tvN’s “Under The Queen’s Umbrella” Is Criticized For Historical Inaccuracies
tVN‘s popular period K-Drama Under The Queen’s Umbrella is the latest historical drama to come under scrutiny for historical inaccuracies.
The controversy stems from the second episode of the drama, which aired on October 16. In the episode, while explaining a Chinese term in subtitles, rather than the show using Traditional Chinese characters, the show used Simplified Chinese characters.
Traditional Chinese is one of the earliest forms of writing known in existence and dates back approximately five thousand years and is still used in Hong Kong and Taiwan today.
Simplified Chinese is the predominant form used in Mainland China today, as well as in Malaysia and Singapore. Although some claim that Simplified Chinese existed prior, most agree it wasn’t widely used until the Chinese government promoted the character system in the 1950s.
As the controversy grew, the show has since edited the episode to be more historically accurate.
Another source of ire from audiences was the fact that in the King’s chamber, the placard read TaeHwaJun in Chinese. Audiences took issue with this when it was revealed that this is the name of a King’s court inside China’s Forbidden City and has never been used in Korea.
Netizens found other cases of inaccuracies, such as when a concubine’s son refers to the queen as “Your mother” directly to a prince and a scene in which the current queen refers to a former queen, who is now banished while using honorifics and with her former title.
The latest controversies are especially disappointing to audiences since the show has been billed as tvN’s latest smash hit. In only the first two episodes, the show has registered an impressive viewership rating.
Under The Queen’s Umbrella is a historical K-Drama that tells the story of a queen, played by Kim Hye Soo, who tries to make one of her sons the next King of Joseon, Korea. The drama also stars Moon Sang Min, Bae In Hyuk, Choi Won Young, and Yoon Seon Ho.