K-12

Wonder what that is? No, it is not a submarine or a children's education module. Rather, it is the set of Korean historical dramas that I am recently hooked onto. I have started watching Korean shows off and on since Winter Sonata came out. The shows are touching, sappy and romantic, and made me cry after watching.

 

But it was only after I watched Jewel In The Palace that I started to really like Korean historical dramas. Since then, I prefer watching Korean historical dramas instead of the modern dramas, because I get to learn so much history and culture from the shows!

 

Since Jewel In The Palace came out, I started researching on Korean history, partly due to the influence of the show, and partly because history is one of my passions too. I found out that Korean history is similar to Chinese history, as in the culture is similar in that there is the Confucian way of thought that men rule and women are subjugated, which is still happening in Korea now. Korean history also go by dynasty rules and the king ruled together with some trusted ministers, with a regent when the king was still young.

 

Amazing what one can find out if only one bothers! I found out that Korea also had a period of Three Kingdoms, and the Three Kingdoms were in peace until later on when some ambitious ruler wanted to conquer all, so there was a period of war, until one of the kingdoms managed to conquer the other two and made it a unifed state. The Three Kingdoms were Gogoryeo, founded by Go Jumong (whose descendants still bear the surname Go), Baekje (founded by Jumong's son or step-son), and Silla. Later on Silla conquered both Gogoryeo and Baekje and called itself Unified Silla.

 

Then there was another period where another kingdom conquered the unified state, only to be conquered by the longest serving dynasty in Korean history. That kingdom was Goryeo (the old name from which South Korea is derived), who conquered Unified Silla, and later on to be conquered by the Joseon or Chosun Dynasty (from which the Chinese name of North Korea is derived), whose kings and royal family bear the surname Lee or Yi. The Joseon Dynasty would last almost six hundred years until the early twentieth century when the Japanese conqured Korea and abolished the monarchy.

 

The parallels of Korea and Chinese history are that during the era of the Three Kingdoms in Korea, it was during the Han Dynasty of China. Hence the Korean Three Kingdoms era happened even before the Three Kingdoms era of China. When Unifed Silla was founded, it was already in the Tang Dynasty, and when Goryeo was founded, it was already the Song and Yuan Dynasty.

 

The reason the Joseon Dynasty was founded was because some of the people were against the alliance with the Mongol rulers of China. In any case, when the Joseon Dynasty was founded, it was already the Ming Dynasty, and they would last throughout the Qing Dynasty and fell around the same time China became a Republic.

 

Hence, the customs, culture, dressing and even politics and management of the Joseon era were very similar to the Ming Dynasty of China. And that is why the historical dramas of Korea were so captivating because it really talked about the power struggle between the people in the royal family, the king who wanted to rule absolutely but was always overruled by his ministers, and the jealousy and infighting amongst the queen and concubines.

 

Hence I started collecting Korean historical dramas and arranged them in chronological order to watch. The first was Jumong, the founder of Gogoryeo, the biggest of the Three Kingdoms. The second was The Legend, incidentally starring my favourite Korean guy Bae Yong Joon. This took place around the middle part of the Gogoryeo dynasty.

 

The third was Queen Seondeok, the first female ruler of the Silla Kingdom. Silla came to an end two rulers after her, and was absorbed into Unified Silla. The fourth is Ballad Of The Prince, chronologically around the same time as Queen Seondeok, as it was on Queen Seondeok's (when she was still a princess) youngest sister who later married the king of Baekje, and he was the second last king of Baekje before it was absorbed into Unified Silla.

 

After this, the chronology went on to the Joseon Dynasty. The first show I have is The Great King Sejong, the fourth and probably the greatest king of the Joseon Dynasty. This was followed by the Princess Man, on King Sejong's granddaughter. Her father was the second son of King Sejong. The throne was of course passed to his elder brother King Munjong, who passed away after ruling for two years. The throne was then passed to his young son King Danjong, but King Munjong's younger brother seized the throne from his nephew and instilled himself as King Sejo.

 

Princess Man is on the daughter of King Sejo who was caught in the power struggle between her father, her cousin, and the son of the minister who remained faithful to King Munjong. Around the same chronological time, there is the show Queen Insoo. This is a relatively new show, the first production from a new television station.

Queen Insoo was the eldest daughter-in-law of King Sejo. When King Sejo seized the throne, his eldest son became Crown Prince, but he died early, leaving behind his widow and two young sons. His younger brother then became Crown Prince and later on ruled as King Yejong. But King Yejong died early, and his nephew (the son of the previous Crown Prince) then became King Seongjong, so his mother became Queen Insoo upon his ascension to the throne.

 

Another one along the same chronological time is the show The King and I, about King Seongjong and his concubine turned Queen, who was later deposed and forced to drink poison. Her son the Crown Prince became king Yeonsangun upon his father's death, but became one of the worst kings in Korean history, culminating in a coup to overthrow him and his younger brother became King Jungjong.

 

After The King and I, the next drama in the chronology is Jewel of the Palace, where the beginning showed the poisoning of the deposed queen, when her son Yeonsangun became king he went on a rampage and killed everyone involved in his mother's death, and then he was overthrown and his brother King Jungjong took the throne. The drama is mostly centred on King Jungjong's time, and later on briefly his eldest son King Injong, who also died early, and the throne then went on to his younger brother King Myeongjong.

 

The next drama in the chronology is The Moon Embracing The Son, on the son of King Seonjo, the successor to King Myeongjong. After that comes Jewel In The Crown, more commonly known as Dong Yi. The choronology now goes on a few more kings until the era of King Sungjong, Dong Yi's husband. Dong Yi later had a son who would later rule as King Yeongjo.

 

Finally, the last show in the chronology is Wind of the Palace, better known as Yi San, on King Yeongjo's grandson, who became King Jeongjo. It was around this time that Catholicism was being widespread, and outlawed by King Yeongjo as being against tradition and as an evil practise, so those Koreans who have converted to Catholicism had to practise secretly. Many Catholic priests were persecuted. Yet Catholicism managed to flourish and is now one of the biggest Christian groups in South Korea.

 

This is my chronology of Korean historical series so far. I believe there should be more coming, and if the storyline is interesting enough, I may add them to my collection too. Which is why I enjoy watching these because I really get to learn a lot, and the plot and actors are not bad too!

Experiencing A Longhouse

Sarawak is a country full of natives. When I say "natives", I mean the native people that were originally living in Sarawak since eons ago, like the Aboriginals of Australia, or Maoris of New Zealand. Sarawak itself has many tribes, like Penan, Bidayuh, Iban, to name a few. Their culture ranged from nomadic to headhunting, and they lived in longhouses deep in the jungle.

Hence, a longhouse visit is a must on my itinerary in Sarawak. Afterall, one does not go all the way and not appreciate the country's colourful culture and history, is it not? There are quite a few tribes available for visitors, but I chose one of the more popular ones - Annah Rais Bidayuh Longhouse, simply because it is more accessible than the others and can be completed in a day trip or even half a day without staying over. 

In fact, half a day is enough to take in the on-goings of the longhouses and see the natives going about their business. Of course, if you are the kind who wants to experience wholescale, then perhaps a night or two is a good idea, as you get to live in the longhouse, see how they make their rice wine, a cockfight, and even go on some headhunting trail of the past.

I embarked on the longhouse tour after my trip to the orang utans. It was just a half hour's drive from the orang utan sanctuary, so I reached the longhouse in good time. When the driver guide parked at the parking lot outside the property, I had to register and pay an entrance fee of RM10.00, where one of the natives then gave me a small glass of rice wine as a welcome drink.

 Rice wine as welcome drink

After registering, I proceeded to go into the property, with my driver guide, who showed me the entrance, which is via a long flight of stairs into the houses. The longhouses are on stilts, hence we need to climb a bit to reach the houses.

 Entrance to the longhouse via this flight of stairs

The experience really took my breath away! Despite modernisation, the houses are pretty well-preserved! They are built of zinc and wood, with bamboo floors and zinc roofs. Much of their culture is still intact, as I can see firewood on the floor, open stoves and outhouses as bathrooms, and the houses are even small and dark like before! 

I managed to speak to one of the natives who is in charge of the homestay program. He speaks pretty good English, but do not expect him to be half-naked like before. They all wear modern clothes now, and have mostly converted to Christianity. In the houses for the homestay program, there are even modern amenities like refrigerator, stove, cooking utensils and television sets. And yes, they do have satellite plates on the roofs of the houses too.

 Spare firewood to be kept for later

 Bamboo floors of the houses

 The front of one of the houses

 The surroundings of the houses

 I like this, because it shows modern influence despite the traditional culture

 The people actually walk on this board to get to the other side

 This is for slicing wood

 Boiling water outside

 This is the outhouse

After walking around, the driver guide brought me to the house that used to belong to the chief headhunter. The Bidayuhs were a headhunting tribe, where they hunted people and took their heads for sport. The heads would then be displayed as the fruits of their efforts. Whoever who took the most heads would be the chief.

Of course now they no longer hunt heads, but this house is still intact for people to see their past culture and tradition. No one lives in it now, it is just a show house.

 This used to be the house of the chief headhunter

 Interior of the heaadhunter house

 Can you see the skulls in a cage? Rewards of the headhunter

 Ceiling of the headhunter house

After coming out of the headhunter's house, I went to a house that sells souvenirs made by the tribes, like a blowgun and rice wine.

 Homemade rice wine

 A blowgun

 Wood being stacked around

The Bidayuhs still engage in cock fights for sport. I see quite a number of beautiful cocks around, some in cages, some roaming around.

 What a beautiful cock!

 We crossed this to get to the other side

 Roosters and hens behind a gauze

 Back windows of a house

Besides the longhouses, the property also comes with a big garden where the Bidayuhs grow fruit, like this ginger plant below.

This is a house that is at the lower part of the hill.

 

 More beautiful cocks

 A banana tree

This river runs through part of the property. The area where this longhouse is situated is called Padawan, near the border of East Malaysia and Kalimantan of Indonesia. So this river actually flows in from Indonesia. And apparently, the river mouth at Indonesia is still left alone, hence the water is pretty clear, otherwise will be murky.

 

This bridge leads to the end of the property.

 This house intrigues me. Notice the modern tiles and windows in a traditional structure?

 See the evidence of Christian influence? Almost all the doors have crosses on them.

 This is one of the houses for the homestay program.

 The kitchen area of the homestay house

 The common area of the homestay guests, where they can drink, watch television, play games and just socialise

 This is what an entire house looks like

 Another modern influence - a barbecue pit

The driver guide then brought me to a model house, where he said the house represents what the traditional longhouse actually looks like. When I stepped inside, my first impression is that it is small! For people who know me, they know how petite I actually am, so if I say something is small, it is small indeed! Even I have to bend my head a little to enter the house.

Second impression is that the interior is dark, save for a small light coming in from the only window in the house. I wonder how people read in those days? Imagine once the sun sets, the whole place would be dark. Or maybe they used a kerosene lamp as I saw one hanging next to the sink.

The structure of the interior is that the moment you enter, it is the sink. Next to it is a small table used for cooking. The living room is by the window, in between the sink kitchen and the living room, is a little corner used for dining. At the end of the living room, there are stilts going up to the sleeping quarters. So the whole family would sleep together in the same space. I am not talking about the two-child family in most places, but the family as in grandparents, parents, and the many children they have. So one can just imagine how squeezy it is especially since the space is so small!

 The entrance leading to the living room. Can you see how dark the place is?

 The sink. This is super small, but the whole family shares it.

 The kitchen and dining area

 Firewood stashed in one corner

 Benches for eating and sitting

 This is the space upstairs for sleeping

 The steps leading to the space upstairs

 The lone window upstairs

 The door of the house

 The model house. Can you see just how small it is?

 This is the Bidayuh wooden musical instrument, but the strings are not fully done yet.

 The rice for making rice wine, which a lady carried on her back

 The bag of rice is poured into this mat and then grinded using hands

 

 I am really intrigued by this Astro satellite dish on top of one of the houses!

 

 These are pepper grains drying in the sun. They would turn black once they are fully dried.

 Another "modern" traditional house

After exploring the whole place and learning so much in the process, I went off feeling fulfilled and awed. Despite all the modernisation, these natives still try to keep their culture intact as much as possible, and they are also able to discern the good and bad traditions. I wish more people can be like that!

 We passed by lots of farms on our way back to Kuching