Before I explain the Third Painting, I have to go over Ha Ram and CheongKi’s talk the night before.
Edited 9/17/21 to add this: I often simply transcribe Viki subs because I’m a Viki subscriber. But I go to other sites to compare the subs. I find that Kissasian subs are more comprehensible because everyday language is used. However, I like Viki subs, too. Although Viki subbers sometimes struggle with being too literal, this tells me they’re closer to the language style originally used in the drama. If you want a comparison, think of subbing Shakespeare’s plays. Do you want the subber to modernize Shakespeare so the play becomes more accessible or do you prefer the subber to try to remain as close as possible to the original flowery language though it’s harder to comprehend? 🙂 I’m using Kissasian subs here.
Ram: Let’s go.
CG: That boy is also a precious friend of mine who picked peaches for me back when I couldn’t see. If you aren’t that boy, how can you ask me to forget him that easily?
In other words, he had no right to dictate to her whom she could or couldn’t think of. Her past was none of his concern since he wasn’t that boy she was talking about.
Ram: That’s the only way you’ll find your peace.
CG: Then why did you kiss me?
Meaning, if his intention was to show her the way to attain peace with the past, then kissing her had the opposite effect. His kiss discombobulated her.
Ram: I have no other words to say. You must forget the relationships of the past. Didn’t you say that boy promised to come the next day? Yet that boy didn’t come. Do you think he’ll be happy to see you when you find him? If nothing happened to him, if he simply forgot and didn’t come, it wouldn’t have been a problem for him to visit you the next day or the day after. The boy didn’t come and find you…because he…forgot you.
In other words, it pained him that she found him again. He didn’t come to find her because he was forced to forget her. As he said in Episode 2, three people died on that day the King’s guard came for his father: both his parents and his young innocent self. He’d rather that she was left with good memories of the young Ha Ram.
Ram: (continuing) That’s why you must forget, too. You must do nothing. That’s the only way you won’t get hurt.
We recognized this kdrama convention, right? It’s noble idiocy. He was sacrificing his happiness/their relationship/their future for her perceived ultimate good.
Awwww…
Ram: (musing) I came back from the pit of fire, and to let you stay away from that pit forever, I will tie up the memories of that day.
Meaning, he lived through the ordeal, so there was no way he’d let her live through it herself. He’d willingly undermine her memories – aka gaslight her — to save her.
Of course, she didn’t believe because she could see how torn-up he was when he lied. She told him so. “Fine, just go. I’m not going to stop you. If you say that with a face that has a million burdens, who’ll believe you?
She went to bed frustrated and knowing she couldn’t do anything.
Note: I don’t think Ha Ram actually dove into the water. He wasn’t dripping wet when he regained consciousness. To me, he was imagining — or reliving — his trauma when he was a kid of falling into the water. Mawang was speaking to him in his head.
The following morning, at the painting competition, Ha Ram was pleased to know that his scheming had the desire effect on the brothers. He had put a wall between Prince2 and Prince3.
Prince2: I hope you didn’t feel guilty over what happened last night and lost your sleep.
Prince3: I know you brought that up after you thought it through. I was also determined when I gave you that answer.
What Prince2 actually meant was that he hoped his younger brother regretted his refusal to side with him, and changed his mind this morning. Prince3 parried that he remained unchanged. He wasn’t going to support his brother’s power grab. And we know that this was going to be a problem for Prince2 because Prince3 was well-liked in the palace and had more supporters. Even their own father liked and trusted him more than Prince2.
Ha Ram further fed Prince2’s suspicion and jealousy by contriving to grab onto the King’s Head Guard and letting loose his papers. Prince2 was now aware who was the spy in his midst who sent the message to the King the previous night.
Back to the painting competition…
The subject for the third screening was animals. The prompt was given by Prince2, “Spring becomes warm, and the season turns green. The fragrance lingers as the horse runs through a flowery field.” (Note: a “prompt” is a sentence that would stimulate an idea or imagination).
And the criteria for evaluation was given by Prince3, “For this topic, a painting with novel interpretations will receive more points.”
Remember, the previous night, he lectured CheongKi on what it meant to be a true artist/divine artist. “People are not moved by a painter’s skill. They’re moved by the painter’s sincerity that seeps into the paper. You put your own memories in your work, but if you fail to find your own identity, the flashy techniques and the quick wit that got you this far won’t help anymore. Even if you win first place, if the fact that you painted forgeries comes to light, it’ll tarnish the reputation of the painting contest. In the next round, trust yourself and paint with heart.”
Before CheongKi began painting, she remembered the night before. “Ha Ram. You asked me to forget you, but I can’t forget you. Just as we can’t erase a stroke that has been drawn.”
That’s how Ha Ram is connected with Prince3’s advice to trust herself and paint with heart. Her heart was full of feelings which she harnessed for the painting.
When her painting came up for evaluation, the judges were stunned. There was no horse, only butterflies.
Judge4: Didn’t she understand the theme of this painting?
Judge3: She drew wonderful butterflies.
Judge2: But where’s the horse?
It took Prince3 a few moments to grasp the meaning of the painting. And when he did, it was like a lightbulb went off in his head.
Prince3: It’s an impressive interpretation.
He was astounded because he’d been looking unique “interpretation” (not representation, mind you) of the prompt. A unique interpretation is a sign of an artist’s creativity, which is the first principle in Chinese paintings. There are six principles (or codes) in painting. CheongKi fulfilled all.
creativity (or “spirit resonance”),
structural use of the brush,
proper representation of objects,
specific coloration of those objects,
good composition, and
transmission of the old masters by copying themsource: https://www.britannica.com/biography/Xie-He
Prince3: (continuing) She drew the butterflies floating in the fragrance after the horses swiftly ran by. When the horses trampled over fallen petals, the smell thickened. She drew the butterflies that followed these horses.
Judge1: It was an unexpected interpretation.
Judge3: I’m here as a judge, but I also learned something today.
Judge4: However, she was to draw animals. Shouldn’t she have drawn animals instead of grass and insects?
Prince3: The energy of a masterpiece must be captured between what you can see and what you can’t. Not only did she perfect the six codes of paintings, the energy of her painting scatters when the wind blows, then stops when it meets the water. She even captured the mysterious order of nature. This one deserves to be called a masterpiece.
She had the highest score with 31 tiles.
Now, if I were the critic, her painting was the best too because it followed the prompt best of all.
“Spring becomes warm, and the season turns green. The fragrance lingers as the horse runs through a flowery field.”
You see all these paintings highlighted the horse.
The Annoying One’s painting:
But the horse wasn’t running through a flowery field. In fact, it was resting in peace.
The Long Face’s painting:
Here, the horses were playing, not running.
The Monk’s painting:
The horse couldn’t run because it was tied up. The horse was resisting its leash, like Prince2 was fighting against the birth order. The flowers were drawn so at least the painting attempted to show a lingering fragrance.
The Elegant Man’s painting:
This horse was also tied up, but it was grazing peacefully, like Prince3. The lingering fragrance was implied by the blooming tree.
The Hat Painter’s painting:
The Monk and the Elegant Man followed the prompt better than CheongKi’s friends. But Hat Painter included all the necessary elements: the horses freely running, the fragrance wafting from the tree blossoms. The Prince3 praised the work, “He expressed these horses sprinting under a tree. These flowing branches of flowers help us feel the breeze, and the horses broaden the space as they spring.”
But it was CheongKi’s painting that captured the essential point.
According to the prompt, the horse was running through a flowery field. So, because it had run away, the only thing that remained was the fragrance of the flowers. Although the subject was about animals, the main point is the fragrance, not the horse.
And how would a painter depict fragrance? Nobody can see fragrance.
Painting fragrance is like painting the wind.
Question: How do you paint the wind when the wind is invisible?
Answer: You paint the movement of the wind as it shakes trees, stirs leaves, ripples ocean waves, messes the hair, ruffles clothes, and blows clouds. You can’t see the wind, but you can see how it moves.
Similarly, the best way for CheongKi to paint the fragrance is by showing the movement of the butterflies.
In her imagination, the horse ran through the flower field, stomping petals along the way. It released the scent of flowers. Naturally, the butterflies were attracted to the fragrance. Though butterflies couldn’t catch up with a galloping horse, they could follow in the trail of the horse.
That’s what she painted, and she was being faithful to the original prompt.
Now, where did CheongKi come up with this inspired creation?
I think she got it from Ha Ram, and her previous night’s escapade with him. 🙂
Ha Ram was the horse. He took her out horseback. And after they kissed, he ran away from her. He again left her with — not fragrance – but more memories. She had a kiss to remember now, not just peaches and a red scarf.
The butterflies represented her. The butterfly was her mark, anyway. Because of his lingering memories, she couldn’t help following him, especially now, that she found him again.
@packmule, you have illuminated some concepts of painting that I wondered about. I hadn’t considered the link between the painting and the relationship. Thank you! 🍪 🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸
Also, thank you for the subs, which are better than those I saw. In those I saw it was a boulder on your heart, rather than a face that has a million burdens. She can literally see his face and he is unable to hide his stress from her.
I’m unable to completely agree with the noble idiocy. If she is linked to him and he succeeds in his revenge plan, she will be killed along with him. We don’t know exactly what will happen to her if Mawang is awakened but it won’t be nice.
@packmule3 thank you 🙏🏻. Loved how you dissected the scene.
@Fern,
I often simply transcribe Viki subs because I’m a Viki subscriber. But I go to other sites to compare the subs (but I hate all the crummy ads on dating).
I find that Kissasian subs are more comprehensible because everyday language is used. However, I like Viki subs, too. Although Viki subbers sometimes struggle with being too literal, this tells me they’re closer to the language style originally used in the drama.
If you want a comparison, think of subbing Shakespeare’s plays. Do you want the subber to modernize Shakespeare so the play becomes more accessible or do you prefer the subber to try to remain as close as possible to the original flowery language though it’s harder to comprehend? 🙂
I’m not literature grad but I imagine that Shakespeare is tough to understand for those whose language isn’t English (or whose language is English but substandard English, lol).
@packmule3, it makes me wonder as well, if the Korean words in this drama are an older style to fit the drama, or modern, or somewhere in the middle. I’m very grateful to all subbers, but particularly those who can convey the spirit best without losing meaning.
In the drama Run On, one of the characters was a subber. She was asked to update the subs of an older drama to more current usage. It must be exhausting to keep up to date in 2 languages, especially without having teenagers at home.
🙂 I don’t know, @Fern, if the language used here is appropriate to Joseon period but I thought the descriptions were so poetic.
But like you, when I read that “boulder” in his heart, I did a double take. I knew CheungKi had to mean that he looked troubled, burdened, heavy-hearted. 😂
But the word “boulder” reminded me of 2nd Painting, the one with the mountains and boulders.
You mentioned Shakespeare. One of my daughters totally understood it and other archaic or dated language; the other had real problems and hated it.
Yes, I pictured the black boulders as well. I like the image of a boulder on his heart, but it didn’t seem to fit what she could see of his reactions, but perhaps better how he might describe himself.
I’m feeling rather light hearted myself. I’m outside of Exeter waiting for a car repair, but the weather is fabulous, about 20C/68F and sunny. I’ve had a good wander around the old town.
Enjoy your light-hearted day, @Fern. 🌺
My chrysanthemums (or mums for short) are blooming so I’m happy.
We tried to plant a variety of colors this year: yellow, orange, and purple mums, instead of all yellow. Although I insisted that we stick with just yellow, for uniformity’s sake, there’s something to be said about a bit of diversity. I’m heading to the garden center after work to pick up a few white mums to make the orange ones stand out more.
As Robert Hedrick (isn’t he Shakespeare’s contemporary?) would say, there’s something bewitching and delightful about disorder “than when art is too precise in every part.” 🙂 But still, there’s God’s hand – or mine, in our garden – involved in designing the disorder.
Ah, I love mums – especially the rich autumnal coloured ones. Gold and deep wine and the mauve pink that is darker around the edges… Some disorder can result in a better design, especially with plants because their growth patterns are then allowed to fill in the gaps. Something that sticks in my mind from childhood visits to the Art Institute in Chicago was a little note near the Incan weaving: There is always an imperfection included because only the gods are perfect.
Regarding Cheon-Ki’s interpretation, I didn’t get it until I diagrammed the sentence in my head and saw that fragrance is the subject and lingers is the verb. 🤓 The rest is linked by prepositions. But it’s hard to ignore the image of horses because they are so enticing in art. 😊
Right, @Fern?
Of all the painters, she was the one who understood the prompt given by Prince 2 perfectly. The subject was the fragrance left by the horse’s hooves. Not the horse itself.
I also checked the Viki subs. It was still about the fragrance.
“As the spring air grows warmer, the verdure deepens. Galloping down the road where flowers bloom, their scent lingers on the horse’s hooves.”
Remember what I wrote about CheongKi’s ability to zero in on the “key point”?
In Ep 1, her father told her that eyes were key point in a portrait.
In Ep 2, she said bold colors were the key point in the Sehwa drawings.
In Ep 2, she also said that the key point in creating forgeries, aside from technique and energy, was similitude. The copy had to be “exactly the same.” And she laughed — cheekily? boastfully? proudly? It depends on how you view her — because she knew that she wasn’t really going to copy exactly. One way or another, she was going to leave her mark or signature on it.
Here, she did it again. She understood the key point of the painting. It was never the horse. It was the fragrance. 🙂
But bravo to Prince3! He was on the same wavelength as CheongKi. If not for him, her artwork would have been disqualified.
Btw, no LotRS next week because of Chuseok. 🙂
Ladies, is this drama on a short hiatus? Cause Viki says Ep 7 will be available in 9 days! 9! Whyyyyyyyy??????????? How will I survive?
Chuseok, @Anonymous.
Koreans have Monday to Wednesday off next week to celebrate Chuseok with family.
Watch another kdrama in the meantime. 🙂
Ah thank you! I was worried that Viki was slow with uploads.
I just binged Squid Game in a day and a half and it’s absolutely terrific! Fans of Hunger Games, Battle Royale and Alice in Borderland should love it but also if you are generally into thrills, good characterization, good pacing, twists and turns and strong emotional beats, and stories about human nature under pressure (bonding, betrayal, etc)
Pingback: Dali and the Cocky Prince: Ep 1 First Impressions – Bitches Over Dramas