귀궁
SBS, 2025, 16 episodes
Genres: fantasy, historical fiction
Directed by Kim Ji-yeon 김지연, Yoon Seong-sik 윤성식
Written by Yoon Soo-jeong 윤수정
More information: HanCinema, MyDramaList
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| (A szerző képernyőképe a The Haunted Palace című sorozatból.) |
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| (Author’s screenshot from The Haunted Palace.) |
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| (Author’s screenshot from The Haunted Palace.) |
The drama molds its central figure from various concepts regarding
imugis. Gang Cheol (Kim
Yeong-kwang) is a dragon—that is, a water god who, after a thousand years of
suffering on Earth, could ascend among the celestial dragons; however, this
journey must not be witnessed by human eyes, as that would tarnish the
sanctity of the process. But Gang Cheol meets with misfortune because a child
sees him; therefore, he falls back to earth and becomes an
imugi, an imperfect
being stuck in its transformation. His heart fills with anger toward humans,
and he spends a hundred years avenging his grievances by causing them harm,
which is why everyone fears the evil deity. Eventually, he finds a girl with a
pure soul blessed with great spiritual power; if she accepts him as her
guardian spirit and prays for him, he can finally transform into a celestial
dragon. Therefore, he follows the girl and does everything in his power to
persuade her, but Yeo Ri (Kim Ji-yeon) has been resisting him for thirteen
years. The girl is the granddaughter of Shaman Neob-deok (Gil Hae-yeon),
having inherited her abilities and learned the craft from her, yet she does
not want to be a shaman; instead, she occupies herself with making "seeing
glasses"—that is, spectacles.
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| (Author’s screenshot from The Haunted Palace.) |
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| (Author’s screenshot from The Haunted Palace.) |
Also born in the village is a kind and learned young man of low birth, Yoon
Gap, whom the like-minded King Lee Jeong (Kim Ji-hoon) has taken into his
service and confidence due to his erudition and reformist ideas. Yeo Ri and
Yoon Gap feel an attraction toward each other, but the young man, who is
currently on a secret mission in their village, is killed by the King's
enemies. To obtain Yeo Ri's talisman, Gang Cheol possesses the dead man's
body, and herewith the complications begin, as the
imugi falls captive to
the body and has no idea how he could break free from it.
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| (Author’s screenshot from The Haunted Palace.) |
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| (Author’s screenshot from The Haunted Palace.) |
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| (Author’s screenshot from The Haunted Palace.) |
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| (Author’s screenshot from The Haunted Palace.) |
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| (Author’s screenshot from The Haunted Palace.) |
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| (Author’s screenshot from The Haunted Palace.) |
The story proceeds along two lines. As is usually the case, the royal court is
a field of factionalism and strivings for the throne; the King can trust no
one. Furthermore, strange phenomena overtake the members of his family;
everyone already suspects the activity of some evil possessor, but the King
does not believe in superstitions—he had even previously banned the activities
of shamans. It takes a good deal of time before he accepts that his confidant,
returned from the mission, has not lost his mind, but rather a deity who
flouts the hierarchical relations of mortal humans is playing harsh practical
jokes on him in his own court, and who has brought a shaman woman along with
him. While they search for the source of the troubles, they stumble upon
various spirits one after another. These beings are all the deceased stuck on
the threshold between the living and the dead, who are angry because they have
not been appeased for the grievances suffered during their lives.
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| (Author’s screenshot from The Haunted Palace.) |
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| (Author’s screenshot from The Haunted Palace.) |
This brings us to the point where we can grasp what makes this drama so marvelous. In many works, we have already encountered the concepts of Korean shamanism regarding afterlife and certain rituals based upon them. Now, we can form a more comprehensive—though still far from complete—picture of all this. The emerging spirit figures each require different types of treatment, as their grievances were caused by diverse reasons. Their deaths might have been caused by fire or water, through which we come into contact with the primal elements, or even by murder. Therefore, helping each of them toward reconciliation and escorting them to the afterworld requires different rituals, and the presentation of these constitutes the cultural uniqueness of the series. Naturally, we do not see authentic ceremonies, but rather dramatized versions of them; however, the purpose, paraphernalia, and the soul of the performance of these rituals are perfectly suited for us to experience their spiritual significance and the important role shamans play as mediators between the celestial and earthly worlds. Buddhism has exerted a strong influence on Korean shamanism, and we find the imprint of this in the series as well. The incantations spoken by the shamans were likely also written for the drama, yet they evoke the formulas of magic spells and warding charms, becoming true ritual texts upon the actors' lips. To quote one as an example (based on Ynonline8’s Hungarian translation):
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| (Author’s screenshot from The Haunted Palace.) |
(Author’s screenshot from The Haunted Palace.)
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| (Author’s screenshot from The Haunted Palace.) |
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| (Author’s screenshot from The Haunted Palace.) |
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| (Author’s screenshot from The Haunted Palace.) |
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| (Author’s screenshot from The Haunted Palace.) |
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| (Author’s screenshot from The Haunted Palace.) |
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| (Author’s screenshot from The Haunted Palace.) |
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| (Author’s screenshot from The Haunted Palace.) |
The Palcheokgwi is also fueled by some mysterious force, and all signs point
in the same direction as the King's investigation into the conspirators
against him, which is simultaneously the other main thread of the story. The
mask falls off more and more enemies, but the uncovering of the past leads to
an inglorious event in the royal family's bloodline, providing an explanation
for the vengeful being's animosity toward the royals. Naturally, many things
happen until the climax; King Lee Jeong, Gang Cheol, and Yeo Ri become
comrades-in-arms, and another
imugi named Bibi
appears, causing some complications. Portrayed by Cho Han-gyeol, Bibi remains
a memorable figure of the drama with his kindness, beauty, and sad fate. The
two imugis also possess
color symbolism. Gang Cheol is the black
imugi, a stagnant being
due to his failed ascension, unable to transform; therefore, he is dark and
driven by revenge, and his power does not flow but destroys. In contrast, Bibi
is a white imugi, a
pure-intentioned being living with the promise of becoming a dragon, still
awaiting transformation. This, of course, is just the "textbook formula," and
it does not fit our heroes exactly.
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| (Author’s screenshot from The Haunted Palace.) |
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| (Author’s screenshot from The Haunted Palace.) |
Although Gang Cheol hates his weak human body, he enjoys the pleasures
experienced through the senses, and the more time he spends among humans, the
better he understands their workings, experiencing feelings, joys, and
pains—and Yoon Gap’s mother (Cha Chung-hwa), who treats the
imugi as her own son,
plays no small part in this.
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| (Author’s screenshot from The Haunted Palace.) |
Gang Cheol learns to recognize good and evil, but everything has a price—as he becomes more human, he loses his divine power. Meanwhile, Yeo Ri's emotions become increasingly tangled, as she sees her former lover in the body but her hated enemy in the personality, and sometimes she no longer knows for which of them she is more concerned. She also has to realize that she did not judge everything correctly in the past, and these realizations show Gang Cheol in a different light.
While the King fights his ill-wishers on the terrain of reality, an even more
ruthless battle takes place between two powerful shamans, Yeo Ri and the blind
Poongsan. The latter is in the King's service, yet supports his enemies with
his magical power. He is a great manipulator and shrinks from no evil. Kim
Sang-ho was perhaps given the role of his life with this character, and he
proves once again what a magnificent actor he is. As a shaman, we believe his
trance, his transformations, and that he is capable of unleashing and
directing otherworldly forces with his ritual drumming. His chanting is
mesmerizing, both regarding the speed of his delivery and its intensity.
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| (Author’s screenshot from The Haunted Palace.) |
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| (Author’s screenshot from The Haunted Palace.) |
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| (Author’s screenshot from The Haunted Palace.) |
It takes numerous blood sacrifices before we reach the source of the calamities afflicting the royal family. At the beginning of the drama, a question is asked that could serve as a summary of what we have seen:
Although the drama is full of spirits, monsters, and people even scarier
than those, it is no more frightening than a somber fairy tale. Regarding its
visuals, it is a feast for the eyes, both in the photography of landscapes and
the interiors. The presentation of the ceremonies excellently conveys both
their terrifying features and their beauty. The care is palpable throughout;
one of my favorite scenes is when the
imugi—who is the lord
of the element of water and cannot exist without it—swims in the lake in human
form, surrendering himself to the pleasure, and in the actor's movement, we
see the serpentine winding of the dragon.
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| (Author’s screenshot from The Haunted Palace.) |
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| (Author’s screenshot from The Haunted Palace.) |
The cast is almost a star parade; I have not even mentioned countless greats,
especially from the world of court officials and bodyguards, though they all
deserve it, not to mention the beautiful queens, young ladies, and
maidservants, the numerous child actors of the series, or the actors
portraying the spirit beings. Instead, I grant space to the "clam-faced" Chief
Eunuch, as Kim In-kwon was able to give a completely new and entertaining
flavor to this role.
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| (Author’s screenshot from The Haunted Palace.) |
The Haunted Palace is a brilliantly successful piece among Korean fantasy series, perhaps precisely because they approached their own traditions with such love and respect. As a point of interest, I should mention that I watched director Kim Ji-yeon's previous drama just the other day, and her collaboration with Kim Young-kwang was already fruitful in Call It Love. Co-director Yoon Seong-sik also helmed Mr. Queen, during the filming of which he already had the opportunity to explore the humorous and dramatic possibilities offered by a similar body-swap situation.
Imugi (이무기)
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| (Author’s screenshot from The Haunted Palace.) |
DefinitionAn imaginary creature; a gigantic serpent that lives in water, having failed to become a dragon.OverviewThe imugi is an imaginary creature that frequently appears in Korean folktales. Like the dragon (yong), it is described as a sacred being that rules over water and brings wealth to humans, but it is also portrayed as a negative entity that inflicts harm upon them. Generally, while dragons are presented with a positive image of helping humanity, imugis are perceived simultaneously as objects of both positive and negative attributes.The dwelling of an imugi is usually deep underwater. Representative locations include ponds or marshes (so), and numerous legends related to imugis, including place-name legends, are distributed nationwide. In folk belief, it is believed that if an imugi spends 1,000 years (or in some versions, 100 years) in the water, it can fly up to heaven and become a dragon. This signifies that the imugi is perceived as an incomplete being in the stage prior to becoming a dragon. This factor serves to weaken the imugi's divinity and causes it to be perceived as a negative object. In the same context, this is often the reason why the imugi's divine powers are mentioned unclearly or depicted as weak compared to those of a dragon in most folktales.
An imugi in such an incomplete state appears as a fragile being that loses its divine power even through minor human intervention. At the very moment it ascends after enduring a long period of suffering, if a human witnesses the scene, the imugi has no choice but to return to the water.
Consequently, in oral folktales, the imugi primarily appears as a being that fails to ascend due to human interference, and for that reason, it is portrayed as an object that acts spitefully or causes harm to humans. These attributes of the imugi have also been shaped into proverbs: "An imugi that failed to become a dragon has nothing left but spite," which is a figurative expression for a person who is full of ill-will, lacks compassion, and only causes loss to others.ContentKorean perception of the imugi manifests primarily in three distinct layers. First, there is the imugi as a sacred being that protects Buddhist law, governs water, and guards humanity. This aspect is confirmed in Volume 4 of Samguk Yusa (Memorabilia of the Three Kingdoms), in the section titled "Boyang and the Pear Tree." Here, the imugi is referred to as Imok (璃目), and the details are as follows:When the founding monk Jisik was returning from China after receiving the Buddhist teachings and reached the middle of the West Sea, a dragon welcomed him into its palace. The dragon had Jisik chant scriptures and offered him a silk robe embroidered with gold thread as a donation; furthermore, the dragon sent his son, an imugi named Imok, to serve as an attendant. Imok lived in a small pond next to the temple and secretly assisted in the Buddhist enlightenment. One year, a sudden drought caused the vegetables in the fields to wither, so Boyang ordered Imok to bring rain, resulting in enough rain to satisfy the entire village. The Heavenly Emperor, claiming that rain had been brought without his knowledge, intended to kill the imugi. When Imok informed the monk of the danger, the monk hid him under the floorboards. Shortly after, a heavenly messenger arrived and demanded the imugi. The monk pointed to a pear tree in the courtyard. The messenger struck the pear tree with lightning and ascended back to heaven.
In this tale, the imugi, like the dragon, is a deity protecting Buddhist law and a being that governs water. We can also discern the relationship between the imugi and the dragon: they are father and son, with the imugi’s authority being one level below the dragon’s, representing an incomplete being with the potential to grow into a dragon. Furthermore, the imugi plays a direct role in helping human life, even risking its own life to bring rain.
This attribute appears identically in oral folktales as well. Imok would transform into a dragon and enter a hollow. A monk followed Imok and learned his true identity. One year, a severe drought threatened a famine. The monk asked Imok to bring rain to quench the thirst of the land. Imok initially refused, saying he would die if he disobeyed the Jade Emperor’s command, but eventually brought rain at the monk's persistent request. Imok asked for help to avoid punishment, and the monk hid him under the floor tiles. When the Jade Emperor’s messenger asked for Imok’s whereabouts, the monk pointed to a jujube tree. Imok survived through the monk's help and continued to provide rain whenever a drought occurred. Here, the imugi is expressed as a being capable of transforming into a dragon, showing that unlike in the Samguk Yusa, there was also a perception that identified the imugi as equal to the dragon rather than an incomplete being.
Secondly, there is the imugi whose divinity is weakened while its human attributes are strengthened. As seen previously, the imugi is often perceived as an incomplete being that failed to fully acquire the authority of a dragon.
There was a poor nobleman. One day, while coming home with money from selling cloth, he saw a group of people trying to kill a large snake (gureongi). The nobleman gave them all his money on the condition they spare the snake. Later, to support his family, the nobleman became a geomancer (pungsu). While eating at a house where he was seeking a burial site, he shared his food with a pitiful child. The child possessed miraculous powers and turned the novice nobleman into the greatest geomancer. The child revealed he was the snake the nobleman had saved. He explained that people had broken their promise and tried to kill him—an imugi—which prevented him from transforming into a dragon. The child said he came to repay the debt but could no longer help, and then vanished. Thanks to the imugi, the nobleman lived prosperously.
In this context, the imugi is described as a gureongi (large snake). In folk faith, the gureongi often appears as Eopsin (the deity of wealth), and depicting the son of a dragon as a snake reflects the folk perception of the imugi’s incompleteness. While its divinity is weakened, its human side—protecting good people and repaying kindness—is strengthened, representing the common people’s will to live a virtuous life.
Lastly, there is the negative imugi that causes harm to humans. In these cases, the being is depicted as having lost both divinity and humanity.
Kim Si-min, a military official who performed great deeds during the Imjin War, was exceptionally intelligent and physically imposing from childhood. A legend from when he was nine years old survives. Near his village, a large cave existed beneath a submerged rock in the river. A giant imugi lived there, appearing frequently to terrify people and harm livestock. Kim Si-min gathered local children, took a bow made of mulberry wood and arrows made of mugwort, and lured the imugi using the children’s shadows on a large rock (Guam). When the imugi appeared, Kim hit it with six or seven arrows, killing it. It is said the imugi’s blood stained the river red for days.
Here, the imugi is merely a harmful entity and an object of punishment.Characteristics and SignificanceIt is believed that the concept of the dragon entered Korea along with Buddhist culture. The imugi appears to be a being that served the role of a water deity (susin) in indigenous beliefs before the introduction of the dragon. However, as Buddhism expanded and dragon ideology became central to Korean faith, the divinity of the imugi weakened. Consequently, the imugi was likely demoted to the status of a dragon's son or perceived as an object to be punished.Nevertheless, while the religious sentiment toward the imugi has weakened, its symbolism as a supernatural creature (imul) with human qualities remains. Compared to celestial gods or dragon deities living in deep seas far from human experience, the imugi transformed into an intimate figure living in nearby ponds, involving itself in human fortune and practicing righteous values. Thus, the image of the imugi repaying a good human who respects life and cares for a neglected child embodies the righteous values and human ideals we pursue in the human world.
Author: Oh Se-gil (오세길)Source: Encyclopedia of Korean Folk Culture, National Folk Museum of Korea.
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