Dae Jang Geum

The chronological time line of the Jewel in the Palace drama:

1479
King Seong-jong’s queen was ousted from the palace.
The reason is that she dared to scratch on the king’s cheek because of her jealousy.

1482
The ousted queen was executed by poison, coughing up blood.
She left her mother a piece of fabric permeated by her blood, saying “show this blood when my son becomes a king”
(* The execution was fictionally carried out by Jang-geum’s father in episode 1.)

1494
Her crown prince “Yeon-san” became the 10th ruler of Chosun dynasty.
King Yeon-san was not so bad at the beginning. He was just a lonely king dreaming about a kingdom of an absolute monarch.

1497
Jang-geum was born.

1504
King Yeon-san finally knew the truth of his mother’s death.
He almost got mad and killed all the people related to his mother’s death remorselessly without weighing their sin.
(* Jang Geum’s father was arrested and mother was killed, leaving Jang Geum alone, in episode 2.)

1506
Coup d’etat. King Yeon-san was ousted 12 years after his coronation.
King Jung-Jong (1488~1544), the 11th ruler of Chosun dynasty, mounted the throne at the age of 18. He was Yeon-san’s younger brother by a different mother.
(* Little Jang Geum took part in the coup without intention, which made her go to the palace as a royal kitchen maid in episode 3. )

However, King Jung-jong’s first wife was also forced to be ousted by cabinet ministers who led to the coup, because her family members were related to the deposed king.
(* King Jung-jong was deeply grieved over losing his beloved wife, but he had no actual power to protect her. He knew that he was just a kind of puppet king appointed by ministers. )

1515
King Jung-jong’s second queen died soon after giving birth to a son. Later, the son became crown prince.
“Jo Gwang-jo (1482~1519)”, a famous social reformist, passed the state exam to be a government officer.

1517
King Jung-jong married his third wife, Queen “Mun-jeong” (1501~1565).
(* It is the young queen who is appearing on “The Great Jang-geum” drama.)

1518
“Jo Gwang-jo” eventually came into power of the government with supports of the king.
Jung-jong took advantage of him in order to weaken the political power of ministers as well as to strengthen his position as an absolute monarch.

1519
Ministers entrapped Jo Gwang-jo by using leaves saying “Jo will be a new king”. Rumors spread.
Jo Gwang Jo was finally expelled and executed with an allegation of high treason.
(* Jang Geum and Lady Han was also expelled in connection with this case, although they didn’t have any connection in actual.)

1520
The (dead) second queen’s son was chosen as crown prince.
(* He would be “In-jong (1515~1545)”, the 12th king of Chosun dynasty)

1534
Queen Mun-jeong (the third queen) gave birth to Prince “Kyeong-won”.
(* He would be “Myeong-jong (1534~1567)”, the 13th king. )

Conflicts over the throne between the two legitimate heirs of the kingdom kicked off.
(* Sir Oh and Choi family are on the side of the crown prince, while the Queen tries to make her son the crown prince.)

1544
King Jung-jong died of intestinal obstruction.
The crown prince mounted the throne and became King “In-jong”.

1545
King In-jong died just one year after his coronation.
His younger brother “Myeong-jong”, the son of Queen Mun-jeong, became a king at the age of 12.
The Queen Regent Mun-jeong’s reign began.

NB:
The year of episode 37 or 38 could be 1536 or 1537.

The flow of story line is approximately the same as the time line of the history. But age of characters does not fit in. You’d better ignore the inconsistency of their age with their appearance.

Source: Post of Choko at Chicago Drama Fan Club

Dae Jang-geum was a real person documented in the Annals of the Joseon Dynasty (Chosun Dynasty Chronicles) as well as a medical document of the time. Descriptions of and references to her, though, were few and mostly short. Many assert that Dae Jang-geum was the first female royal physician of the king in Korean history, and was trusted and favoured by Jungjong very much. However, there are some who continue to believe that Dae Jang-Gum is merely a fictional figure drawn from various references of female doctors in the Annals. The argument continues to this day.

Jang-geum appears about 10 times in Annals of the Joseon Dynasty, not as a royal kitchen maid but as a medical woman. There are few details about her personal life, therefore, most of the royal kitchen story and the drama story in this Jewel in the Palace drama was fictionally created by 39-year-old female writer Kim Young-Hyeon and the director Yi Byeong-Hoon.

The following texts are excerpt from Annals of Joseon Dynasty that mention about Dae Jang Geum. Its were translated and interpreted by Choko from Chicago Korean Drama Fan Club.

1. In 1515, King Jung-jong’s second wife, Queen Jang-gyeong, died of sequelae caused by her childbirth. Cabinet ministers maintained that royal doctors and medical women related to her death, including Jang-geum, should be punished severely. However, the king told them: “Jang-geum deserves to get a big credit for leading to several safe childbirth of palace ladies, but I have never awarded her for the performance until now because of other affairs. Now you told me to punish her because the queen was dead, but I won’t do that as well as I won’t reward her. That’s enough.”

It was a kind of offset. It could be interpreted that the king trusted her as an able medical woman.

2. In 1524, the chronicles wrote that “Dae (Great) Jang-geum” was better than any other medical women in the palace, so she was permitted to look after the king.

It is the first time she was called “Dae (Great) Jang-geum”. It can be translated she has got an honor to be the only royal physician in attendance on the king, and she is heading the palace medical group, the nation’s top post in this area.

3. In 1533, the king said: “I recovered my health from several month’s sickness. Royal doctors and pharmacist deserve praise. (Omission) Jang-geum and Kye-geum, the two medical women, also will be rewarded with 15 rice bags, 15 bean sacks, and 10 cloths respectively.”

She is the last person to be named in this list because, unlike the male doctors, medical women have no government position. (They are officially “slaves” who serve the royal family). However, although she belonged to low-class, her excellent performance was duly recognized.

4. In January 29th, 1544, the king said: “I haven’t done my duty for a long time since I caught a cold. A few days ago, I held a seminar, but the cold weather made my condition worse. I already told Bak Se-geo and Hong Chim, the royal doctors, and top medical woman Dae Jang-geum to discuss about the prescription. Let medical minister know that.”

Chosun’s kings held academic seminars regularly to debate on politics or philosophy. Medical minister is a nominal leader in charge of the royal medical department. The person is an aristocrat without any medical art. By the way, medical women have no right to write out any prescription in principle, however, as the record shows, Jang-geum was an exception.

5. Finally, in February 9th, the king recovered from the cold and gave Jang-geum credit for it.

6. In October 25th, 1544, King Jung-jong is approaching his death. One of his ministers asked Jang-geum how the king was, and she answered, “He slept around midnight yesterday, and has also slept for a short time at dawn. He just passed his urine, but has been constipated for more than 3 days.”

7. The next day, the king’s health worsen. He told his cabinet members, “I’m still constipated. What prescription should be made is under discussion.” (Omission). “The female doctor (Jang-geum) knows all of my condition” Then, Jang-geum explained her prescription for the king’s symptoms to the ministers.

Here, for the first time, the king called her “female doctor”, not medical woman. (Very interesting difference). He shows his confidence in her ability by saying that Jang Geum knows his condition better than any other doctors or medical women.

8. In October 29th, the king recovered his health for a short while and said “I feel better than before. I’ll grant all of you to return to your home and take a rest”. However, he died in November 15th, 39 years after mounting the throne.

There’s no record regarding Jang-geum after that.

To view the actual records about Dae Jang Geum in King Jungjong chapter of Annals of Joseon Dynasty , visit lollipop的相簿 > 中宗實錄.

There is also another medical book 《李朝鲜国医官散札记》 (Essay about Yi’s Korea’s Doctor) which uses about 250 words to describe more ‘extensively’ about Dae Jang Geum’s researches and achievements in acupuncture and food health. However, so far this book cannot be independently verified (if you do, email me). The excerpt is in Chinese:

醫女長今醫女長今,其姓亡佚,今時人不可查,十一代中宗王十八年奉運承旨受封鈞號大長今,名以傳之,有德、智、術名,長今侍側景揚殿其技受大讚之.

中宗九年往之內醫院,轉其惠民活人諸署從其醫得其大明活禾金針灸法,其水刺間尚宮金氏輔以食療亦教之,備後大成年達後宮內命婦皆以醫女長今侍之,安然受其賞,文定后賜以玉笏表之.

在其,龍體尚無醫女受治之先,中宗王禕而准之,使乃信非長今之名亦得受載之故.

今謂食療,大曰”檀羅補氣湯” ,處方當以長白妙香二山產之血蔘佐以芯草、卉伀而烹之,其草藥本性燥,或怯其虛體氣皆有所妙.

後弘文館儒生朴善道賦詩云:檀羅開國第一女,始為水刺繼內醫,皇苑護生冠杏林,承旨獲賜大長今,當為一代女仕傑,至善之身非莫名,且道宮苑御醫女,莫若蕙質冠食醫.

The excerpt can be literally translated (might not be correct) as:

Medicine woman Jang Geum, surname unknown, unable to trace nowadays, in the eighteenth year of the eleventh generation King Jungjong was awarded the declaration of Dae Jang Geum by the King. She has character, knowledge and skill, stayed in the palace and was praised for her skill.

At the ninth year of King Jungjong, Jang Geum worked in citizen’s hospital and improved the acupuncture skill from Ming Dynasty. Kim Sanggoong from kitchen also taught her with theory of food health. In the internal palace, all palace maids respected Jang Geum. The Queen also awarded Jang Geum a jade to express gratitude.

Meanwhile, the body of the King never been treated by a medicine woman before. The king allowed her, just because she is Jang Geum.

The food treatment method is a soup made of red ginseng medicine.

Later a poet described Jang Geum as the first woman since the start of Joseon Dynasty, firstly in kitchen and later in internal hospital, the best among all, and was awarded with the title Dae Jang Geum.

Source:
Dae Jang Geum - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Chicago Korean Drama Fan Club - Real or Fiction

The term kungnyŏ was used to refer to the women who worked within the palace. The rank or titles which these women could possess ranged from Chŏng 5-p´um (senior 5th grade) Sanggung to Chong 9-p´um (junior 9th grade) Chubyŏngung. Moreover, in addition there were other women who worked within the palace known as nain, who carried out the majority of the physical labor without being granted any titles.

This palace women system was first adopted during the 6th year of King T’aejo at the suggestion of Cho Chun and Chŏng Tojŏn. The two introduced a structure which would govern the women who worked within the palace. This structure consisted of two women given the rank of hyŏnŭi, two the rank of sukŭi, three the status of ch’andŏk, three of sunsŏng, three of sanggung, four of karyŏng, four of sagŭp, and four of sasik. Moreover, within each of these ranks, there existed different grades (chŏng 1-p´um to chong 9-p´um).

In the third month of the 1st year of King Taejong, palace women who were employed in the T’aesangjŏn were granted ranks ranging from 3- p´um to 9- p´um. During the reign of King Sejong, a palace woman system, in which various ranks and titles as well as the duties attached to each title, was established. Moreover, during the reign of King Sŏngjong, this palace women system was included in the Kyŏngguk taejŏn as a part of the naemyŏngbu. The various ranks and titles bestowed upon palace women listed below.

Ranks and titles assigned to palace women during the Chosŏn dynasty (Kyŏngguk taejŏn, “naemyŏngbu”):

Or, a diagram shown in the Dae Jang Geum drama in episode 4:

Here another diagram with English remarks:

Every position from 1a to 4b on this chart is one of the king’s consorts. The sanggung (the ones wearing the wigs, addressed as “madams” in Dae Jang Geum drama) are at 5a.

While no official system existed to govern this practice, palace women usually came to the palace from the ages of 4-6, at which time they began to pursue a vigorous training program. Although the royal family had originally intended to use girls from the commoner class as palace women, the resistance of this class to such attempts, which was exemplified by the practice of marrying off daughters at a very young age, meant that this was eventually changed to the usage of the daughters of government slaves. However, in the case of the palace women which were responsible for serving the royal couple, a different selection method was employed which involved the usage of girls recommended by senior palace women.

The official titles given to these palace women varied in accordance with the identity of their direct employer and their rank. In the case of women who held important positions, such as chimil sanggung, these were taught basic knowledge, including han΄gŭl, sohak, and yŏsasŏ, as well as palace etiquette. Some of these girls who reached a high level of self-cultivation went on to establish the so-called ‘palace literature’ examples of which include Kyech’uk ilgi and Inhyŏn wanghujŏn.

As the system itself was never institutionalized, the number of palace women varied greatly from period to period. While the number of such palace women was rather small during the early stages of the dynasty, this grew over time to reach approximately 600. These women received a stipend, which varied according to their position and rank, as well as the basic living necessities. Furthermore, palace women who were selected as companions with the king or the crown prince had their status upgraded to that of concubine.

In general, these palace women worked 12 hours a day; however, on occasion they would have to work for 24 hours straight or conversely for only eight hours at a time. Originally, palace women were not allowed to wed, and with the exception of when they retired, were prevented from leaving the palace grounds. As such, the belief that natural disasters such as droughts occurred as a result of the excessive resentment which these palace women exhibited towards their lot in life spread throughout the kingdom. Thus, in order to avoid such natural disasters, the work duties of these palace women were reduced and some were even allowed to leave royal employ. Those who were permitted to leave the royal employ were however forbidden from marrying, and any person found guilty of having such a girl as his concubine or of having engaged in an adulterous relationship was punished accordingly. Lesbianism, which was referred to as taesik, was a common occurrence among palace women. Taesik literally meant the sharing of each other’s energy. King Sejong ordered that anybody found guilty of lesbianism be struck with a cudgel 70 times, with this number eventually increased to 100. Nevertheless, the practice of lesbianism remained prevalent, and in one extreme incident which occurred during the reign of King Sejong, Crown Princess Pong was caught having sex with a palace girl named So Ssang, which resulted in the princess being stripped of her title and the execution of her lover.

Thus, in theory, Jang Geum is not possible to marry with Min Jung Ho in the Jewel of the Palace drama, if she continues to be a palace woman, as this is not allowed, unless it’s sort of underground relationship.

Source:
Women’s Life during the Choson Dynasty
stillwaters: silent and reticent: Dae Jang Geum — background information