Dong Yi (TV Series)

''Dong Yi'' () is a 2010 South Korean historical television series directed by Lee Byung-hoon. It first aired on MBC from 22 March to 12 October, 2010 on Mondays and Tuesdays at the 21:55 time slot for 60 episodes.

Starring Han Hyo-joo in the title role, ''Dong Yi'' tells the story of a simple water maid that rises high in the royal court as a consort and ultimately, mother of the 21st King of the Joseon Dynasty. The series follows her journey to becoming the royal noble consort Choe Suk-bin, as she overcomes injustice and adversity while remaining true to her principles of loyalty and justice. Featuring elaborate Korean traditional culture, themes of ambition, love and sacrifice, it is also known for depicting the romance between King Sukjong and Suk-bin, highlighting their growing affection and the challenges they face as they navigate the complex political battles of the Joseon court.

''Dong Yi'' was a huge hit across Asia and recorded the highest ratings for Korean dramas on Japanese network NHK. It also recorded impressive viewership ratings in the mid-20% to 30% range in South Korea. Han Hyo-joo won multiple acting awards for her performance including Daesang (Grand Prize) at the MBC Drama Awards and Best Actress at the prestigious Baeksang Arts Awards.

Over the years, ''Dong Yi'' has developed a legacy as one of the best sageuk Korean dramas of all time, commonly mentioned alongside '' Jewel in the Palace'' which also starred Ji Jin-hee in a leading role and was helmed by the same director.

Plot

Childhood

Set during the reign of King Sukjong in the Joseon dynasty, the series is based on real-life historical figure Choe Suk-bin.

Dong-yi's father and brother are members of the Sword Fraternity, which is wrongfully accused of murdering noblemen. The King orders their execution and while attempting to flee were killed by the soldiers. Dong-yi hides her identity and enters the palace as a servant for the Bureau of Music, determined to reveal her family's innocence and find the true orchestrators of the noblemen's deaths.

As a court lady inspector

Dong-yi rises from the humble position of a servant to a court lady inspector through her shrewd investigative skills and relentless drive for justice.

The court is split between the Westerners faction (backed by the Queen Dowager and Queen Min) and the Southerners faction (backed by the King's favored concubine, Jang Ok-jeong). Unaware of his true identity, Dong-yi befriends the King and becomes his trusted confidante.

Originally, Dong-yi admires Ok-jeong on the basis that both are clever, ambitious women from the common classes. However, she is horrified to realize that Jang Ok-jeong and her brother, Jang Hee-jae, are poisoning the Queen Dowager for refusing to acknowledge Ok-jeong as a royal concubine. They also frame the innocent Queen Min for the Queen Dowager's death with false proof.

Queen Min is stripped of her title and exiled to the countryside. Dong-yi vows to find the evidence that proves the Deposed Queen's innocence and bring her back into the palace. While investigating the Royal Treasury, Dong-yi discovers proof that Jang Hee-jae bribed officials and apothecaries to frame Queen Min. Before she can bring this evidence to the King, Dong-yi is gravely injured by Jang Hee-jae's assassins and goes missing.

Jang Ok-jeong takes her place as Queen, and her son, Yi Yun, is declared Crown Prince. The Southerners are more powerful than ever. Meanwhile, Dong-yi is hiding in a distant province as she recuperates her health. There, she discovers that Jang Hee-jae is involved in a conspiracy with the Qing envoys: in exchange for the Emperor's approval of Crown Prince Yun, Hee-jae will give them military records of the Joseon border.

Dong-yi escapes Hee-jae and returns to the capital with proof that he planned to expose matters of state interest to a foreign government. The King is overjoyed to see her again, and he realizes that he is in love with her.

As royal consort

Despite her commoner status, Dong-yi is brought into the court as the King's concubine. Through her new position, she exposes that Queen Jang, her brother and the Southerners faction had contrived to sell state secrets to the Qing envoys to strengthen the position of Crown Prince Yun. Jang Hee-jae and the majority of the Southerners are stripped of their courtly titles and exiled. Ok-jeong should also be exiled; however, as the mother of the Crown Prince, she is merely demoted to her previous rank of concubine of the first class (Hui-bin). Deposed Queen Min is declared innocent and is reinstated to the inner court as Queen.

Dong-yi is highly favored by the Queen for proving her innocence and convincing the King to reinstate her to her former position. She declared Dong-yi a concubine of the fourth junior rank and an official member of the royal family. Dong-yi gives birth to the King's second son, Prince Yeongsu.

The new Sword Guild and the past exposed

A year has passed. The Sword Fraternity is resurrected. Unlike their former iteration, they are violent and murder nobles who are involved in corruption and cause the commoners to suffer. Dong-yi fears that her identity as a traitor's daughter will be exposed, and she decides to investigate. She learns that the leader of the fraternity is her old childhood friend, Gae-dwo-ra. She realizes that Lord Oh Tae-suk had murdered his fellow Southerners in order to consolidate power and had framed the Sword Fraternity, resulting in the death of her father and brother.

Jang Mu-yeol, a Southerner police chief, realizes the unusual connection between Dong-yi and the Sword Fraternity, and uses it to supplant Oh Tae-suk as the head of the Southerners faction and remove Hui-bin's enemy, Dong-yi. He murders Oh Tae-suk and blames the Sword Fraternity for his death, and sets a trap for Dong-yi into trying to help the injured Gae-dwo-ra.

The King and the court realize Dong-yi's true past and identity. The King finds out the truth about Dong-yi's father and brother from Gae-dwo-ra and attempts to hide Dong-yi's identity because he loves her. However, Hui-bin wants Dong-yi executed. She once again makes plans to guilt Dong-yi into confessing her true identity and it works. Dong-yi is charged with hiding her identity, and helping the leader of the rebel group. The Southerners petition to have her executed; however, in light of the death of Dong-yi's newborn son, Prince Yeongsu due to measles, the King exiles her from the palace but allows her to keep her title.

In exile

The King is heartbroken by his separation from Dong-yi. Despite being forbidden to do so, he goes to her residence and spends the night with her. She gives birth to her second child, Yi Geum.

The six-year-old Geum is bright and intelligent, but he longs to meet his father. On an undercover outing, the King meets Geum and he realises Geum is his son when he tells the King he is a Prince. The King befriends Geum, posing as an administrative officer because he wants to spend time with him.

Hui-bin's mother learns about the King's secret meetings with Yi Geum and his lingering affection for Dong-yi, and she hires assassins to burn Dong-yi's residence in order to kill her and her son. The royal guards, who were instructed to watch over the residence, rescue both mother and son from the fire. The King rushes to Dong-yi and upon meeting her again asks her to return to the palace with the Prince.

The King has been waiting to bring Dong-yi and her son to court and uses the failed assassination attempt as a pretext to bring them back. The King also used Geum's age to convince the ministers that he must return to the palace because he is required to receive royal education.

Return to the palace

Queen Min and her supporters seek to promote Geum (now titled Prince Yeoning) as Crown Prince, replacing Hui-bin's son because she found out that the Crown Prince was infertile. Queen Min, who has no children of her own, adores Geum and supports his claim to the throne. However, she suddenly collapses from an illness, and Hui-bin uses a shaman and black magic to make sure Queen Min dies.

The Ministers initially pushed for Hui-bin to become queen but then rumors spread throughout the palace that Crown Prince Yun is infertile due to an undisclosed condition. Since the Crown Prince was infertile, Prince Yeoning would be the natural alternative to be the King's heir. Hui-bin's supporters begin to abandon her and the Crown Prince in favor of Dong-yi and her son.

Desperate to retain her son's position, Hui-bin attempts to assassinate Dong-yi and Yeoning. Dong-yi is injured, but the prince is unharmed.

The King executes Hui-bin for using black magic to kill the Queen, hiding Crown Prince Yun's infertility, and attempting to kill Dong-yi and Prince Yeoning. Before her execution, Hui-bin acknowledges her wrongs and begs Dong-yi to protect the Crown Prince.

The king asks Dong-yi to become queen but she refuses in order to protect the Crown Prince. She cites all the chaos Hui-bin has caused in court, and she asks the King to pass a new law preventing concubines from becoming Queen in hopes that similar power struggles do not occur. The King agrees and appoints Lady Kim as Queen.

The King knows that Crown Prince Yun's supporters will always regard Prince Yeoning as a threat to the Crown Prince. For both to survive, both must become Kings. Because the Crown Prince is infertile, he will rule first after the King; Geum will follow him. Because Geum has a commoner mother, the King knows that the courtiers will not respect his position, so he decides to abdicate so that Yi Yun would become King and Yi Geum will be cemented as the Crown Prince. However, Queen Kim adopts Yeoning, giving him royal protection and ensuring that he will follow Crown Prince Yun to the throne after his death.

Dong-yi decides to leave the palace so that she can help the poor commoners and so that Queen Kim can be a mother to Prince Yeoning.

A new King

Dong-yi's son later becomes the 21st monarch of Joseon, King Yeongjo, the father of Crown Prince Sado and grandfather of Yi San.

Cast

Main

* Han Hyo-joo as Choe Dong-yi, Royal Noble Consort Suk
** Kim Yoo-jung as young Choe Dong-yi
* Ji Jin-hee as King Sukjong
* Lee So-yeon as Jang Ok-jeong, Royal Noble Consort Hui
* Bae Soo-bin as Cha Chun-soo
* Park Ha-sun as Queen Min
* Jung Jin-young as Seo Young-gi

Supporting

* Jung Dong-hwan as Oh Tae-suk
* Lee Kye-in as Oh Tae-poong
* Choi Cheol-ho as Oh Yoon
* Kim Yu-seok as Jang Hee-jae
*Son Il-kwon as Hong Tae-yoon
*Shin Guk as Royal Secretary
*Na Sung-kyoon as Jung In-gook
*Kim Dong-yoon as Shim Woon-taek
* Park Jung-soo as Queen Dowager Hyeonryeol
* Kim Hye-sun as Court Lady Jung
*Kim So-yi as Court Lady Bong
*Ahn Yeo-jin as Court Lady Jo
*Lim Sung-min as Court Lady Yoo
* Jeong Yu-mi as Jung-eum
* Kang Yu-mi as Ae-jong
*Oh Eun-ho as Shi-bi
* Han Da-min as Eun-geum
*Choi Ha-na as Mi-ji
*Lee Jung-hoon as Lee Jong-ok
*Choi Jae-ho as Park Do-soo
*Yeo Ho-min as Oh Ho-yang
*Lee Hee-do as Hwang Joo-shik
* Lee Kwang-soo as Park Yeong-dal
*Jung Sung-woon as Choe Dong-joo
* Jung In-gi as Kim Hwan
*Jung Ki-sung as Kim Hwan's disciple
*Lee Sook as Lady Park
* Kim Hye-jin as Seol-hee
* Choi Ran as Lady Yun
* Yeo Hyun-soo as Gae-dwo-ra
**Choi Soo-han as young Gae-dwo-ra
* Jung Eun-pyo as Gae-dwo-ra's father
*Jung Sun-il as Park Doo-kyung
*Kwon Min as Cha Soo-taek
*Choi Jong-hwan as Jang Mu-yeol
* Lee Hyung-suk as Yi Geum, Prince Yeoning
** Lee Seon-ho as King Yeongjo
*Shin Gyu-ri as Seo Hye-in, Princess Consort Dalseong
**Jung Mo-rye as Queen Jeongseong
* Yoon Chan as Crown Prince Yi Yun
*Heo Yi-seul as Young-sun
* Maeng Sang-hoon as Kim Goo-sun
* Oh Yeon-seo as Queen Kim
* Nam Da-reum as Prince Eunpyeong
*Chun Ho-jin as Choe Hyo-won
*Lee Jae-yong as Jang Ik-heon
*Choi Il-hwa as Seo Jung-ho
* Kim Ji-hoon as the child of an aristocrat

Production

''Dong Yi'' was written by Kim Yi-young and directed by Lee Byung-hoon. Lee previously directed the hit 2003 period drama '' Jewel in the Palace''.

It was filmed at Yongin Daejanggeum Park located at Cheoin District, Yongin in Gyeonggi Province, where other historical dramas such as ''Moon Embracing the Sun'', '' Jumong'' and '' Queen Seondeok'' were also filmed.

Ratings

In the table below, represent the lowest ratings and represent the highest ratings.

Awards

; 2010 3rd Korea Drama Awards
* Best Actress: Han Hyo-joo
* Best Supporting Actor: Jung Dong-hwan
* Achievement Award: Lee Byung-hoon

; 2010 MBC Drama Awards
* Daesang (Grand Prize): Han Hyo-joo
* Top Excellence Award, Actor: Ji Jin-hee
* Excellence Award, Actress: Lee So-yeon
* Best New Actress: Park Ha-sun
* Golden Acting Award, Supporting Actor: Kim Yu-seok
* Best Young Actor: Kim Yoo-jung, Lee Hyung-suk
* Popularity Award, Actress: Han Hyo-joo
* Viewer's Favorite Drama of the Year: ''Dong Yi''

; 2011 1st Hong Kong Cable TV Awards
* Best Drama
* Best Actor: Ji Jin-hee
* Best Actress: Han Hyo-joo

; 2011 47th Baeksang Arts Awards
* Best Actress (TV): Han Hyo-joo

References

External links

*

''Dong Yi''
at MBC Global Media
*
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''Dong Yi''
on NHK
{{Works by AStory
South Korean historical television series
Television series set in Joseon
MBC TV television dramas
2010 South Korean television series debuts
2010 South Korean television series endings
Korean-language television shows