Jewel in the Palace

I've never seen this drama before nor was I aware of its popularity before I started surfing the internet. I just started watching it at the library, and I was fascinated by the exhibition of traditional Korean cuisine. It showed how the meals were prepared in intricate details. I was curious to know how other people would react to preparing such a grandiose meal. When I started searching for “Jewel in the Palace” on google, I found many sites (blogs) dedicated to this drama. Most of them talked about Korean cuisine and how this drama shed light on how the Korean aristocrats splurged on variety of foodstuff. It actually was portrayed as a profession that most women held pride in. To women, this job entailed not only making the food but pride and utmost dedication. Although political corruption did exist, the fact that the people in this industry prided their job should not be disregarded.

In light of our class discussion of how these dramas portray other Asian countries, it was interesting to find out that the powder that one of the guards gave to Myeong-Hee was from China. They praised and envied the gift because it was from China. Myeong-Hee’s fellow cooks acknowledged the preciousness of the powder. I thought this scene might have satisfied the Chinese viewers since it emphasized the fact that the Chinese were capable of producing such fine powders that everyone wished to have. Besides the scene about the powder, many unfolding of the Suh Chun Su’s fate involved extensive analysis of Chinese characters. It could be due to the language that Koreans used at the time, but nonetheless it showed how crucial these characters were in the progression of the story.