Historical Dramas Club

The clothing topic above was interesting.....thanks you all :)

 LucianYaz:

A question for our history buffs - for The Sword and the Brocade (set in the Ming dynasty), WeTV posted the above image on their IG account and someone left this comment:

"the clothes and hat are korean traditional office man's wearings in joshun dynasty. why is he wearing them when he is acting a chinese character lived in china?" (I'm assuming "joshun" is referring to Joseon)

Is there anything to this claim? 

Another way of looking at it - everybody wears suit and tie these days, but who invented that?  lol

The claim is true but reversed - in those days, East Asian kingdoms were influenced by ancient Chinese legal and administration systems, including Confucian principles and government official's outfits.  The "office wear" is not part of "traditional cultural costumes" because it's for office use.

Much like how Commonwealth countries are influenced by the British style of legal and administration system eg Westminster system and the court dress for the Supreme Court etc.

 LucianYaz:

Thanks for clearing that up; it makes sense. Frankly, I was a bit miffed by the comment (ahem, my bias is showing, lol) so I had to come here to get clarification.

Lol.  I think these days there are a lot of "bad blood between the two groups" because of the "claims" over hanbok and kimchi  :/

So I have finally finished watching the Rebel Princess. All in all I really enjoyed the show.   Now need to figure out what else to watch. 

 LucianYaz:

In the Foundations of Eastern Civilization video series, the lecturer shared an easy way to memorize the major Chinese dynasties, with the list below set to the tune of Frere Jacques; it's quite ingenious ... and fun :D

(Image source: Great Courses)

This is indeed an easy and practical way of learning it. Thanks for sharing! :)

On the topic of lectures, I tend to find them a bit dry on occasion so I stick to shorter, more colorful, less historically accurate narrations. So in general I think my favorite types of videos are like this:

Ancient Rome in 20 minutes

Probably helps it's narrated by Brian Cox, the actor. I've always thought he had a great voice.

To put a Chinese/Eastern spin back on it, there's a channel that takes translated historical accounts and puts a voice to them. Here's the translation of a Chinese historian taking the accounts of merchants who had visited Rome and other Western/Eastern empires:

Ancient Chinese Historian Describes The Roman Empire // 3rd century AD "Weilüe" // Primary Source

It's really interesting because he doesn't get too much detail about the structure of the Roman empire but he can name all sorts of products (the things a merchant might be concerned about).

Apologies if it's too far off topic, I'll try to come back and edit/delete.

 Caspleo :

Hello guys! I'll be joining this club from today.

Welcome!

 Caspleo :

So are there any recs for dramas that have a good amount of comedy and NO time travel? (I personally don't like them)

I guess it depends what type of comedy you're looking for. I remember Iljimae having a fair amount of comedy (though I definitely would not call it a comedy), but it's sageuk humor, which isn't so funny, imo. I think Arang and the Magistrate had more comedy than most. (I watched both of these a LONG time ago, so I might be wrong.) You could try "fluffy" "romcom in period dress" historicals like Love in the Moonlight or Hwarang, but I'm not a big fan of that subgenre, so I can't give the best recommendations. 

 Caspleo :

Hello guys! I'll be joining this club from today.

Now, I have tried many historical dramas but none suited my taste :(

So are there any recs for dramas that have a good amount of comedy and NO time travel? (I personally don't like them)

Thanks for creating this club. Hopefully I'll find a good historical drama that'll suit my taste q(≧▽≦q)

Welcome Caspleo,

I‘m mostly into Korean dramas, if you need a recommendation for a historical drama with comedy elements.........I would suggest checking out Mr. Queen and maybe The Tale of Nokdu.