Hwang Jini (TV series)

Hwang Jini

Promotional poster
Genre Period drama
Drama
Romance
Based on I, Hwang Jini 
by Kim Takhwan
Written by Yoon Sun-joo
Directed by Kim Chul-kyu
Starring Ha Ji-won
Kim Young-ae
Wang Bit-na
Kim Jaewon
Ryu Tae-joon
Jang Keun-suk
Country of origin South Korea
Original language(s) Korean
No. of episodes 24
Production
Producer(s) Lee Sung-joo
Running time 64 minutes on Wednesdays and Thursdays at 21:55 (KST)
Broadcast
Original channel Korean Broadcasting System
Original run October 11, 2006 – December 28, 2006
Chronology
Preceded by Fugitive Lee Doo-yong
Followed by Dal-ja's Spring
External links
Website

Hwang Jini (Hangul: 황진이; hanja: 黃眞伊) is a Korean drama broadcast on KBS2 in 2006. The series was based on the tumultuous life of Hwang Jini, who lived in 16th-century Joseon and became the most famous gisaeng in Korean history. Lead actress Ha Ji-won won the Grand Prize (Daesang) at the 2006 KBS Drama Awards for her performance.[1]

The series was popular in the ratings, giving rise to a boom in gisaeng-themed entertainment -- musicals, TV dramas, films, even cartoons.[2][3][4][5]

Plot

Hwang Jini is the illegitimate child of a nobleman and Hyun Geum, a blind gisaeng. A gisaeng is a singer, dancer and hostess who lives a life catering to the whims of the yangban elite. Fearing that her young daughter will follow in her footsteps and determined that she should become more than a mere plaything for men, Hyun Geum sends Jini to a remote mountain temple to be cared for by an old monk. But one day, the seven-year-old Jini slips away from the temple and comes across a gisaeng performance, and is drawn to her destiny. Enraptured by the beauty of their singing and dancing, Jini runs away and enters the gibang, or gisaeng house, where she meets her mother for the first time. They discover that she displays an outstanding talent for dancing and playing the instrument geomungo. From that day on, Jini trains to become Joseon's top gisaeng. She studies under Im Baek-moo, one of the best court dancers in the kingdom and a harsh and manipulative teacher.

Jini then falls in love with Kim Eun-ho, son of a powerful nobleman, but his parents refuse to accept the relationship due to the difference in their social status. Jini's first love ends in tragedy when in a futile attempt to elope with her, Eun-ho catches pneumonia and dies.[6]

Unable to forget Eun-ho, Jini no longer has any desire to dance; for the next five years, she spends her days making music and conversation with the middle class (becoming enormously wealthy in the process) and her nights drowning herself in misery and alcohol. While drunk, she decides to kill herself, but the poet Kim Jung-han saves her. Thus, Jini begins a troubled love affair with Jung-han. Meanwhile, she continually rejects Byuk Kye-soo, a royal relative who is obsessed with her, and faces off against Bu-yong, her rival in dancing and love. At Jini's side in times of need is her devoted bodyguard Yi-saeng. Jini later finds out that Baek-moo's scheming had a hand in Eun-ho's death, and jealousy and bitterness build between the two as they prepare for what turns out to be a fateful performance of the crane dance.

In an age when women were treated as if they were invisible, Hwang Jini becomes a celebrated gisaeng-singer-dancer-poet of the 16th century. Her beauty, wit and intellect propels her from obscurity into the company of Joseon's most powerful aristocrats, eventually winning the acclaim of King Jungjong and his court. In a relentlessly class-based society, Hwang Jini was a woman ahead of her time, who pursued art relentlessly and saw life in beautiful colors. She was both revered and reviled in her lifetime, and left her mark in history.

Cast

Main characters

Supporting characters

Production

The shooting schedule for Hwang Jini was particularly arduous for a television series, sometimes going on for seven days without a break.[1] In addition to such popular younger actors as Ha Ji-won, Wang Bit-na, Kim Jaewon and Jang Keun-suk, the series featured many noted veteran Korean actors, including Kim Young-ae and Kim Bo-yeon.[1] The costumes (designed by Kim Hye-sun), dances and music in the series were noted for their flamboyance and sensuality.[1]

Ratings

Date Episode Nationwide Seoul
2006-Oct-11 1 20.1% 20.9%
2006-Oct-12 2 20.9% 22.0%
2006-Oct-18 3 18.4% 18.7%
2006-Oct-19 4 18.7% 19.0%
2006-Oct-25 5 16.9% 16.7%
2006-Oct-26 6 17.7% 18.1%
2006-Nov-01 7 17.2% 17.1%
2006-Nov-02 8 19.2% 19.3%
2006-Nov-08 9 16.6% 15.8%
2006-Nov-09 10 19.7% 19.9%
2006-Nov-15 11 23.3% 23.7%
2006-Nov-16 12 24.9% 25.4%
2006-Nov-22 13 24.6% 25.7%
2006-Nov-23 14 26.7% 27.4%
2006-Nov-29 15 22.9% 22.9%
2006-Nov-30 16 23.9% 25.5%
2006-Dec-06 17 23.0% 24.1%
2006-Dec-07 18 24.8% 25.1%
2006-Dec-13 19 22.9% 24.0%
2006-Dec-14 20 22.9% 24.6%
2006-Dec-20 21 22.2% 22.6%
2006-Dec-21 22 24.3% 25.2%
2006-Dec-27 23 24.1% 24.8%
2006-Dec-28 24 25.0% 26.8%
Average 21.7% 22.3%

Source: TNS Media Korea

International broadcast

The series was also broadcast in Taiwan, Singapore, Malaysia and the Philippines in 2007,[7] and in Japan in April 2008.[8]

Monthly screenings of selected episodes were held at the The Korea Society in New York City from November 2008 to February 2009.[9]

See other

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 Chung, Ah-young (2007-01-01). "Broadcasters Award Top-Rated Dramas". Hankook Ilbo. Archived from the original on 2007-01-09. Retrieved 2008-06-16.
  2. ↑ "Flowering of the feminine". The Age. 2007-01-11. Retrieved 2008-06-16.
  3. ↑ Herman, Burt (2007-01-08). "South Korea's gisaeng a cultural craze". Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Retrieved 2008-06-16.
  4. ↑ Yu, Sook (2007-05-24). "송혜교의 고고함 vs 하지원의 열정, '황진이'의 두 모습" (in Korean). Hankook Ilbo. Retrieved 2008-06-16.
  5. ↑ 요염한 기생 '황진이'로 변신한 하지원: 드라마 '황진이' 포스터 촬영현장 하지원 인터뷰 (in Korean). The Chosun Ilbo. 2006-09-22. Retrieved 2008-06-16.
  6. ↑ "Hwang Jini TV Series (2006)". Asiandb.com. Retrieved 2008-06-16.
  7. ↑ "Gisaeng serve as role model for women, Ha says". The China Post. 2007-10-17. Retrieved 2008-06-16.
  8. ↑ Han, Aran (2008-08-21). "Korean drama about Hwang Jin-yi to air in Japan". Korea.net. Retrieved 2008-08-21.
  9. ↑ "KBS Drama Hwang Jini to Premiere in New York". KBS Global. 2008-11-12. Retrieved 2008-11-12.

External links