Continuing with the list of historical K-dramas, gems that may have slipped under your radar. This is a 5-part series. In total once the series is completely published, seasoned K-drama lovers and newbies will have 25 historical Korean dramas to add to their watch list.
- (1) The Princess’ Man (2011); 24 episodes
- (2) Queen Seon Deok (2009); 62 episodes
- (3) The Red Sleeve Cuff (2021-2022); 17 episodes
- (4) River Where the Moon Rises (2021); 20 episodes
- (5) The Royal Gambler (2016); 24 episodes
(1) The Princess’ Man (2011); 24 episodes
This historical K-drama series is based on the historical events of Grand Prince Suyang’s violent usurpation of the throne by Grand Prince Suyang. Suyang was the second son of King Sejong the Great and he usurped the throne in 1455. He is later known as King Sejo. His reign was short: 1455-1468.
At age 52, he turned over the throne to one of his sons, because his health began to decline. The records indicate he was a capable ruler but how can his “great acts to fortify the kingdom” wipe away all of the spilled blood? The love story, “The Princess’ Man” is fictitious but it’s a goooood story! LOL.
In this historical drama, there are three (3) who are best friends, and two (2) “flowers” ~ one is a princess and the other is the daughter of the Grand Prince who might become a princess if her father’s ambitious plans to take the throne succeeds.
Princess Kyung-Hye (played by Hong Soo-Hyun) is about to be in an arranged marriage and wants to know what her future husband will be like. The man she is supposed to marry is Kim Seung-Yoo (played by Park Si-Hoo). So she devises a plan to trade places with her cousin, Lee Se-Ryung (played by Moon Chae-Won). His cousin is to meet him pretending to be the princess and come back to report to the real princess about him.
There were huge flaws in this supposedly flawless plan to trade places. They fall in love with each other. YIKES! Kim Seung-Yoo believed he was in love with Princess Kyung-Hye, and Lee Se-Ryung was too afraid to reveal her true identity for fear he may leave her. But how long can she continue to deceive him? How can such a relationship be considered true love?
Meanwhile, Lee Se-Ryung’s father, Grand Prince Su-Yang (played by Kim Young-Chul), is plotting to seize the throne, by any means necessary. That means he will kill all those who oppose him being king. One of the people who oppose his political ambitions is the father of Kim Seung-Yoo. The Grand Prince plans to slaughter his family.
When Lee Se-Ryung finds out she sends Kim Seung-Yoo an emergency message to lure him away from his home. She did not want him to be at home when her father’s men came there to kill everyone. Kim Seung-Yoo left home because he believed the emergency was real.
But he realized that someone had misled him so he quickly returned home. When he got there the men in his family had been slaughtered and the women were taken as slaves. All this time, he still does not know Lee Se-Ryung’s true identity.
By this time, the Grand Prince has shed enough blood to become the King. Kim Seung-Yoo planned to take revenge by killing him but when he got to his home, he saw the entire family: the new king, his wife, his son, and his two daughters. He was shocked!
One of the daughters was the woman he was in love with. Lee Se-Ryung is the eldest and favorite daughter and she is now a princess, a daughter of the king. His anger boiled over! Was she playing with him? Had she toyed with his affections, while feeding her father’s ambitions? If she said she truly loved him, how could he believe her?
Meanwhile, the king continues his succession plans by (1) arranging the marriage of his eldest daughter and (2) ordering the death of the son of his political enemy.
- The king has arranged for his daughter to marry one of Kim Seung-Yoo’s best friends. But Lee Se-Ryung refuses and rebels.
- He finds out that the son of his political foe, Kim Seung-Yoo, is still alive and sends men to kill him. Their efforts are futile because Kim Seung-Yoo escapes, disappears, and returns later to get revenge.
Lee Se-Ryung finds a way to reunite with the man she loves and she is willing to do anything to prove that her love for him is true, including cutting herself off from her family, especially her father. She cuts her hair in an act of defiance letting him know she never asked to be a princess and refuses to be considered his daughter anymore.
How does this love story end?
(2) Queen Seon Deok (2009); 62 episodes
This historical K-drama tells the true story of Queen Seondeok of Silla. But first, it begins with the story of Mishil (played by Go Hyun-jung), a princess who would stop at nothing to become queen. King Jinheung, the first ruler of Silla, asked Mishil to write down his dying words. After his death, he wanted her to live the rest of her life peacefully in a Buddhist temple and allow his grandson to rule.
But she had already won people over to her side who were willing to help her achieve her goal and persuaded the king’s second son to take the throne. She had a child for him but when he would not acknowledge the child as legitimate, she abandoned the child. Eh! The baby was of no use to her if he could not help her become queen.
Since the illegitimate king (the second son) did not go along with her plan, she got rid of him too, and helped make the grandson king. She tried to eliminate the princess because she was going to force the new king, the grandson, King Jinpyeong, to marry her and make her queen.
But not everyone was loyal to Mishil and so there was constant conflict within the kingdom of Silla. Some were still loyal to the first king of Silla and would be loyal to his grandson when he became king. Mishil was told that there was a prediction about her. As long as the Big Dipper had seven stars, nobody could go against her. But on the day an eight star appeared in the Big Dipper, the one born on that day would finally bring Mishil down.
Queen Maya had twin daughters for King Jinpyeong. On the day of their birth, an eighth star appeared in the Big Dipper. There was a prophecy that stated if the queen bore twins, the male seed would dry up. King Jinpyeong feared for the lives of both of his daughters, so he kept the birth of the twins a secret.
He sent one of the twins away from the palace, with the help of his servant, and kept the other twin daughter in the palace. There was no way for people to prove that twins had been born. Had he not done this, Queen Maya would have been dethroned. By sending one of the daughters away, he saved both of his daughters and his wife.
Queen Maya’s servant, raised Deokman (played by Lee Yo-won), the king’s daughter, as if she were her own, but she eventually learned her true identity. When she tried to return to her family, Mishil was still plotting and scheming to become queen. Mishil was fully aware that the eighth star in the Big Dipper had appeared but she pressed on as though nothing could stop her.
Cheonmyeon was Deokman’s twin sister, who died while trying to help Deokman escape. It wasn’t enough that Mishil tried to take everything from Deokman that was rightfully hers, but her sister died trying to save her. When Deokman returned the next time, it was going to be The End for Mishil.
Yes, the prophecy did say the male seed would dry up. But the prophecy didn’t say that Silla would not or could not have a queen. At the age of 26, Queen Seondeok became the first female monarch in Korean history, bestowed with the exact position that Mishil coveted.
For the record, there were three (3) female rulers of Silla:
- Queen Seondeok ruled the Kingdom of Silla for 15 years, beginning in 632. She died without an heir, and the throne was passed to her cousin.
- Queen Jindeok, who reigned from 647-654. She is credited with laying the foundation to unite the three kingdoms, (Silla, Baekje, and Goguryeo).
- Queen Jinseong was the last female ruler of Silla; but she abdicated the throne and allowed Kim Yo, an illegitimate son of her brother, as her replacement.
REF: Queen Seondeok of Silla, the First Female Ruler of Korea [History of Korea]
(3) The Red Sleeve Cuff (2021-2022); 17 episodes
This historical K-drama is a Viki Original series based on a novel of the same name. It’s a fictionalized account of the love story of King Jeongjo and his royal consort Ui-bin Seong, but they are real historical figures. King Jeongjo was the 22nd monarch of the Joseon dynasty, and Ui-bin Seong (real name Seong Deok-im) was his royal consort. Several of her pregnancies resulted in miscarriages, and one son lived, Crown Prince Munhyo.
This series focuses on the life of Seong Deok-im. She entered the palace at the age of ten (10) as a maidservant. Whereas all of the court ladies probably dreamed of being bedded by the king, Seong Deok-im rejected his advances. She did not want to become a concubine because she said she would no longer be able to have her own life. In other words, she would lose herself and only live for him.
Nevertheless, she fell in love with the king and became his favorite concubine, known as Royal Consort Sung Ui Bin. The series showed that she did give up her own life. When she was an ordinary court lady she could go out with friends, visit family, and enjoy the freedoms commoners enjoy.
Once she became the king’s concubine, her life was restricted to the palace. She spent the entire day just waiting for him to come to her chambers and rest his head in her lap. It was a life choice she made. Although she did not regret loving the king, she always knew she made a great sacrifice to live as the king’s woman.
She died in her early 30s and the king wrote on her epitaph about how much he had loved her.
(4) River Where the Moon Rises (2021); 20 episodes
This historical K-drama is a Viki Original series about the first empress of Goguryeo and the man she loved.
Shades of Othello. A king with unreasonable suspicions of jealousy about his faithful wife is easily manipulated by a man who wants to take his throne. The man plants seeds of doubt into the king’s mind and leads him to suspect not only his wife’s fidelity but doubts that the daughter she gave birth to is his child.
The queen is fully aware that there is a plot to take the throne and she visits one of the loyal subjects for help. Before leaving the palace, the young daughter overheard a discussion about the plans to usurp the throne. When the queen and the princess leave the palace, the king sends soldiers to kill both his wife and his daughter.
The queen is killed but the daughter, Princess Pyeong Gang (played by Kim So Hyun) lives. She escapes those who are trying to kill her and manages to survive, but in the process, she loses her memory. She is brought up by a man who trains her to be an assassin (named Yeom Ga-Jin) and sends her on an assignment to use her skills to kill the king, her father.
But her memories start coming back and she realizes that the king is her father. She wants to confront him and ask him why he ordered their deaths. The king is terrified because he believes he is seeing a ghost. His daughter is dead. So he must be seeing an apparition.
Then there is On Dal (played by Na In Woo – who replaced Ji Soo after episode 6). The princess meets him in the forest when she is on her way to kill the king. They had met before when they were children and both of them escaped death!
Now they meet again as adults. But they don’t immediately recognize each other. One thing the princess does recognize is that this young man treats her with kindness and is willing to help her. But she has been trained not to get close to people because they may learn about the secret group she works for. Also, considering her lifestyle, falling in love is not an option.
But Pyeongwon and On Dal do fall in love and together they face the world!
{NOTE: Even though Ondal and Pyeongwon are both verifiable historical figures, their love story is considered a historical folktale. There was a quirky rom-com about the love story between Pyeongwon and On Dal called “My Only Love Song”. It involves time travel and is very lighthearted.}
(5) The Royal Gambler (2016); 24 episodes
This historical K-drama is about King Yeongjo, and fictionalizes the 1728 Musin Rebellion (also referred to as Yi In-jwa’s Rebellion).
Baek Dae-Gil (played by Jang Keun-Suk) and King Yeongjo (played by Yeo Jin-Goo) are brothers. They don’t know until their mother tells them. Brothers? The king thinks that means that his brother might connive to take his place on the throne. His brother tells him he has no interest in the throne. However, he can’t control what the people think or what the king thinks. He just knows he’s not interested in being king.
King Yeongjo’s mother tells him they should always support each other as brothers because she knows who their real enemy is. The real enemy is a man named Lee In-Jwa played by Jeon Kwang-Leol). He wants to lead a rebellion and he’s a nasty piece of work!
Just as an example Lee In-Jwa’s dealings to show how shrewd, cunning, and manipulative he was. He knew that King Sookjon coveted a particular woman, but that woman was married and pregnant. That woman’s husband was a terrible gambler. Lee In-Jwa persuades the king to visit the gambling den and make the man bet his wife. If he lost the game the king would take his wife.
The man loses and the woman becomes the king’s woman. She tells him about the pregnancy but he accepts it because he is so besotted. The child she bears is Baek Dae-Gil and she sneaks him out of the palace, saying that he died, and gives him to his father (her previous husband) to raise. The people in the palace will harm him.
Lee In-Jwa likes to use gambling as his means to get anything and everything he wants. He says what he does is for the people of Joseon. But that’s debatable. Baek Dae-Gil is known to be the best gambler in all of Joseon and he wants to thwart Lee In-Jwa’s efforts to accomplish anything. When he meets his brother he remembers what their mother told them. They use gambling and work together to STOP Lee In-Jwa.
♦ Click here to view the lists for Part 1, Part 2, and Part 3.
Thanks for reading.
