Ja Myung Go

Ja Myung Go
Also known as	Princess Ja-myung
Genre	Historical, Romance
Written by	Jung Sung-hee
Directed by	Myoungwoo Lee
Starring	Jung Ryeo-won Jung Kyung-ho Park Min Young
Country of origin	South Korea
Original language(s)	Korean
No. of episodes	39
Production
Production location(s)	South Korea
Running time	65-70 minutes
Production company(s)	Da.da Creative Group
Release
Original network	Seoul Broadcasting System
Original release	9 March (2009-03-09) – 21 July 2009 (2009-07-21)
Chronology
Preceded by	Terroir
Followed by	Dream
External links
Website
Production website

Ja Myung Go (Hangul: 자명고; RR: Jamyeonggo; also known as Princess Ja-myung) is a 2009 South Korean television series starring Jung Ryeo-won, Park Min-young and Jung Kyung-ho. It aired on SBS from March 9 to July 21, 2009 on Mondays and Tuesdays at 21:55 (KST) for 39 episodes.

It is based on the Korean folk tale Prince Hodong and the Princess of Nakrang, which touches the story of the failed Nakrang Kingdom. According to the tale, there was a famous drum called the jamyeonggo, literally "the drum that beats by itself," that possessed the mysterious power to automatically sound an alarm whenever enemies would invade its kingdom. The self-sounding drum caused neighboring nations, including the warrior state of Goguryeo, to hesitate about attacking Nakrang. A prince of Goguryeo named Hodong infiltrated Nakrang with the mission of destroying the drum. But the prince unexpectedly fell in love with the princess of Nakrang. For her love, the princess eventually chose to tear off the drum to betray her country. As a result, her nation fell into ruin and she was killed. Prince Hodong mourned over her death, holding her body.

The period drama series, however, gives a new twist in that the drum is in fact a person, embodied by Ja-myung, the hidden sister of the Nakrang Kingdom's princess. Growing up as the princess of Nakrang, Ra-hee is adored by her people, while Ja-myung survives a murder attempt and lives as a commoner. Prince Hodong, from Nakrang's enemy, the Goguryeo Kingdom, is torn between two nations and two women, and must make a choice between love and duty.^[1]

Ja Myung Go received low ratings in the single digits (it competed in the same timeslot as hits Queen of Housewives and Queen Seondeok), resulting in SBS cutting short the initial planned 50 episodes to 39.^[2]

Plot

Lelang/Nakrang and around

Ja-myung (Jung Ryeo-won) and Ra-hee (Park Min-young) were born on the same hour on the same day as half sisters. An oracle warns that one of two would save the Kingdom and the other would destroy it. Ja-myung survives an assassination attempt by her stepmother Wang Ja-shil (Lee Mi-sook), the ambitious mother of Ra-hee. She escapes to Shandong Province, and grows up a commoner, becoming a top artist. When she discovers her true identity, she returns to the royal court. To avoid renewed conflict over the right to the throne, Ja-myung stays at the shrine as a priestess. She creates the Ja-myunggo-gak system, where a magic war drum is placed, to defend the country from outside attacks. Ja-myung and Prince Hodong (Jung Kyung-ho) of the enemy state of Goguryeo fall in love, but Hodong, as an ambitious prince, marries Ja-myung's half sister, Princess Ra-hee, to manipulate her into destroying the nation's defense system. Ra-hee, who is also in love with Hodong, eventually chose to tear down her country's war drum, becoming the traitor - and the princess of the prophecy. Princess Ja-myung, struggling to save her nation, pierces her beloved Hodong with her sword. He barely escapes death, but he realizes their fate; they cannot be together. As approaching soldiers come, he holds Ja Myung close to him and slides a sword through both of their bodies.^[3]

Among the many locations described in the series, there are:

• Lelang Commandery, later Nakrang Kingdom, especially Wanggeomseong, the capital
• Goguryeo, especially Guknaeseong, the capital
• various places at the border, especially the Eunpo fortress and the Cheongcheon River
• Shantung Peninsula, especially Mokjidun (Happy Joy's theater basis) and Dongmohyeon (Liu Ling's den).
• Luoyang, capital of the Eastern Han Empire.

Cast

Ratings

Source: TNS Media Korea

International broadcast

Thailand: It aired on Channel 3, starting December 12, 2009.^[5]

References

External links

• Ja Myung Go official SBS website (in Korean)
• Ja Myung Go at HanCinema
• Ja Myung Go on IMDb