Did he succeed or did he fail?
Media US News, 27 July 2020, Original article in Korean, non-verbatim courtesy translation by ParkSihooSsi.com
“Wind, Cloud and Rain 바람과 구름과 비 (King maker: Change of Destiny)”： Did Choi Cheonjung really fail?
The first episode of “Wind, Cloud and Rain (King Maker: Change of Destiny) 바람과 구름과 비” was aired on 17 May 2020 and it ended on 26 July 2020 after 21 episodes. Its average rating was above 5%. The superb direction and consistent development were enough to soothe the thirst of viewers who have been hungry for creative historical works.
“Wind, Cloud and Rain (King Maker: Change of Destiny) 바람과 구름과 비” is a novel written by Lee Byungjoo, which started with the ambition of Choi Cheonjung. He dreamt of becoming King through his son. In this new adaptation, Choi Cheonjung (played by Park Sihoo), is a nobleman with a strong Gwanghua Island father, but was in danger due to the Jangdong Kim clan’s ambition.
Choi Cheonjung was a brilliant scholar who helped his father, the governor of Ganghwa-gun, instead of going for public office. The prophecy of the Sansui Master was that he was destined to die young. However, in the face of his father’s death due to the plot of the Jangdong Kims, Choi Choi Cheonjung, whose life was in jeopardy, wanted to use fortune telling “Saju Myeongri” as a weapon to fight his own fate. A few years later, Choi Cheonjung appeared in Hanyang and captured the attention of not only the Jangdong Kim clan, but also the Queen Dowager and Daewon-gun (played by Junn Kwangryul), a man who lived like a dog.
TV Chosun Drama Youtube Video – Episode 1 “Wind, Cloud and Rain”: A dark future for Choi Cheonjung, 17 May 2020
https://youtu.be/yJ06nWGWqAU
Choi Cheonjung had an ambition to establish proper power with his own hands instead of taking revenge on the Jangdong Kims. He really wanted to establish a King for the people. In the process, the royal family that was prominent as King was Daewon-gun and his son Gojong. Choi Cheonjung joined hands with Daewon-gun, who had earlier sought his life for trying to get Gojong as King. He thought it was the way to help the people struggling under the shadow of the Jangdong Kims.
However, in his dream Daewon-gun, whom he helped, eventually took on all the power, asserting “strengthening of the royal authority.” Choi Cheonjung, who eagerly tried to help the poor people saw Daewon-gun as an ally. However, Daewon-gun only wanted to amass power in his own hands. People who had nowhere to go gathered at Samjeon Hall that was built by Choi Cheonjung and they made him look like a King. Daewon-gun began to see him as a danger to power. Even Catholics and foreigners who were oppressed by Daewongun hadhidden in the shadow of Choi Cheonjung and Daewon-gun’s suspicions reached a fever pitch. This was because Choi Cheonjung’s love for the people was deemed to be another power in the eyes of Daewon-gun.
TV Chosun Drama Youtube Video – Episode 15 “Wind, Cloud and Rain”: Choi Cheonjung prepared for foreign invasion, 5 July 2020
https://youtu.be/c4MCRzbY06M
Choi Cheonjung launched an assassination of Daewongun, whom he put into power
In the end, Choi Cheonjung, who was in danger of losing his life by the hands of Daewon-gun, fled from the country to escape him. After three years of living abroad, he returned to eradicate the powerful Daewon-gun whom he had put into power. He used Min Jayong who became Queen Myeongseong, to prepare for the Great Destiny to get rid of the Daewon-gun but failed. In the end, his last choice was to eliminate Daewon-gun himself, even though the fate of Daewon-gun was not over, but he could no longer let the people suffer under the reign of Daewon-gun.
In Episode 21, Choi Cheonjung hid gunpowder in a geomungo 거문고 (musical instrument) placed on Daewon-gun’s feast table. Using the skill he learned in England, he would attempt an explosion by spilling alcohol on the gunpowder. But when he saw two young girls passing by in front of him, he ran back and threw the geomungo away. The gunpowder exploded, but thanks to Choi Cheonjung’s throw, Daewon-gun was saved. Choi Cheonjung was placed in a position where his arms and legs would be cut off as punishment.
TV Chosun Drama Youtube Video – Episode 21 “Wind, Cloud and Rain”: Assassination of Lee Haeung was a failure, 26 July 2020
https://youtu.be/9enr0wKgVv0
Choi Cheonjung turned his own assassination attempt on himself. Is this ridiculous situation the self-destruction of the main character? In other words, “Wind, Cloud and Rain (King Maker: Change of Destiny) 바람과 구름과 비” tried to convey the theme through a fictional hero Choi Cheonjung in a true history.
Earlier in Episode 21, Choi Cheonjung tried to oust Daewon-gun from the court but failed due to Kim Byunghak leaking his intentions. Daewon-gun invited Choi Cheonjung to join him once again. At the command of Daewon-gun, Choi Cheonjung headed to Ganghwa Island where the Byeonginyangyo event took place. Choi Cheonjung was willing to go to the battlefield, even if not at the Daewon-gun’s request, accompanied by his longtime rival Chae Inkyu (played by Sung Hyuk). Chae Inkyu was on the verge of a death sentence at the execution site before he was rescued by Choi Cheonjung.
Choi Cheonjung no longer wanted to see anyone around him killed and his old friend Chae Inkyu, who had long tried to kill him was no exception. That was not all. Choi Cheonjung was willing to kneel in front of Daewon-gun to save the captured Yong Pyongryong (played by Jo Bokrae), who was like his right hand man. Instead of sacrificing the lives of two girls, he put down the cause of taking Daewon-gun’s life. The move was different from the moves of those who had been called “historical figures” and “heroes” who had so far put the”great cause” at the forefront.
Choi Cheonjung took the lead to assassinate Daewongun and prepared a place for those who followed him to escape in case he failed. The people worked together to save Choi Cheonjung, but he sent them to Jeonchu, Primorsky, Russia and went alone to confront the Daewon-gun at the gunpoint.
TV Chosun Drama Youtube Video – Episode 20 “Wind, Cloud and Rain”: Lee Haeung brought Choi Cheonjung down to his kneels using his family as a threat, 25 July 2020
https://youtu.be/hoYxNEashU4
A failed hero, Choi Cheonjung’s road
In that final confrontation, Choi Cheonjung explained why the path of the two who once shared a common goal had now become enemies. Daewon-gun consistently insisted on strengthening the kingship and once again suggested that he could join hands with him. However Choi Cheonjung said now he saw the “True King”. Daewon-gun had always feared that Choi Cheonjung might have ambition for other powers, but Choi Cheonjung’s King was the “people” or “Baekseong”.
Choi Cheonjung punished the Jangdong Kims and helped King Gojong and his father Daewon-gun to become the King for the people through the study of fortune telling. Since helping his upright father, who tried to make the people of Ganghwa better off, Choi Cheonjung’s focus had always been the people. After many trials and errors for the “politics for the people,” he reached a place where people were no longer left to the will of the individual but became the main body. It is a self actualization of the “geography” and “democracy” of the dynastic state.
Daewon-gun and the Queen Dowager helped to make politics better for the people, but they realized that the problem was not with their people but the power that they wanted to reach for themselves. “Wind, Cloud and Rain (King Maker: Change of Destiny) 바람과 구름과 비” predicted the “birth of democracy” through reformer, Choi Cheonjung.
TV Chosun Drama Youtube Video – Episode 20 “Wind, Cloud and Rain”: Lee Haeung and Min Jayoung’s extreme conflict, 25 July 2020
https://youtu.be/0gwjSZnKcZI
And the prophecy was not just a “prediction.” Whether it was his enemy, a poor family, or the girls who appeared at the scene of the assassination, he consistently practiced respect and reverence for one’s “life”, the main subject of democracy.
As historical facts cannot be dismissed, the assassination of Daewon-gun by the fictional character Choi Cheonjung ended in failure. But was it really a failure? Choi Cheonjung, who died after many twists and turns, returned to the Korean village in Yeochu, Russia which he had arranged earlier. The people of Samjeon Hall who followed him, had already built a village and were preparing for a school according to his instructions. In the end, the drama ended with the opening of a “new world” for those who followed the buoy of Choi Cheonjung in the wrecked ship Joseon.
It was not just them. The name of the girl whom he saved in Ganghwa Island was Kwak Nakwon, the mother of Kim Gu (an independence movement fighter). Thus, Choi Cheonjung had sown the seeds of the independence movement, lead the way in saving the now-defunct Joseon. Like this, the heroes in “Wind, Cloud and Rain (King Maker: Change of Destiny) 바람과 구름과 비” were different from the heroes that history had seen.
TV Chosun Drama Youtube Video – Episode 21 “Wind, Cloud and Rain”: The people rescuing Choi Cheonjung!, 26 July 2020
https://youtu.be/nf3OT4LdMrg
Choi Cheonjung failed. He failed to establish power for the people. The Daewon-gun and Empress Myeongseong whom he helped, never escaped from their desire for power. Choi Cheonjung did not give up his people when they became blinded by their ambition and he tried to assassinate Daewon-gun as a last resort, but failed.
But did he really fail? Although the event failed, Choi Cheonjung prepared a new “people-centered” world in the ruined Joseon. Through Choi Cheonjung’s “Failed Success”, ““Wind, Cloud and Rain (King Maker: Change of Destiny) 바람과 구름과 비” asked about a real hero, whose purpose was not about winning power. It was the story of a hero who sacrificed the great cause for the cause, and a hero of our time that was presented through the history of the Daewon-gun era.
Facebook Video – WCR Wind, Cloud and Rain Episode 21: That is our destiny (English & Chinese subtitles), 26 July 2020. This video may not play in some regions
https://www.facebook.com/parksihoossi/videos/1774050846104557/
WCR风，云和雨新闻：崔天中真的失败了吗？
Media US 新闻，2020年7月27日，韩文原著，由ParkSihooSsi.com提供的大概翻译
“风，云和雨 (风，云和碑）바람과 구름과 비“: 崔天中真的失败了吗？
2020年5月17日首播的“风，云和雨 (风，云和碑）바람과 구름과 비“以21集于2020年7月26日落幕。 平均超过5%的收视率。 秀丽的演出和一贯性的展开，充分满足了一直以来渴望拍摄有作品性的史剧的观众们的渴望。
“风，云和雨 (风，云和碑）바람과 구름과 비“改编李炳柱的原创小说。创作始于崔天中的志向，梦想通过的儿子登基为王。讲述了拥有刚直不阿的江华郡守父亲的贵族子弟，但因权门世家张东金氏的野心牺牲而陷入灭门之祸危机的崔天中（朴施厚饰）。
过去曾科举中及第的聪明儒生崔天中，因为山水道人对他的”夭折的命运”的预言”，放弃担任官职，帮助身为江华郡守的父亲。但，因张东金氏的谋略而导致的父亲死亡，自己也面临生命危险的崔天中为了对抗自己的命运，打算将”四柱名利学”作为武器。 几年后出现在汉阳的崔天中用他的三寸舌俘获了金氏、大妃赵氏、丧家之犬般生活的野人大院君（全光烈饰）。
TV Chosun Drama Youtube Video – Episode 6 “Wind, Cloud and Rain”: The next king in this mansion, 6 June 2020
https://youtu.be/oQo-ptWXm2w
崔天中曾立志用自己的力量建立真正的权力，而不是报复张东金氏，但他确实想拥立“为民之王“。在此过程中，他眼中的王就是大院君和他的儿子高宗。崔天中像“桃园结义”一样，与为自己的生命垂死搏斗的大院君携手，比任何人都领先，竭尽全力让高宗登上王位。他认为这是帮助在权势家的阴影下呻吟的百姓的方法。
但是，他的梦想随着帮助过的大院君提出”强化王权”，最终掌握所有权力，从而引发矛盾。在大院君一心想将权力集中在自己手中，为了帮助贫困百姓而东奔西走的崔天中被认为是同志，但是崔天中建造的三全道场却聚集了无处可去的百姓，他们像”王”一样依赖崔天中，崔天中开始被认为是权力的危险要素。 甚至在大院君镇压的天主教徒和外国人也躲进了崔天中的阴影下，大院君的怀疑达到了极点。 因为崔天中的”爱民”在大院君看来是另一种权力意志。
但是，他的这种梦想随着大院君提出”强化王权”并掌握所有权力而出现裂痕。另外，在大院君眼中，王权，权力集中在自己手中，为了帮助贫穷的百姓而东奔西走的崔天重被认为是同志，但是崔天中创造的”三田渡场”中无处可去的百姓们聚集在一起，他们把崔天重像王一样依赖，崔天重便开始被看作是”权力”的危险要素。甚至在大院君镇压的天主教徒和外国人也躲进了崔天重的阴影下，大院君的怀疑达到了极点。因为崔天重的”爱民心”在大院君看来是另一种权力意志。
TV Chosun Drama Youtube Video – Episode 21 “Wind, Cloud and Rain”: Choi Cheonjung and Lee Haeung, two men who cannot coexist, 26 July 2020
https://youtu.be/wuxpxTyt8vo
暗杀自己拥立的大院君的崔天中
最终被大院君追杀，性命处于危机中的崔天中为了躲避大院君，在外度过了3年的外游生活。回到朝鲜后，想彻底铲除自己拥立的权力大院君。他帮助日后成为明成皇后的闵慈英，在为大命运做准备的同时，正试图摆脱大院君，但没有用。最终，他做出的选择是虽然明理学看来大院君的世界还未结束，但不能再让呻吟在他的统治下的百姓们受苦，所以他自己去除掉大院君。
在第21集中，崔天中利用在英国学到的技术，将火药藏在位于大元郡盛宴上的餐桌附近的玄鹤琴中，并用流酒企图引发爆炸。但是，当他看到小女孩在眼前经过时，崔天中再次跳进去，将玄鹤琴扔得很远。 火药爆炸了，但是因为崔天中扔出去的原因，大院君才得以救活性命，但崔天中被处罚，胳膊和腿将被割断，处于被枭首的境地。
将自己展开的”暗杀企图”化为乌有的崔天中，这种荒唐的状况是主人公自取灭亡吗？ 不对，“风，云和雨 (风，云和碑）바람과 구름과 비“是通过真实历史中的虚拟英雄崔天中传达主题。
之前的第20集中，想要将大院君赶出宫廷的崔天中，因为金炳鹤泄露了他的意图而失败。崔天中被大院君建议再次与自己合作，按照大院君的命令，前往发生丙寅洋扰的江华。 即使不是大院君的请求，也会愿意去战场的崔天中，和处在刑场中濒临死亡危机的他的情敌蔡仁奎（成赫饰）同行。 对他的逃跑睁一只眼闭一只眼。
崔天中的想法是不希望看到自己身边的任何人再被杀害，因此，长久以来一直想杀死他的老朋友蔡仁奎也不例外。 不仅如此。 为了牵制崔天中，大院君抓走他的右臂龙八龙（赵福来 饰），崔天中为了救他毫不犹豫地跪在大院君的面前。 正因为是崔天中，所以没有选择夺取大院君的生命，让两名差点成为替罪羊的女孩活命。 这与至今为止一直强调”大义名分”的”历史性人物”、”英雄”的人们的行动完全不同。
在去暗杀大院君时，崔天中自己也挺身而出，为了防备自己失败，准备了让跟随自己的人躲避的场所。 虽然他们齐心协力救出了崔天中，但他却把他们送到沿海州，独自前往大院君，向大院君瞄准最后一枪。
TV Chosun Drama Youtube Video – Episode 21 “Wind, Cloud and Rain”: Choi Cheonjung and Lee Bongryeon saying goodbye again?, 26 July 2020
https://youtu.be/bVDNKEZ01xI
失败英雄，崔天中之路
崔天中在最后一场对决中，曾经和兴宣志同道合，但现在两人成为敌人，是道路不同的理由。 大院君一贯坚持强化王权，并再次要求崔天中说:“难道就不能再次和自己携手吗?” 但崔天中却回复：“他现在才真正地看到了”王才””。 总是害怕崔天中会对其他权力有野心的大院君听到这句话瞪大眼睛，但崔天中所说的“王才“不是别人，而是”民众”和”百姓。
崔天中通过命理学惩治权门世家，并帮助高宗和他的父亲大院君成为“为百姓的王。 自从帮助为了让江华的百姓过上好日子而努力的耿直父亲以来，崔天中的话题一直都是“百姓”。 为了”人民政治”，他经过无数次的反复试验，终于到达了一个不会再被个人意志所左右、以百姓为主体的国家。 这是对王朝国家的“济阳”和“民主”的自给自足和意图的宣言。
崔天中为了寻找为百姓服务的政治，帮助了大院君和明成皇后，但他们意识到最终不是百姓而是他们“自己的权力”，“风，云和雨 (风，云和碑）바람과 구름과 비“是通过理想的改革家崔天中预测了“民主的诞生”。
而且这预言并不仅仅是一个”预言”。无论他是敌人，路过的贫穷家庭，还是在暗杀现场出现的少女，不管是谁，他都一贯奉行尊重和敬爱，真实的显示民主主题。
TV Chosun Drama Youtube Video – Episode 20 “Wind, Cloud and Rain”: Lee Haeung was angry at the prophecy about the fate of Choi Cheonjung 10 years later, 25 July 2020
https://youtu.be/V81f9arAP5Y
就像无法比拟歪曲历史事实一样，虚构人物崔天中暗杀大院君的计划以失败告终。 但是真的失败了吗？ 几经周折，最终获得生命的崔天中回到了他早已准备好的沿海州延吉里的朝鲜人村庄。 跟随他的三全道场的人们在这里开村，根据他事先制定的“方针指南”在准备学校。 最终，电视剧以朝鲜为“遇难船”，跟随崔天中浮标前往的人们开启了”新世界”而落下帷幕。
不仅是他们。 在江华岛，他救活的少女名字是金九先生的母亲郭乐源。 就这样崔天中为拯救即将灭亡的朝鲜，播下了独立运动的种子。 像这样，“风，云和雨 (风，云和碑）바람과 구름과 비“论述了不同于之前历史所描述的英雄。
崔天中失败了。 他没有为老百姓拥立权力。 他的帮助最终也是大院君和明成皇后的权力欲望。 当他们渐渐被自己的野心蒙蔽了双眼时，没有放弃百姓的崔天中试图用最后手段暗杀大院君，但最终还是失败了。
他果真失败了吗？ 虽然举事失败，但崔天中在即将灭亡的朝鲜准备了”以人为本”的新世界。 通过崔天中的”失败成功”，“风，云和雨 (风，云和碑）바람과 구름과 비“中提出了权力争夺不是目，而是关于真正的英雄的问题。 这就是为了昭义而牺牲大义的英雄，通过大院君时代这一历史长篇的我们时代的英雄故事。@@
Credits – Many thanks! TV Chosun “Wind, Cloud and Rain”, Media US http://www.mediaus.co.kr/news/articleView.html?idxno=189083, Victory Content, ParkSihooSsi.com, ParkSihooHongKong.com
5 Comments
Missed u, hoping for your next project
No way that Choi Cheonjung had failed in his mammoth ambition to change the fate and destiny of Joseon, desolated and in ruin, for the better. And Media US News has done a good job giving us this excellent article setting out the arguments why it was not a failure at all for us to digest and appreciate. So many learning points from WCR, truly a drama with many good redeeming values …CCJ’s noble and honourable character, his self sacrificing traits, the well tested and challenged eternal love between him and his beloved Lee Bongryeon, also the meaning of true comradeship / friendship. At the same time sending us strong disturbing reminders the potential for humanity to go so low down driven by power or greed that betrayal could and did take place by those whom CCJ would never have imagined could happen. So many sad poignant scenes too and was I surprised the one scene which affected me most was a wailing Lee Haeung embracing the wounded CCJ in his arms in the ending episode thinking he had died. In truth this ferocious tiger Habha had the deepest respect for CCJ but the clash in ideology over the path to Joseon’s future had created this irreconcilable rift between him and CCJ ….in his mind if only CCJ would submit to him, all’s well will end well …..so he anguished.
WCR is truly a much loved drama worth treasuring in the hearts of those who value a great piece of dramatic historical action piece like none other we have seen from the same genre. Fast moving, riveting, so many twists and turns. And then came the unconventional ending. Absolutely beautiful to the last drop. ❤️❣️❤️❣️
And so it’s a big thank you to Nance for being instrumental in getting us to understand what this news article is all about.
I have the same words of appreciation for Nance, for her efforts to bring such a great and eloquent article to our eyes and minds. Thanks Nance!
Also, like you, Dorothy, I was very impressed by the relationship between CCJ and Daewon-gun, especially by the strange end between the two. Over the time, LHS and CCJ wanted each other’s deaths and planned mutual assassinations. The Grand Prince even ordered an extremely cruel punishment for CCJ: cutting the limbs. And the order would have been carried out if the friends were at least a second late. However, LHS was surprised when an unknown weapon fired to CCJ, just when he had decided to not kill him.
This is another question: by whose order was CCJ killed and why? I wonder what letter the queen mother read and if CCJ’s killer was her man and why she wanted to liquidate him.
Due to the mutual hatred, the scene in which Haesung takes CheonJung in his arms and cries for him, like for a lost son, seems even more puzzling to me, although it is one of the scenes of perfect acting emotion. Both was two powerful characteres, the faces of the same coin.
That CCJ’s breath when he was in the arms of the prince, did he notice it, and he is the one who saved his fierce enemy? Or did the venerable monk who was around save him this time as well? Only the pocket watch stood in the way of the bullet or CCJ had a bulletproof vest?
So we can say that CCJ actually “died’ in the arms of LHS and not in LBR’s arms, but because of her and not by her hand.
Daniela Maria Miricescu oh I am glad I am not alone in being both impressed and intrigued by that heart wrenching scene of CCJ in the arms of Lee Haeung. I don’t know what it is …. but I was struck with raw emotions. Was it a case that even an enemy can weep at the dying of a man of true noble character?
Saranghaeyo Master Choi ❤️