it will be dubbed. I want to hear Korean being spoken by Joo Jin-mo, whose voice I like a lot. – Also, be aware that there’s a movie version that came out in 2000. I watched it with German subtitles!

            Dang! I just recalled that you avoided DAMO because tragedy is too much for you nowadays. You will not be happy with the ending of BICHEONMU. In which case, just watch the early episodes up until the friendship between the two guys breaks. Enjoy the flitting around in the tops of the bamboo, and the cloth swishing in the marketplace. But bail out before the ending.

            – Continued –

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            Part 2 of 2

            From my Kdrama log:

            I was surprised by how quickly I was sucked into BICHEONMU, even with all the fight scenes. (This was still pretty early in my Kdrama-watching career.) The story is a morality play on the consequences of covetousness and the collateral damage therefrom. Betrayal and revenge are the bitter fruit, the poisoned gift that keeps on giving… in manifold and varied ways on the part of numerous characters. The moral orientation of the swordsman’s heart, and his/her selfless use of the martial art for the benefit of others versus personal revenge, are major themes.

            The tragic hero is set on his path literally as he is born, but until dogged pursuers finally locate him and his uncle twenty years later, he leads a peaceful, solitary, and sheltered life, albeit one of wary guardedness. Meeting the love of his life in the marketplace, and making the acquaintance of his first friend outside the family, have tragic repercussions for the ungrounded young man who is still not privy to the family secrets and the true nature of the martial arts manual that has been in the keeping of his uncle – who was actually one of his father’s bodyguards – a fellow countryman in exile.

            Somehere in China in the Won (Mongol) nation, a potentate decides he must possess the Bi Cheon Mu Manual of Gogoryeo Swordfighting stewarded by a Korean general who has accompanied his prince as a hostage. The potentate, NamGoong Yun Gil, Minister of Won, sics a general on the lineage holder to assassinate him – but his newborn and the manual are spirited to safety.

            You can guess where this is going to go. Buckle your seat belt, but don’t watch all the way to the end.

            Thanks again for the pointer to ONLY YESTERDAY. It looks wonderful. I expect that I’ll enjoy the Eastern European music very much. I read that “Hungarian Dance No. 5” by Brahms is also in the soundtrack.

            And don’t worry about the posts that bombed. Sometimes it happens. Thanks for keeping at it until you succeeded. 😉

            -30-

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          Here I posted them separately. Hope I’m not being a nuisance!
          http://www.dramabeans.com/activity/p/679225/

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      Oh ha ha I cannot believe I forgot that your name too comes from a flower. I have a screencap of your explanation of the username, in one of the REBEL threads. I’ve a habit of collecting such trivial information, that’s why. Not because I’m a stalker, lol.In fact I’ve screencapped MANY of the interesting tidbits I found in DB comment threads.
      Here’s a memorable excerpt from Only Yesterday.
      How could this yellow flower produce such a bright rouge? Kioko-nae-san told me sad tale from old days. The girls didn’t have gloves, and their bare hand would get pricked by the thorns. It was their blood that made the rouge red so deep! I could understand their resentment they must’ve felt towards the fancy city girls. To make a handful of rouge it took nearly 100 Ibs of petals. The rouge was literally worth its weight in gold!…………………The liquid from the pressing wasn’t wasted either. “Let’s go dye our clothes. Safflower, do your best. Cheer me up with your pretty color!” For those village girls, with no chance of make-up or kimonos, Safflower dye brought color to their drab lives.
      .
      Seonhwa was probably intended to mean “A good girl who is like a flower”. A simple name. In my opinion it’s actually complex than plainly naming your child after a flower/fruit, like Yeonhwa, Momoko or Rose. (Don’t tell me your mother’s name is Rose, because then I’ll have to go dig a hole and jump in!) I don’t have anything against “pretty” names, but you get what I mean.
      Heck, in Empress KI, theare was a bodyguard named Guksu, which means “noodle”!! 0.0
      And in Empress’s Dignity, sister’s name is Oh Hello!! Like, wut. It would’ve been better if it was “Kim Hello” or “Nam Hello”, but when you say “Oh..Hello..”.., I’m speechless.
      .
      The song captured your heart, didn’t it? I knew it. My favorite line is;
      “We met and yet me do not meet
      Flowers bloom and yet they do not
      Spring in our eyes,
      Autumn in our heart.”
      So simple and poetic. Not to mention beautiful.
      I’ve studied classical Hindusthani music*blushes*, but actually my heart is owned by Classical Chinese and Celtic music. Both are very calming and relaxing, but I think Chinese music tends towards the pure, loving and also “enlightening” side, while Celtic music is calming in almost a sadistic way. Like..”Hush now. Or bad things will happen!” So I don’t listen to Celtic music on regular basis because it often leaves me in a calmed, but also doped and stunned mood, lol. Just my opinion. Listen to “Mordred’s lullaby” by Heather Dale and you’ll know what I’m saying.

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      But I know there’re plenty of fun, upbeat tones in Celtic music too, actually more than Chinese music. (The Chinese music I’ve listened to so far is never at one extreme or another, it dwells on the pleasant middle.) I love “Tir Na nog” by Celtic women and listen to it when I need mood uplift. Tir Na Nog is your ancestry right? If I remember correctly? 😉
      However, because I don’t have enough GB right now to listen to the track you suggested, I’ll listen to that later. 
      .
      Ahhh! You went and told me Bicheonmu is a tragedy!! I’ve said; “I don’t watch tragedies knowingly”, remember? All you should’ve done was refraining from telling me that it has a sad ending, and I would’ve watched it to the end!
      .
      Bb..but, you can still write a pretty long description on your PC, then cut-paste it to your post, then ALSO post a video clip! There, readers and viewers both are attracted! And the usual “viewers” who might have had their love to “read” hidden, might get a wake-up call from your post! Many birds from one stone. I’m saying this because I too, get swept past some of your video clips, and there might be many people out there missing out on your posts as well. But if it’s not your thing, I understand. I too don’t like to do things that go against my style.  Reading again and again about what you’ve said on this matter, I see I’m probably missing out on your point. You only want to show people the path/link, and if they’re interested, they can go search for themselves, right?
      But what if the Beanie is currently not in a mood or too tired to open a separate tab and see the article/video, but is willing to see whatever is posted on the fanwall? That sometimes happen to me.

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      @pakalanapikake
      I listen to the Sikh/Celtic track you suggested. It’s hypnotising. Sure helps you fall asleep. Thanks for suggesting it. Sikh-Celtic wasn’t a combination I have even imagined before! 😉
      Here’re are some traditinal Chinese tracks I think you might be interested to see.
      1. Red Plum Blossoms– It’s a folk song(I think) and this is a famous cover of it.
      Original MV- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GfKuIwF_vbo
      Lyrics vid- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LvAxXwFql-8
      .
      2. Meeting in Ao Bao– also a folk song
      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gFt525jnWho
      Lyrics- Chuan Tong – Ao Bao Xiang Hui

      十五的月亮升上了天空哪
      shi wu de yue liang sheng shang liao tian kong na
      为什么旁边没有云彩
      wei shen me pang bian mei you yun cai
      我等待着美丽的姑娘呀
      wo deng dai zhe mei li de gu niang ya
      你为什么还不到来哟嗬
      ni wei shen me hai bu dao lai yo he
      –
      The moon on the fifteenth rises into the sky
      Why are there no clouds on the side?
      I am waiting for a beautiful girl
      why have you still not yet arrived?

      如果没有天上的雨水呀
      ruo guo mei you tian shang de yu shui ya
      海棠花儿不会自己开
      hai tang hua er bu hui zi ji kai
      只要哥哥我耐心等待哟
      zhi yao ge ge wo nai xin deng dai yo
      我心上的人儿就会跑过来哟嗬
      wo xin shang de ren er jiu hui guo lai yo he
      –
      If there is no rainwater in the sky
      The cherry-apple blossoms won’t bloom by themselves.
      Older brother, as long as I wait patiently
      the person on my heart will arrive.
      .
      3. Pray for the Earthquake in Ya’an – Duno why it’s called like that, however it’s one of my favorite tracks.
      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_kJ9S4RoJN8
      I hope you enjoy! 😉

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