The King: Eternal Monarch:: Bamboo or Tree?

I see what you did there, @Growing_Beautifully there. 😊

I know you and your friends on the other site have been trying to make me change my mind and say that the Manpasikjeok comes from a bamboo tree…err…grass, bamboo grass.

Bamboo is classified as grass, right?

But my answer remains the same. That is, I’m going to wait for the writer KES to tell me where she’s going with this Manpasikjeok (MPSJ) of hers.

I’m channeling Jung TaeEul who said, “I’m someone who still doesn’t believe that the earth is round.”

From the teaser:

I remember when the trailer came out, people’s comments on YouTube expressed their shock and dismay that the writer’s new heroine is a “flat-earther.” A “flat- earther” is a derogatory term for an individual who doesn’t believe that world is round. It’s a label to mock him as “anti-science,”  because he goes against the mainstream view, and engages in conspiracy theories.

Back then, when the trailer popped up, I defended the writer. I said to give her a chance to show us what she meant when she wrote those words for her character.

Here’s the link to the March 26, 2010 commentary. As usual, I was being irreverent about the whole controversy.

https://bitchesoverdramas.com/2020/03/26/the-king-save-the-date/

Now, do you see how this applies to our current impasse, @Growing_Beautifully?

You’re trying to convince me to believe in the creation myth of the flute MPSJ as put forward by the historical accounts. I’m anti-history if I don’t believe in them. Everyone knows that the historical documents about the myth exist. So why don’t I? I’ll be a weirdo if I don’t see that the Evil Uncle was telling the truth about the flute because the historical documents actually exist.

“They’re proven, danggit, packmule3! Don’t be a flat-earther! A flute-truther! What’s wrong with you?”

Monday Night Raw What GIF by WWE - Find & Share on GIPHY

I already said this. In this kdrama, there are two creation myths to explain the origin of the flute:

A. THE MYTH — and I used capital letters because this is the original myth mentioned in the  source documents. This MYTH served as basis for the Evil Uncle’s actions.

Uncle: The story begins during King Sinmun’s reign in the Silla Dynasty. This is recorded in the Memorabilia of the Three Kingdoms. “In the spring of year 682, King Sinmun received a bamboo flute, from the Dragon King of the East Sea. When the flute is played, enemies would retreat, diseases would be cured, rain would fall during droughts, the rainy season would end, the wind would stop, and strong waves would subside.”

Uncle: (continuing) King Sinmun named the flute “Manpasikjeok” and designated it a national treasure. Although for people who do not believe the story, it’s merely a myth.

The uncle then continued to explain that he didn’t age because of flute. He took it from his brother who had it, but did not believe in it. The Manpasikjeok was revealed only once every 20 years to wish peace upon the world.

Uncle: He was allowed to see it every day. My naive half-brother, who became King just because he was born the legitimate son, did not do anything when he had the whole world in his hands. He didn’t even know that the Manpasikjeok in his hands would bring the world to him. To be exact two different worlds. I did expect that one day, my nephew would face that legend too, just like me.

His story Correction: MOST of his story did not deviate from the OFFICIAL myth.

His explanation is supported by the historical documents. Thank you for providing them, @GB!

You mentioned it here:

Here’s something written by @kiara on DB which I thought would be good to post here for reference and ‘research’.

“… the bamboo flute aka Manpasikjeok is based on a Silla legend written by a monk named Iryeon.

Just like how it was introduced in episode 1, the Legend says that the Manpasikjeok was crafted from a mystical bamboo tree on a floating mountain as a gift to King Sinmun from his father.

There is a lot of symbolism behind the whole legend that could be related to this parallel universe like the bamboo tree separating into two plants during the day and becoming a single plant during the night.
So I’d say it comes from a bamboo tree like the it says in the legend.

I think the tree with the root and lighting might have something to do with King Sejong (Tree with deep root anyone?). The brain behind the creation of Hangul and the advancement of scientific technology etc in the history of Korea.”

here,

According to Korean folklore, the daegeum is said to have been invented when King Sinmun of Silla was informed by Park Suk Jung, his caretaker of the ocean (Korean: 해관; Hanja: 海官) in 681 that a small island was floating toward a Buddhist temple in the East Sea. The king ordered his caretaker of the sun to test whether this was good luck. The caretaker replied that a dead king who turned into a sea dragon, and two great warriors are giving a gift to protect Silla, and if the king would visit the sea, he would receive a priceless gift. The king soon sent a person to look for the gift. The person replied that a bamboo tree on the top of the island becomes two in the morning and one in the night. On the next day, the world shook and it rained and wind blew, and the world was thrown into darkness for a week. When the king went to the island himself, a dragon appeared and told him that if the bamboo on the top of the island was cut down, made into a flute, and blown, the country would be peaceful. The king cut down the tree, and the flute made from the bamboo was called manpasikjeok (Korean: 만파식적; Hanja: 萬波息笛).

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tomb_of_Munmu_of_Silla

and here:

When ‘Munmu of Silla’ died before completing the temple, his son King Sinmun completed it in 682. And he named it ” Gameunsa [Ko] ” to thank ‘Munmu of Silla’s grace.

Sinmun of Silla built Gameunsa [Ko] for his father, Munmu of Silla. In 682, a public official said ‘Small mountain in Donghae is coming to Gameunsa’. According to the fortune-telling, King Munmu of Silla, who became the dragon of the sea, and Gim Yu-sin, who became the king of heaven, said, ” Go out and take the present.” When he came and saw at Igyeondae [Ko], it looked like a turtle’s head and had bamboo on it, divided into two by day and combined into one by night. Nine days after the storm, the king entered the mountain and the dragon said, “If you made a flute out of that bamboo, the whole world would be at ease. ” So he took it out, made a flute and kept it. The name of this flute is Manpasikjeok. The reason for the name is that when the country is worried, he played the flute and country has become quiet.

See that?

I knew you were insistent because you posted about it three times.

Now, please do not get me wrong. I do NOT question the authenticity of the source texts. Although I don’t believe in the myths themselves (i.e., I don’t believe in a dragon king from the East Sea), I know that these documents recounting the myths are authentic.

What I’m questioning here is their significance to the writer’s story.

You see, I’m keenly aware that the writer is putting forward another creation myth of her own,  a myth in small letters.

B. a myth, an alternative story of KES’ making. This is the myth that the writer AND director have been consistently telling us through the preview of the drama and the opening credits.

Here are the gifs, courtesy of jsutaphase’ tumblr

jsutaphasejsutaphasejsutaphasejsutaphasejsutaphasejsutaphasejsutaphasejsutaphase

And that’s KES’ creation story. As I said, it’s entirely fictional. It has no basis in reality. It only exists in this kdrama.

I also said that, as tempting as it is, for me to believe with MYTH A, I’m going with myth b.

Why?

Because I’m here for the writer’s story. For the sake of the story, I’m temporarily suspending my DISBELIEF in her creation story, and go with her flow of the story.  Despite her obvious deviation from the documented texts, I’m believing her story.

#believeher

In KES’ creation myth, a powerful lightning struck a big tree standing alone on flat ground. The lightning reached all the way down to its roots. A flute appeared, and it too was struck by lightning. It split into two. A math wormhole appeared. The flute fell in it and two worlds appeared.

There are three glaring departures from the original legend.

One, in KES’ creation myth, the gods were absent. A natural phenomenon, a lightning, struck the tree. Meanwhile, in the historical texts, the dragon from the sea and the king of heaven, played a big role in this legend. They gave a bamboo to the Sinmun, the ruler of Silla.

Two, in KES’ creation myth, a big tree was instrumental. It was standing alone on flat ground. Look here, even the colors are surreal.

Meanwhile, in the historical texts, the role of the bamboo was touted. There was a bamboo grass on top of a mountain on an island that looks like a turtle’s head. The bamboo was split during day, and combined as one at night. The dragon told Sinmun to make a flute from the bamboo.

Three, in KES’ creation myth, the flute was struck by lightning and broke into two. It fell in a wormhole of math equations…

jsutaphase

And created two worlds as represented by the coins.

jsutaphase

That’s the power of this Corean MPSJ flute. It had the power to bring two worlds to the King, according to the Uncle. This is the part in HIS NARRATION where he deviated from the “original script” or  from the historical documents.

In the historical texts,  the whole essence of the flute was to provide a reign of peace and calm. Whenever the country was worried, “Sinmun played the flute and the country became quiet.” Thus, it was written,

When the flute is played,
enemies would retreat,
diseases would be cured,
rain would fall during droughts,
the rainy season would end,
the wind would stop,
and strong waves would subside.

There was no mention of two worlds in the historical document.

So do you see now how the two legends stack up against each other? To me, there’s an effort to show a parallelism. It wasn’t coincidental. The opening credit wasn’t a mere figment of imagination of a graphic artist. The art director wasn’t simply given free rein to indulge in her creative fantasies.

No, in my opinion, the opening credit was careful crafted to propose another creation myth, an ALTERNATIVE legend. And whoever made it, whether it’s a graphic artist or the art director, that person had the CONSENT of the writer and the director to do it that way.

Why is that?

I’ll give you two words:

Parallel world.

😊

We’re dealing with the theme of parallel universe. We’re seeing how everything can look similar when it’s in fact a contradiction or a reverse image. If people, places, and things have an opposite version in the parallel worlds, then I think, their history (LG already said their histories deviated at a certain point), tradition, AND folklore should have alternate versions, too. Am I right?

After all, is there a better antithesis to a grass (pretending to be a tree) than an actual tree?

Grass.

Tree. lol.

Moreover, didn’t you all wonder why the Evil Uncle desired to acquire this flute when he so resented the deities who gave the flute to human?

King: Don’t do this. Put that sword down. This is treason, Hyungnim.
Uncle: To you, it might be nothing but treason. But I picked up this sword to gain something even greater.
King: What is it that you’re so willing to kill for? Do you not fear the punishment of the skies?
Uncle: The punishment of the skies? I plan to be the very being who gives punishment from the skies, Your Majesty. (then switching names) Brother, God never created humans. It was the weak who created god.

See the incongruity there? If he scoffed at the deities, then why on earth would he want the deity’s flute so much that he formed an army, killed men and his brother, and abandoned all good reason? Shouldn’t he have trashed the flute because he considered the provenance of the gift a nonsensical invention of weak men?  anyway?

Furthermore, didn’t you wonder why the King himself wasn’t enamored with the flute? The Uncle thought that the King was plain stupid that’s why he didn’t understand the REAL power of the flute.

But to me, whether or not, the King knew about the complete legend of the flute, he treasured the “Four Tiger Sword.” He kept in his bedroom. (It reminded me of LG renaming Jo Young, “The Unbreakable Sword” and keeping him with him at all times.)

And it’s the Four Tiger Sword’s legend that the King passed on to his son.

King: The sky bestows the heart upon us, and the ground helps the spirit. The sun and the moon are formed. As the mountains and streams form, lightning strikes. A sage is moved to defeat the evil of the mountains and streams. Wield it with deep thoughts and make things right.

King: (continuing) That is the calling of the Four Tiger Sword. Only the King can become the owner of the Four Tiger Sword. Do you think you can fulfill this calling, Gon?
LG: Yes, Father.
King: Even if it requires you to eat beans and spinach?
LG: Then, maybe next time, Father.
King: All right. But why? Is the challenge too steep for you now?

To me, the King treasured the sword more than the flute. And I find that idea intriguing because the flute obviously could conjure up supernatural powers while the sword only relied on the king’s own human strength.

To me as well, the sword had to mean something because it’s the one thing LG visibly brought with him when he finally confronted the consequences of the “legend.” That’s what the Uncle said, didn’t he? “I did expect that one day, my nephew would face that legend too, just like me.”

See that? If the whole point of this drama was simply the original MYTH as recorded in the historical documents, then this whole parallel world didn’t need to exist.

And yeaah… I guess, he wouldn’t have this root on his back.

That’s the root from here.

That’s why don’t lose sight of what this kdrama is all about. It’s about two worlds.

In the Republic of Korea, yes, definitely, certainly, without a doubt: ALL the established historical markers of the MYTH apply to the flute. However, in the parallel world of the Kingdom of Corea, the writer is boss. She creates her own mythology. If she wants to, her big blooming tree has every right to exist in this alternative myth, just like the bamboo grass is central in the the annals of Korean mythology.

Let’s be patient. Wait for the story to develop. Be open to alternative ideas. Sure, I think up theories. I pull them out of my hat every day to entertain you all here in my blog (not). But I respect the creative power of KES. I’m giving her time to explain herself.

 

21 Comments On “The King: Eternal Monarch:: Bamboo or Tree?”

  1. Updated.

  2. I just had a good idea for a screenplay, related to TKEM.
    Theoretically, there should be an infinite number of parallel universes. But of course, the drama will only talk about two worlds, in order not to destabilize the spectator. That’s quite normal. On the other hand, the drama does destabilize, however, because it adds a story of time travel.
    I don’t like this mix very much, and I wondered how it could be more coherent by keeping a single theme. Hence the idea that will follow. Note that the drama may later use this idea as an incredible twist. But at the moment it doesn’t, and that would be inconsistent with what we’ve already seen, or things will change, how know ?

    There is no time travel, besides the two parallel worlds.
    There are just two parallel worlds, but they have a peculiarity of their own:
    Our world’s time is going in the opposite direction to the other world’s time.
    For the inhabitants of each world, this is not noticeable, of course.
    It is the opposite direction of the time line between the parallel worlds.
    If someone goes to the other world, he will live according to the time frame of this world (so he will have the impression that time is passing normally), on the other hand, he will go against the time frame of the world he comes from.
    For example: when LG comes in ROK at the beginning, there are two days (about) left.
    When he goes back in QOK, since two days have passed “the other way around”, it means he comes back two days before he left!
    If LG stayed in ROK for 25 years, he would come back in QOK 25 years before he left (which would allow him to save himself as a child).
    It works the same way in the other way, of course.

    Since the timelines are reversed, let’s take another example: the flute is not a magic object, but a technological object. A technology so advanced that it looks like magic. The flute was designed in the world of ROK in the year 3500 (+1500 years)! But at that time, it was sent to the world of QOK, so it arrived in about 500 (-1500 years)! Which made it look like a historical object.

  3. Growing Beautifully (GB)

    @pkml3
    Hah! I know what I did, and I succeeded. It was to get your take on the MYTH. My nonsense below is filled with questions, but don’t worry, I’m just posing them and if you feel like answering them, please do… but I’m also letting the show answer them.

    My purpose was to figure out why the opening was like that. I hadn’t seen the opening, as I mentioned elsewhere. When I caught on, I found it but it was in an MV and not part of the opening ‘credits’.

    At the same time, I was alerted to the fact that stories with the flute named manpaksikjeok (MPSJ) existed. And so I went along to find out what was the same and different.

    Bringing up the wiki legend was to have a source material from which to see how KES would derive her tale (the way we played around with how show fits in with Alice in Wonderland here, or with the Swan Lake/Giselle stories in the Angel’s Last Mission.)

    And of course, you’ve done your due diligence and written it out for us nicely. LOL Thanks!

    Creation myths: I like them. There are aspects similar and different in myths of various cultures. I want to know what KES makes of Silla’s MYTH.

    Bamboo = grass. Yes it is. A very tall grass.
    Yellow tree in pink field = very unworldly, but it has at its root base, the magic flute.
    The flute (MPSJ) = something that is of the gods? ‘Godly’ or transcendent. Something that enables the one who plays it to be like ‘god’, conferring on the player the power to control nature among other things.

    “In KES’ creation myth, a powerful lightning struck a big tree standing alone on flat ground. The lightning reached all the way down to its roots. A flute appeared, and it too was struck by lightning. It split into two. A math wormhole appeared. The flute fell in it and two worlds appeared.”

    I like that this sequence suggests what I was saying myself somewhere earlier, that the flute’s being split into 2, could have caused the parallel universe to be created.

    If the flute had remained in 1 piece, we’d have the MYTH. Because it got cut into 2, we have the myth. The lightning strike to me, appeared deliberate (see below). Its purpose? To split the flute, to create the other universe. To enable more than 1 person to play god?

    However, if the lightning was an accident, then it was not deliberately used to create 2 worlds.

    “There are three glaring departures from the original legend.

    One, in KES’ creation myth, the gods were absent. A natural phenomenon, a lightning, struck the tree. Meanwhile, in the historical texts, the dragon from the sea and the king of heaven, played a big role in this legend. They gave a bamboo to the Sinmun, the ruler of Silla.”

    About that lightning. I was positing that it looked thicker and more other worldly than normal lightning. It also seemed to pause before hitting the tree dead centre, vertically from the top. I’m playing with the idea (as yet to be shown by KES) that this lightning was alien as in not of our natural weather, or it came from ‘god’. However that’s probably beside the point, since the story continues from there.

    It’s important that the flute came from that tree or rather resided in its very roots, but also that it broke into 2. The tree links the heaven with the earth, the balance of sky with ground. It had kept safely the flute, until the lightning struck it. The King (Lee Ho) had held on to the flute, like a “Tree With Deep Roots”.

    “Two, in KES’ creation myth, a big tree was instrumental. It was standing alone on flat ground.”

    From my previous paragraph and your gifs above, what it looked like was that the lightning was deliberately over that tree, because the flute was there. It practically hovered over the tree for a split second and like a space ship, plunged into the roots of the tree.

    Although the lightning bolt that split the flute is shown to us as coming from the left, it is I believe, the same lightning bolt from the sky seeking out the flute to break it apart.

    In the myth of KES which is now the reality of LG’s world, that flute was cut into 2 by The Four Tiger Sword. Therefore, the Sword is the unearthly Lightning that struck the tree to its roots. Taking this thought another step…

    … As you have noted, it is significant that we only get the scene of dad telling LG about the Sword and not about the flute. LG, as the rightful owner of the Sword, could wield it, although it was too heavy for a kid. Can the wielder of supernatural lightning that split the flute, be considered a god as well? Both LL and LG wielded it. One for evil and one to right a wrong. They are each the antithesis of the other. One wants to play god, the other innocently played god without knowing it, ie LG created the parallel universe.

    This begs the question, why is the Sword so ‘silent’? It makes its appearance now and then, but we mostly don’t talk much about it as it quietly sits under its dust cover. And I asked before, why a national treasure like the sword, should have been in that broken down building, and only now, 25 years later, have just been moved by LG into his room. Why was it treated as forgotten for 25 years? Perhaps because it was the instrument that caused his father’s death? Because the flute had eclipsed it in importance? (I know, we will wait for the story to unfold.)

    Three, in KES’ creation myth, the flute was struck by lightning and broke into two. It fell in a wormhole of math equations…
    And created two worlds as represented by the coins.
    That’s the power of this Corean MPSJ flute. It had the power to bring two worlds to the King, according to the Uncle. This is the part in HIS NARRATION where he deviated from the “original script” or from the historical documents.

    Yes, this. I’m even wondering if those were maths equations … not alien runes or something?

    ” The uncle then continued to explain that he didn’t age because of flute. He took it from his brother who had it, but did not believe in it. The Manpasikjeok was revealed only once every 20 years to wish peace upon the world.
    Uncle: He was allowed to see it every day. My naive half-brother, who became King just because he was born the legitimate son, did not do anything when he had the whole world in his hands. He didn’t even know that the Manpasikjeok in his hands would bring the world to him. To be exact two different worlds. I did expect that one day, my nephew would face that legend too, just like me.”

    I don’t see though why Lee Lim said his brother, the King, was allowed to see it every day when it was revealed only once every 20 years. I am under the impression that the flute hid itself until the 20 years was up, and that’s why Lee Lim was waiting around in the palace, in the bedroom, toying with the sword (bad security in that palace!). He was waiting for news that the King was in that other room, meaning that the flute had turned up.

    Yes, why did the King Li Ho appear to not have done anything with that flute. He already had his world in his hands, and he didn’t need anything more? There was no unrest in the country and no devastating disasters to prevent with that flute?

    It’s noteworthy that the Sword had originally been kept in the King’s bedroom. And that it ended up in the other room where the King died, and stayed there for 25 years.

    I like your idea that grass is pretending to be a tree with deep roots. I actually find grass very hard to pull up by their roots.

    The thing about LL, he wanted to ‘be a man-made god’ although he did not believe in a transcendent god.

    ” Uncle: The punishment of the skies? I plan to be the very being who gives punishment from the skies, Your Majesty. (then switching names) Brother, God never created humans. It was the weak who created god.”

    He wanted the power to mete out punishment from the skies like god.

    Ironically, LL was not enamoured of the Sword. It was just an instrument of death for his brother.
    His brother, Li Ho, was not enamoured of the Flute. The Sword is owned by the King, but the Flute comes and goes.

    Another interesting parallel in their own universe.

    Lee Ho speaks the words on the Sword.

    King: The sky bestows the heart upon us, and the ground helps the spirit.

    Sounds like the heavens and the earth give us life, body and soul, heart and spirit. ANOTHER CREATION myth.

    The sun and the moon are formed. As the mountains and streams form, lightning strikes.

    The world is formed and there’s a lightning strike upon it? Does the lightning strike for good or for ill? It sounds like the supernatural lightning of the tree.

    A sage is moved to defeat the evil of the mountains and streams.

    A sage = thoughtful, reflective and wise? person will want to defeat evil. The mountains and streams that form have (good? and) evil. The sage will want to uproot the evil.

    Wield it with deep thoughts and make things right.

    I assume this means that the sage will wield the Sword, having thought deeply and clearly when to wield it and how, in order to right the wrongness of the world, to root out the evil.

    We see that LG is a very pre-possessed child and a very calm, deep thinking man. He bears the evidence of being sage-like. He is like one in the square root sign, waiting to be released from it.

    And yes, in the teaser or preview, LG carries the Sword with him while astride Maximus, while I believe, he faces the portal. It is the Sword that (may)/will have the final word.

    Fun conjectures to be proven or disproven in the weeks to come!!

  4. Thank you for sharing this post. It is so refreshing to read a positive review of KES. When I think of the kdrama scenes that moved me the most- chances are they’re hers. I have a deep deep respect for the writer and her ability to tap into the cenote of our souls.

    In her interviews, she’s quoted as saying that she continually looks to improve as a writer- so I can’t wait to see what she does with The King.

  5. Ugh! @Growing Beautifully, you’re such a catnip for me. I can’t resist replying. lol.

    Will answer later. Got to eat now. Skipped lunch. 🙁

  6. “In her interviews, she’s quoted as saying that she continually looks to improve as a writer.”

    Good for her, Beantown. She might be getting bad reputation because the “critics” think her dialogues are cheesy and she caters to the “masses.” But that’s kinda elitist, right?

    Well, I can’t promise that I’ll stay on until the end. But I’m giving her a chance. And I’ll do my best to give her “justice” — whatever that means. lol.

  7. Old American Lady

    We have a saying in our house that started on a road trip through California and Nevada;”Respect for the druver.” Your post reminds me to have respect for the writer. Go on tne trip. Follow the roads, detours, dead ends, seemingly unrelated sidetrips. Sometimes take back roads,Watch the scenery.

    I love this drama and your analyses. There’s so much to explore. Lots of treasure. I love parallel universe stories like the Man In The High Castle and Counterpart. There are the fish out of water stories, the culture shock, all of the mental health issues and ainyour current post, tne myths. And last but not least, the world building.

    Looking forward to taking this trip and reading your posts. Thank you so much for giving us this gift.

  8. @Growing.Beautifully.(GB): “I like that this sequence suggests what I was saying myself somewhere earlier, that the flute’s being split into 2, could have caused the parallel universe to be created.”

    According to LG’s research in the ROK library, the difference between the two worlds started with Prince Sohyeon: he died in 1645 in our world, but in LG’s world he lived longer. The flute wasn’t sliced in two by Four Tiger Sword until 1994. Here are two possible interpretations:

    1) One world split into two in 1645. In 1994 the separation between the worlds was shattered by the creation of the portal when the flute was split into two.

    2) Two worlds always existed in parallel. Between them a portal always existed but was closed. Something happened in 1645 to cause the histories of the two worlds to differ. In 1994 the cutting of the flute caused the portal to open.

    The portal is an interesting construct, and I wonder if we’re going to learn more about it. It is only visible with the flute–or a part of the flute–present. It is of mossy stone, overlaid with fiery lines. It looks old, weathered, and is partially ruined: the two remaining pillars are of unequal heights, and three sets of notchs (varying shapes: square, circle, rectangle) are visible where beams would have hung.

    I think the stone pillars outline the portal, but aren’t the portal itself.

    When LL and LG each encounter the portal their first time, their attention is drawn to it (the portal is calling them) when they hear flute music, wind shaking leaves, then lightning and thunder, followed by the clatter of stones in motion. When LG tests having his riding crop with him as he’s on foot in the Seoul ROK bamboo forest, the appearance of the portal is accompanied by flute music, wind shaking leaves, thunder and lightning, and the clatter of stones. When LG is intending to depart ROK astride Maximus (he’s summoning the portal), thinking about TE and the Kim So Wol poem, we only hear the clatter of stones before the portal appears ahead of him on the path. When LG brings TE with him from ROK (summoning the portal), riding double on Maximus, we hear (barely, over hoofbeats and swelling OST) stones clattering.

    I love someone’s suggestion that since the two pillars are of different heights, one represents Tae Eul, and the other represents Lee Gon. It could also be one for child LG and his tall mystery savior, but the differences in pillar height don’t visually suggest that as strongly.

  9. Thank you @packmule3 for another good read. I also think that it is not coincidence that the two stone poles are difference in heights as it may reflect the modernity/development of each world. I am starting When My Love Blooms to give a try on this 40-ish melo love story and see if I can survive this. Hope my heart still have some blooming flowers to endure the journey. I am putting The King on hold and will visit your writings to get an update on it. Thanks again for an enlightening read 😊

  10. No worries. We’re seeing each other shortly anyway. Hospital Playlist. 😂

  11. Good points, Welmaris. Thanks. I’ve been meaning to collect all the historical posts you made here and combine them for accessibility. I’m just pressed for time. 🤪

  12. Growing Beautifully (GB)

    @Welmaris
    Thanks for keeping track of the histories and dates! I’m kind of inclined towards your number 2)

    2) Two worlds always existed in parallel. Between them a portal always existed but was closed. Something happened in 1645 to cause the histories of the two worlds to differ. In 1994 the cutting of the flute caused the portal to open.

    I like your attention to the audio detail. You are suggesting that the sounds of the flute, the wind in the leaves, lightning and thunder and clattering stones are signs of the portal (or the flute) calling.

    When LG summons the portal, we only get the clattering stones.

    That’s a possibility worth considering.

    I did suggest the different heights of obelisks looked like TE and LG standing and staring at each other. However the shorter obelisk was shorter because it was damaged, I believe. The shape of the top of the shorter one was uneven as if broken randomly. I hope that has not bearing at all on what may happen to TE. 🙂

  13. Growing Beautifully (GB)

    Heheheh! @pkml3 I know, I keep throwing out here, any thoughts that strike me, and you have to grit your teeth wondering why this crazy person just keeps piling on the guesswork when the show’s only on it’s 4th episode.

    LOL, that’s actually exactly the point. Since show has to build the worlds and give us the clues in a measured way, without yet telling us the entire logic of the show universe, we have the opportunity to interpret them how we like, within reason, and hope that we are not too far off.

    Like you say, these are just theories and can be tossed aside once proven wrong. But it’s a heck of a lot of fun coming up with them!

    And obviously in debunking them too!

  14. That tree is a ginkgo tree. It was very well known among fans who had been following the drama since the announcement that this tree will be significant to the story. The writer herself said so. Anyway, I suggest doing a quick search on ginkgo trees. They’re quite an interesting species of trees and their symbolic meaning may lead to more theories.

  15. Oh I see. I didn’t know that. Thanks @ noname.

    No time to do research on ginko trees now. 🙂 Maybe the others will. I think nrllee might have written something on the ginko tree. Or was it the baobab tree?

    I still have GB’s questions to answer but it’s bedtime for me. ‘night.

  16. Growing Beautifully (GB)

    @pkml3
    Thanks very much for going into such great detail. It was great to read what appears to me as deductive leaps of logic. LOL.

    I like that LG admits that despite his great mathematical brain, he forgot to add up( 1 + 1) half flute + person = (2) portal opens and person gets through. He’s honest.

    Even when he saw the world stand still twice, he did not immediately conclude that it was proof that the portal was being activated.

    There is still the question behind how he was always 50% or more certain that LL was still alive. I put it down to just intuition and a hunch. That he, (like TE who did not trust all the pointing at Lee Sang Do), has a feel for what is true and false, or a feeling of discomfort when things are too neat and too pat, all pointing one way.

    They seem at least in this area to have something in common, since to both of them, the neatness of the evidence seemed to be signs that pointed to them being deliberately constructed, to mask the truth.

    That LG himself can pass through the portal, does not prove that LL is alive and can also pass through it. However intuitively, as far as I can see, both LG and TE were able to brush the tip of the truth and slowly will/did come to it.

    = = =

    About the show, Tree with Deep Roots (October 2011). I was hoping someone who’d watched it would have responded to you on it. LOL.

    I mentioned the title without knowing what it really was about. Heh! But here’s what I gather, and while upfront it seems to have no bearing on KES’s tale and her tree with the flute, I wonder if the king of this other tale is likened to a tree, who wanted to help his people, other than the title, I don’t know what the tree refers to. The Root was what tried to stymie him. I did not see any reference to flutes LOL.

    The show is very highly rated still and is mentioned with a respect. It is a Joseon era tale of the attempt to wreak revenge, by a slave who makes good, upon a king who felt powerless but did try to do right by his people. The reference to the ‘Root’ has to do with the name of a secret society, called “Hidden Root” which aimed to reduce the power of the king.

    Viewer review (Roberthart555, 9 July 2015) : It is about the King of Joseon (Korea) who invented their alphabet as a simple way for his people to learn to read. … there are numerous groups who are trying to stop the king publishing the new letters … Hidden Root is a secret organization who make stopping the new letters their priority and the king has to defeat them to succeed in publishing his new writing system.

    The star of the show is a slave whose parents were killed by the king … and he starts off trying to get his revenge by killing the king until he learns about the project to help the people.”

    The last episode review by HeadsNo2 on DB has this to say:
    “… For me, Tree With Deep Roots has become the one to beat, and it was as much a tour de force for the mind and senses as it was for the heart. The story moved along at a breakneck pace, balancing all the words the characters spoke with an emotional undercurrent that grabbed hold of me and never let go. It’s a hero story, a love story, a creation story, and an underdog story all wrapped into one beautifully shot, edited, and well-directed package. The team behind this drama and its actors have truly achieved something wonderful, with some of the greatest performances in recent memory helping to create a truly unforgettable viewing experience.”

    = = =

    KES creation myth is retold or re-invented as LG’s story. That’s his legend in the making, too, and it paralleled the Big Tree myth.

    This is what LG said about every moment of his life being the history of Corea. His story = history = legend being made. So I heartily agree.

    = = =

    The question on the 2 universes that has yet to be answered (and which may not be clarified):
    Was there just 1 universe that got split into 2 at a certain point in time?
    or
    Were there always 2 universes and the splitting of the flute opened up the portal between them?

    I like your idea of LG being the human sword that severed P Buyeong from his family.

    If it was the sword that opened up the door to the other universe, then LG the human sword would have to be the one to close the door, but instead of severing he might have to join together.

    If he calls the flute, the key and the lock, then he has to bring both portions of the flute together.

    If anything has to be severed, might it be the stone obelisks themselves?

    I guess it was in a synopsis somewhere that his ultimate mission would be to close the portal to stop the evil LG from infecting TE’s world, as in keeping LL where he belonged. But might it be vice versa? He could protect both his own world and hers while leaving LL in TE’s world. That would work as long as LL did not have in his possession, any part of the flute (or the sword?).

    = = =

    About the autopsy report. It is still my guess that LG used mostly intuition to begin with, feeling that the autopsy report was false, and wondering why his beloved uncle Buyeong should lie. It’s in the realm of possibility that he attributes this to uncle’s ambivalence or resentment of him. It’s about time P Buyeong reveals to LG what he guesses or knows.

    Buyeong seems to be tied up with a medical business that was reported in some news, and this news whether recorded in KOC or ROK has turned up in ROK. So he too is another member of the royal family who spans both worlds.

    At the moment we worry about him, because both the tiresome PM and the evil LL have got their sights on him.

    = = =

    I also agree with the re-emergence of the Sword at this time and the feelings surrounding it although it probably also shifts into ambivalence since he must realise that he has to wield it.

    I felt that his ambivalence towards the flute was not only because it had called him to the scene of murder but it had also enabled him to see that he had a saviour, who accidentally left him the ID Card, a token, which gave his life purpose.

    In a different history, how different might his life have been, if he had not caused the ID Card to drop out of his saviour’s pocket. If the Saviour had not had that card at all, or if the card had not dangled out of pocket, what might have been. Conjecture would be endless.

    In the time loop, if Saviour had the ID card – and lost it, then TE would have lost 2 cards in her timeline. We start off now in Ep 5 with TE having the new ID card in the KOC. So we watch now to see how it gets brought to LG’s past.

    = = =

    Animism is ok, and on top of that we do probably have the grim reaper as well.

    I do find the show entertaining. The more regal and flat LG is as he teases and provokes, the funnier I find it.

    Hope to have time to watch Ep 5 and 6. Sadly I can’t keep up. Catch ya later.

  17. Hi, I want to share your theory in the page of The King Eternal Monarch, I will give credits to you as well. I will not own it, I just want to share it with the group who are fan of The King Eternal Monarch. I wanted to ask your permission if I can share it? I will be copying the link so it will be directed to your site.

  18. Sure. 👍👍 Thanks for asking!

  19. Thank you so much for your permission.😊

  20. Hi packmule3,

    Do you think Shin Jae is somewhat related to Lee Lim? I have observed that Lee Lim cares for Shin Jae and one of the men of Lee Lim told him that he couldn’t kill him because he is supposed to stay alive. Do you think they are related somehow?

  21. I just found out that there’s a type of plum tree called ‘Thundercloud’. I thought it might resemble the tree in the opening montage, but sadly Thundercloud has purple foliage😅

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