Wednesday 16 December 2015

[LET'S GET TO KNOW] Korean Sageuks' and In What Order You Can Watch Them (Part 1)

Korean historical dramas: The Three Kingdoms





B.C – before Christ
A.D – After Christ (sometimes written as just numbers)


Quick historical backstory: Pre- and during the Three Kingdoms


Several tribes formed “The Gojoseon” (old Joseon) kingdom around 10th century BC. Gojoseon fell to an invasion by Emperor Wudi of the Han Dynasty of China in 108 BC (Emperor Wu of Han, 5th emperor of the Han dynasty). During this time various tribal states emerged and built walls. As their political powers got stronger these tribal states developed into Goguryeo, Baekje and Silla – The three kingdoms of Korea삼국시대; (refer to the ancient Korean kingdoms of Goguryeo, Baekje and Silla, which dominated the Korean peninsula and parts of Manchuria, North-East China, for much of the 1st millennium. The Three Kingdoms period ran from 57 BC until Silla triumphed over Goguryeo in 668, which marked the beginning of the North and South States period of Unified Silla in the South and Balhae in the North. The earlier part of this period, before the three states developed into full-fledged kingdoms, is sometimes called Proto–Three Kingdoms of Korea).


About this blog post and Sageuk dramas:


Not to long ago I got quite a few requests and questions about the topic in what order should I watch sageuks? This is a very interesting question because some of them are connected to each other, and based on real historical events while others are more fictional and can be watched whenever. So Instead of writing a super long essay in a private message on mydramalist to everyone individually, I decided to make a blog post about it. This way it won't only answer the question but it could also perhaps help everyone else who might be wondering the same thing.

I've categorized them based on kingdoms and then time period. Unless it's stated that something is a prequel or sequel to something, those dramas (which will be marked in in cursive letters) can be watched separately. But I still recommend to stick to the order for best historical accuracy. When a drama is written as "related to" another one, it means that you can either watch it right next to the other or watch them both at the same time (preferably. Because that way you'll get the full story).
If there is a link for the subbed episodes, it will be provided here as well. However not every drama will have a link. That doesn't mean that it doesn't exist, just that I'm not an all-knowing person and doesn't know of every kdrama online page in existence xD feel free to comment down below the links if you have them. It is very appreciated! :)
This list is in no way complete (first of all it's is only the first part in this blog-post series as I'll go from The three kingdoms all the way to the 1900's Korea) but I will also add dramas and movies to this list as they come out. It seems like 2016 will be full of sageuks' so when they start to air I'll add them to the list! Also, keep in mind that this is all a recommendation and doesn't serve as a MUST-DO in any way! I also have to note that I haven't seen all of these dramas. I also haven't followed this order as if it's set in stone, especially since some historical periods appeal to me more than others, but I've always tried to watch the prequel-sequel or related dramas in the order in which they are historically presented. Of couse if I can't find the subbed episodes then it can't be helped. I will also mark the recommendations with a *, it is dramas that I've seen and that I think you can watch if you don't feel like watching EVERYTHING xD. Well then, I hope this post will be useful or at least give you an overview on all the different kingdoms and historical time periods. If you've made yourself comfy on the chair and grabbed a bag of snacks ~ enjoy. Let's begin shall we?

In what order they should/can be watched:

Before anything, if you want to start from the very very beginning, I can recommend you to read the manhwa the bride of the water god. It's a fictional story based on korean history and mythology and it's about a woman who gets sacrificed by her village to the water god Habaek in order to become his bride. This is, according to an old myth the only way to calm down the angry Water God so that he'll let the rain fall again (and the villagers have been starving for 20 years or so because of drought). How is this relevant to Korean history you might ask? Well, according to legends Jumong, the founder of Goguryeo and also Korea's first king is said to be the grandson of the water god Habaek. Jumong's mom also makes an appearance in the manhwa and I have to add that besides the story, the drawing is flawless. It is one of the most gorgeously drawn manga/manhwas I've ever come across. So if you feel like that sounds like sometrhing for you, you can start by reading the bride of the water god, otherwise you can just jump right ahead into the first historical drama in this order:


Goguryeo:

Jumong * (First saeguk to watch. Founder of Goguryeo and therefore also the "father" of Korea)
The kingdom of the winds * (Sequel to Jumong and is about Jumong's grandson King Daemusin)
Ja Myung Go (Main character Prince Hodong is the son of King Daemusin. Sequel to The kingdom of the winds)

The Legend (Watch after Kim Soo Ro)


Yeon Gae Somun (Takes places before, during and after Sword of Flower)

Sword and flower Related to the drama Yeon Gae Somun as a fictional sequel. The main characters fathers' are King Yeongnyu and General Yeon Gaesomun - who were enemies)  

Silla:

Queen Seon Duk * (related to the dramas: Yeon Gaesomun and Ballad of Seo Dong).
The great King’s dream (Sequel to Queen Seon Duk)
Emperor of the Sea

Baekje:

Ballad of Seo Dong (A love story between a princess of Silla and a prince of Baekje. Based on a folktale)


Gaya:

Kim Soo Ro (Watch before the drama The Legend)

Balhae:

Dae Jo Yeong


Non-historically accurate dramas, but still set in this time-period:

Battlefield heroes



End of part 1 

2 comments:

  1. I should start watching some of these to get a hang of Korean history!! Thank you!!!

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    Replies
    1. You're welcome! :D Yeah, you definitely should! I highly recommend dramas from the Goryeo and Joseon era as well ^^ those are my favorites. They'll be in the next blogpost :)

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