MOON LOVERS: SCARLET HEART RYEO 
The Wang princes who have a keen grasp of the obvious would
have understood the main reasons for the gathering of all members of the Wang
royal family at the ancestral temple. Other than to perform the ancestral
rites to pay respects to the Wang ancestors and to pray for good fortune and
protection, King Taejo was also bestowing official recognition to Wang So as
a Goryeo prince.
Wang So’s conspicuous presence at the ritual meant that the
king was officially welcoming Wang So back into their fold with pomp and
ceremony.
It was quite obvious that Wang So has taken centre-stage in
the prayer ceremony; he was flanked on his right by Wang Wook, the Eighth
Prince and on his left by Wang Yo, the Third Prince. Wang So’s Shinju hostage
situation had been deferred.
King Taejo, Queen Yoo, Queen Hwangbo and Wang Mu, the
Crown Prince, were at the elevated temple while the rest of the princes waited
at the bottom of the highest flight of stairs. While King Taejo prostrated
before the altar of his ancestors, Choi Ji Mong, his right-hand man, was on
hand to assist him with the rites.
After the ceremony, the king glanced briefly at Wang So to seemingly
indicate that the injustice done to him had been rectified.
Instead of staying in his luxurious palace quarters, Wang So
chose to stay with the astronomer in his less splendid Cheomseondae Palace so that he could watch the glittering stars above.
Lady Hae had intentionally arranged for Hae Soo to be alone
with Wang Wook in his study. She was supposed to be with him but she feigned
sickness. What purpose was served by this plan?
Wang Wook was in the midst of writing a Chinese poem, ‘Come Away Home’ by Tao Yuan Ming when
Hae Soo entered his study.
He, like the rest of the princes, was schooled in the Chinese
language. The Goryeo kingdom was influenced by Chinese culture. Having fallen
deeply in love with Hae Soo, the Eighth Prince took that intimate moment to
write her a romantic Chinese poem, ‘Song
of Bamboo Twigs’ by Liu Yu Xi.
She, being ignorant about the Chinese language, pondered over
the meaning of the poem. While in the garden the next morning, she was still trying
to figure out the meaning of the verses of the poem. Baek Ah, the Thirteenth Prince and Lady
Hae read, translated and interpreted the poem for her. There was no denying
the general message which screamed out and clear. It was Lady Hae, not Baek
Ah, who fully understood the significance of Wang Wook’s poem.
SONG OF BAMBOO TWIGS
by Liu Yu Xi
Green. O green is the willow.
Placid, peaceful the flow,
Hark and I hear on the river…
To the east, the sun is up.
To the west, drizzles persist.
Though they say the sun is naught,
To me, the sun is aglow.
One beautiful morning, Wang Wook, Lady Hae and Hae Soo headed
to visit Queen Hwangbo, Wang Wook’s mother. Hae Soo brought along boxes of
soap that she had personally made for both Queen Yoo and Queen Hwangbo.
Taejo unexpectedly appeared. Hae Soo felt trapped in Taejo’s
presence as she had earlier offended Wang Eun, his tenth son. For one split
moment, she felt done for. She fell immediately to her knees. Like a
sycophant, the quick-witted young lady praised Taejo and was pretty clever at
answering his questions. Pleased with her extraordinary responses, the king
rewarded her with a Persian rug.
Hae Soo, while looking around for a toilet, met Wang So. Upon
seeing him, she sized him up. She had nothing but glowing praise for him. Dressed in his princely robes, he
had transformed into a completely different person. It must
have been a glorious sensation to be complimented for once in his life. Before she knew it, the Fourth Prince had drawn himself up to his full height and
declared that he was born to be a prince.
But, when Queen Yoo appeared, the frightened young lady hid
herself behind the wall to eavesdrop on their conversation.
Wang So was prepared for the biased queen’s mandatory personal
insults. One can remember that previously when the arrogant queen launched a
tirade against him, she had used a language so vitriolic that Wang So must
have felt the horrible sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach. The queen immediately
tore into Wang So by condemning him for being useless. She compared his
meagre abilities to the very much accomplished Wang Wook, who was of the same
age as him. Wang So had failed to measure up to her expectations. To add
insult to injury, she slammed him for only having the talent to kill people.
Horrified, Hae Soo fled the scene to avoid embarrassing
him. But, Wang So who had now grown used to this not-so-subtle form of
intimidation was not as hurt as before because of the positive and
encouraging influence of Hae Soo.
Wang Wook and Hae Soo could not help their irresistible
attraction to each other. Their relationship had developed into love.
Splendour in the snow. One wintry day, when they were in a
field of snow, she playfully tried to walk in his footprints. Their merged
footprints in the snow symbolically indicated that she would follow blindly
at his heels even though she may stumble over problems in her path.
The ambience was wonderful. It was a picturesque scene where beautiful
quaint houses were juxtaposed against the crisp, pure, white snow. Hae Soo
shyly offered Wang Wook a gift, a piece of soap, that she had lovingly made
to thank him for all his kindness and thoughtfulness towards her. After all,
he was the one who had lovingly provided all the ingredients for her to
indulge in her soap-making hobby.
When Hae Soo informed him that his poem was beautiful, he
requested a response in kind. Having no knowledge of Chinese, much less
calligraphic skills, Hae Soo mulled over the reply that he wanted. Their
frolic in the snow would soon bring their hidden emotions to the fore.
When the other princes arrived at Wang Wook’s mansion, Hae Soo
had hastily placed her reply on Wang Wook’s study table. They were nonplussed by Hae Soo’s letter.
The Eighth Prince had sheepishly explained that he had taught the young lady
a poem and had requested a reply from her.
After a few failed attempts at drawing up a reply to Wang
Wook’s poem, a great idea had popped up in Hae Soo’s head.
To the utter surprise of the audience, the 21st
century young lady had produced an emoji to show her positive response to Wang Wook's poem.
The highly creative image caught the interest and stirred the
curiosity of the princes. The scene is extremely uproarious with Wang So
instructing Wang Eun to raise his hands and open his mouth to imitate the
image on the paper. He promptly declared that Hae Soo thought highly of the poem.
The scene is, in fact, hilarious and highly entertaining. The
Moon Lovers: Scarlet Heart Ryeo audience must have been amazed by the
ingenuity of the scriptwriter.
But, someone was truly unhappy. Baek Ah was quick to catch on
the budding romance between Wang Wook and Hae Soo. Being displeased, he sharply
chastised Hae Soo for having hurt her cousin. Hae Soo must have suddenly woken up
from her romantic fantasy for when she next met up with Wang Wook, she had to tell
him that their relationship was doomed.
Visual imagery. Standing by the pool, the image of the ill-fated lovers was reflected
in the water. Perhaps, the mirrored image tells the audience that the duo had
to reflect on their actions.
In contrast with the previous picturesque winter landscape which
featured Wang Wook and Hae Soo’s frolic in the snow, the bleak winter scene that Lady Hae saw before her reflected the winter of her life. Lady Hae was
dying; she had vomited blood.
Lady Hae had already started burning her personal possessions,
symbolically burning away her past in her preparation to move into her
future, the next world, where all material things did not matter.
Even in her dying throes, Lady Hae was worried about Wang
Wook’s feelings and his future happiness. She was fearful of Wang Wook seeing
her at her worst - her ashen appearance with the fading of her life. It is heartbreaking that despite her approaching death, she wanted Hae Soo to use beauty products to boost the radiance of her skin. She wanted her beautiful image to be immortalised in Wang Wook’s memory.
William Shakespeare’s Sonnet 18, which is about the
immortalisation of beauty, comes to mind. In the sonnet, the speaker guarantees that his lover’s beauty would be preserved
intact in his memory.
The rows of snow-capped gigantic earthenware pots used in the
preservation of food in the courtyard are a reminder that though food could be preserved, it would eventually rot. Likewise, though the Goryeo people could use the various cosmetics which are encased in celadon cosmetic containers, these beauty products could not guarantee eternal beauty.
Lady Hae’s dying wish was to take her last walk with her
beloved Wang Wook in the beautiful snow. The Eighth
Prince carried his near-lifeless consort piggy-back style in the snow.
It is to Lady Hae’s credit that even in her dying breath that
she had confessed to her consort how much she loved him and how much she cared about his
happiness. She lovingly reminisced that after falling hopelessly in love with
him at first sight, she had boldly demanded for an arranged marriage with
him. At that time, Wang Wook’s family had been ostracised and driven out of Songak
due to Queen Yoo’s false accusation against his mother, Queen Hwangbo. Before
long, with the backing of Lady Hae’s powerful family, his family was
permitted to return to Songak again. Subsequently, Wang Wook quickly moved up
the palace hierarchy.
With a final effort, Lady Hae exacted a promise from Wang Wook
to look after Hae Soo, the young lady whom he truly loved. Hae Soo was
walking despondently behind them.
Previously, Lady Hae had pointed out to Wang Wook that he had never loved
her. Her unrequited love caused her much suffering.
Now that Lady Hae was at death’s door, it was Wang Wook’s final
opportunity to set things right - to tell her he loved her, even if he did
not. She had loved him and cherished him all their married life, so the least he
could do for her then was to lie to her that he loved her. She must have
yearned for a long time for Wang Wook to say those important words but he could not and
did not say them. The Eighth Prince, gripped by a stone-cold heart, resembled
the freezing weather. Lady Hae couldn't wait any longer; her body sagged and her soul left her body.
It was only after the Buddhist cremation rites that Wang Wook expressed his regret. It was already too late.
This is a vivid picture of a person at death in the presence of
relatives who purportedly love her. The viewers must have been enormously
disappointed in Wang Wook and Hae Soo, who had shown little consideration for
the person who had loved them dearly.
The fact was Wang Wook had a callous disregard for the feelings of his consort. Perhaps he thought his consort's selfless devotion gave him the licence to indulge in his romantic fantasies. He did not have a clear head on his shoulders and failed to realise that Lady Hae was a gem. He was too self-absorbed to cherish her though she had loved him, helped him and sacrificed for him. Knowing that he was smitten with Hae Soo, she had even tried to create opportunities for them to be together.
Hae Soo allowed herself to be easily seduced by a love letter from a married prince. Lady
Hae was like a mother to her. The norms and values in Goryeo were different
from those of the 21st century. Goryeo princes could have many consorts. Was that an excuse for her not to
have a moral compass? Hae Soo was certainly no better than her twenty-first century best friend and boyfriend who had betrayed her.
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