The Great Queen Seon Deok

The Great Queen Seon Deok

Deokman (later known as Queen Seon Deok) was born as a twin but was abandoned as a baby. She was later brought back to the Silla palace, where she joined forces with her twin sister Princess Cheonmyeng to oppose Mi-shil, who wanted to seize power. Mi-shil devised sinister plans to have the two Silla princesses exiled from the kingdom, and in a secretive battle, Princess Chonmyong was assassinated by Mi-shil. However, Princess Deokman shrewdly enlisted the help of General Kim Yusin and eliminated her archenemy Mi-shil. She became the first female ruler of the Silla kingdom.

Lee Yo Won as Deokman

The History

This is about the first Queen in ancient Korean history. The history of Silla dynasti. Silla is one of three Kingdoms in Korea. Another Kingdoms are Baekje and Goguryeo. According to Wikipedia Seondeok reigned as Queen of Silla, one of the Three Kingdoms of Korea, from 632 to 647 AD. She was Silla's twenty-seventh ruler and its first reigning queen.

Queen Seondeok before she became queen, she was known as Princess Deok Man the second daughter of King Jinpyeong. Because the King had no sons, so he had selected Seondeok as his heir. This act was not unusual in Silla periode, as women of the periode had a certain degree of inluence as advisors, dowager queens, and regents. Women were heads of families since matrilineal lines of descent existed along with patrilineal ones. During the Silla kingdom, the status of women remained relatively high, but they were expected to do their duties and not try to do activities that were considered to be unwomanly.

Seondeok's reign was a violent one, there were many rebellions and fighting with the neighbor Kingdom of Baekje. Seondeok was known as a smart queen. She kept the kingdom together and extended its ties with China. Sending many scholars to China and learn from that country. Seondeok was drawn to Buddhism and presided over the completion of Buddhist Temples.
Seondeok built the "Star-Gazing Tower" or Cheomseongdae as the first observatory in East Asia. Cheomseongdae still stands until now in the old Silla capital of Gyeongju, South Korea.

Was the drama represent the real history of the queen ?
Not exactly, but the main story, characters, achievements, and strategy were real. There are differences of course, like in the drama, it was mentioned that Princess Deokman is Princess Chon Myong's younger twin sister. Actually, the history never mentioned that both princess are twin. And the appearance of Lady Mi shil.

Lady Mi Shil is a historical figure of Silla, but her existence is controversial because she is not mentioned in both Samguk Sagi and Samguk Yusa (Legend and History of the three Kingdoms of Ancient Korea). However, Lady Mi shil is a very important figure in Hwarang Segi.

Ten Sorabol's Hwarang

Hwarang Segi is a a historical record of the Hwarang ( flower boys) of the Silla kingdom in ancient Korea. It is said to have been written by Silla historian Kim Daemun (704). According to Hwarang Segi, Lady Mi Shil was a daughter of Mijinbu the 2nd Leader of Hwarang (Pungweolju). Mijinbu's mother was Princess Samyup, the daughter of King Beopheung of Silla. Her mother was Lady Myodo. With these relations, Mi Shil gained the qualification of a noble within the bone rank system.

In the drama series, Mi Shil is a major opponent of Princess Deokman.