It may well be that the courtier called lady Jang was a witch, but that remains hidden in the annals of Korean history as an unsearchable and hidden enigma. Making such a claim may not necessarily be well founded or otherwise, but what is known about the woman is that she enjoyed the graces of an emperor, and was therefore the object of much envy among her peers; a situation that would later turn into much scorn and derision, because the relationship between the two already had the underpinnings of adultery in high society. What this implies is that the woman was depicted as a sex object at first, acting as the emperor’s concubine, which may not have been quite despicable in the social classes in which they were, but when it emerged that she had borne a boy child, then the whole story changed from there onwards.
Jang, through her adulterous relationship with the emperor (for it was adultery, and still is when one gets sexually involved with a married individual), was clearly depicted as an usurper of the empress’ throne, who through subterfuge first overthrew her from her elevated position in the emperor’s most private chambers. That is, by the woman Jang managing to win the heart of the emperor and ultimately bedding him, the die was cast for greater conquests, starting with the deposition of the empress.
Now, a witch may be regarded as a woman who controls other people through wicked insinuations and injection of poisonous thoughts into the minds of such individuals so that they may do her bidding. Therefore, a witch is a woman who makes people do things they would not do under normal circumstances, and when these atrocious actions have been done, the blame lies squarely on the person who unwittingly did the bidding of someone else having control over the victim’s mind. Could it be that Jang had such powers to twist the thoughts of other people around her finger and use them as puppets on a stage of her own making? This is hardly the case, given the many people who became involved in the ensuing fracas that culminated in Jang’s losing her life at the hands that once fondled her; through the very person that sired her bastard son (Hwang, p. 91).
What the traditional book fails to address is the part played by the emperor in the whole portrayal of the woman in all its negativity, particularly with regard to the frailty of men when it comes to matters of the heart. It is also quite certain that regardless of the affectionate attention accorded to Jang by the emperor (Hwang, p. 91), she may have still had other men who besought her graces. It is granted that a beautiful woman will not lack a string of men whom she can control at her whim, and if indeed Jang was as beautiful a woman as she was seductive (Hwang, p. 91), then by all respects, she need not have been toiling within the palatial premises of the emperor for a pittance.
The drama, on the other hand, shows Jang as a different individual who has respect not only for her individuality, but also has respect for the hands that ensures her tables lack not a daily supply of food. Through her own hands (Tae-hee, n.p.), she provides for her daily needs, and is not the lay about that the traditional book would like to make her to be. In all due respect, a woman or any other person for that matter, cannot arouse much suspicion upon their dealings when it can be vividly seen that the work they do is such and such, and the product of their work is enough to earn them the level of comfort they enjoy within their social class. Therefore, the drama endeavors to sway the minds of the masses away from the profane, away from the depictions that would not bring them any profit if they were to dwell upon such thoughts, to more profitable ideals especially for the women, who the world over have been invariably regarded as men’s underdogs.
Through the drama, the playwright tries to suggest that Jang was indeed respectable, had decent work which she did and could provide for herself and her family, but through an unfortunate twist of fate she chanced to cross the path of the emperor when he was going through a rough patch in his private life. Indeed, an emperor’s life is hardly ever private when the populace cannot see the makings of an heir (Hwang, p. 90), and this would have been the talk on everyone’s lips at the time. However, this would be a digression from the intended point this article is trying to put across.
Jang’s story as a victim in a love triangle among high society is reminiscent of the story of Bathsheba and David, and is possibly one of those stories that are related in diverse cultures with their own twists to the tale to make it more appealing. In the literary sense, it is much like spinning a yarn albeit in the Korean setting, while borrowing material from the ancient Jewish Middle East. All these issues notwithstanding, the drama and the traditional book both work in tandem to show through the character of Jang that at one time the world was one large expanse of land mass on which different cultures freely interacted.
Works Cited
Hwang, Kyung Moon. A History of Korea. Houndmills, Basingstoke and Hampshire: Palgrave Macmillian, 2010.
Living by Love. Dir. Lee Hyun-jik. Perf. Kim Tae-hee. 2013.
