Painter of the Wind

Korean name
Hangul	바람의 화원
Hanja	바람의畫員
Revised Romanization	Baram-ui Hwa-won
McCune–Reischauer	Paramŭi Hwawon

*Painter of the Wind*
Painter of the Wind
	Promotional poster for Painter of the Wind
Genre	Romance, Drama, Historical
Based on	Painter of the Wind; by Lee Jung-myung
Written by	Lee Eun-yeong
Directed by	Jang Tae-yoo ; Jin Hyuk
Starring	Moon Geun-young; Park Shin-yang
Country of origin	South Korea
Original language	Korean
No. of episodes	20
Production
Executive producer	Lee Young-joon
Production location	Korea
Cinematography	Bae Hong-soo
Running time	Wednesday & Thursday 21:55 (KST)
Original release
Network	Seoul Broadcasting System
Release	24 September –; 4 December 2008

Painter of the Wind (Korean: 바람의 화원; Hanja: 바람의畫員; RR: Baram-ui Hwawon) is a 2008 South Korean historical television series starring Moon Geun-young and Park Shin-yang. Based on the bestselling historical fiction novel by Lee Jung-myung that took artistic license with the premise that perhaps the Joseon painter Shin Yun-bok had really been a woman,^[1]^[2]^[3] it centers on Yun-bok, a talented young painter who disguises herself as a boy to search for her father's murderer. She meets Kim Hong-do, a master painter who guides her into becoming a great artist, and they develop a strong friendship of mentor and disciple.^[4]^[5]^[6]

The drama has won numerous awards, including the Asian TV Series Special Award at the 2010 Shanghai Television Festival,^[7] while actress Moon Geun-young received the grand prize at the 2008 SBS Drama Awards, as well as Best TV Actress at the 2009 Baeksang Arts Awards and 2008 Grimae Awards for her role.

Plot

In 1766, Kang Su-hang, a painter and senior member of Dohwaseo, the Academy of Painting, was found killed after being secretly commissioned by the son of the crown prince who would later become King Jeongjo (1752-1800, the 22nd King of the Joseon Dynasty). The commission was to paint a portrait of the crown prince. Seo Jing, another member of Dohwaseo, was found dead while investigating the death of Kang Su-hang. In addition, Seo Jing's wife was murdered and his daughter went missing. Ten years later, Kim Hong-do, a senior member of Dohwaseo, discovers Shin Yun-bok, a new student. Hong-do discovers great talent in Yun-bok and tries to protect the student from conspiracies that surround him. King Jeongjo also discovers Yun-bok's enormous talent. Kim Hong-do and Shin Yun-bok serve as the eyes of the king, depicting the true reality of the common people. However, powerful palace officials conspire to get rid of the two painters, and soon afterwards, they are kicked out of Dohwaseo. Then, the king secretly orders the pair to find the portrait of his father painted by Kang Su-hang ten years prior. Kim Hong-do and Shin Yun-bok are successful in recovering the portrait, overcoming hurdles and dangerous traps set up by enemies. The recovery of the painting also helps reveal the secret behind the death of Seo Jing, who is actually Shin Yun-bok's father. In the process, Kim Hong-do realizes that he is truly in love with Shin Yun-bok. However, he tries to leave him because he knows that the affair would be an impossible one. But to everyone's surprise, the truth is revealed. Shin Yun-bok is actually a woman. She had disguised herself as a man to enter Dohwaseo, an institution limited only to males, in order to uncover the truth about her father's death.

Cast

Moon Geun-young as Shin Yun-bok^[8]^[9]
- Kim Yoo-jung as young Yun-bok
Park Shin-yang as Kim Hong-do^[10]
Ryu Seung-ryong as Kim Jo-nyun
Bae Soo-bin as King Jeongjo
Moon Chae-won as Jung-hyang, a gisaeng
Lee Joon as Shin Young-bok
- Lee Byung-joon as young Young-bok
Park Hyuk-kwon as Lee In-moon, Hong-do's friend
Im Ji-eun as Queen Jeongsun
Jung In-gi as Hong Guk-yeong
Kim Eung-soo as Jang Byuk-soo
Ahn Suk-hwan as Shin Han-yeong, Yun-bok's adoptive father
Park Jin-woo as Jang Hyo-won
Han Jung-soo as Seo Jing
Lee Mi-young as Mok Kye-wol
Yoon Joo-sang as Kang Su-hang
Lee Kyung-hwa as Myeong, Seo Jing's wife
Han Yeo-woon as Jung-sook, In-moon's sister
Yoon Bong-gil
Ko Gyoo-pil as hwawon
Lee Sang-hee as hwawon
Son Hwa-ryeong as gisaeng
Min Joon-hyun as eunuch
Ha Dae-ro as cadet
Kim Won-seok
Jang Moon-seok as Dol-soi
Choi Gwi-hwa
Jo Dong-hee
Kim Bo-mi as Mak-nyun, Jung-hyang's maid
Jeon Jin-gi
Im Ho as Lee Myung-ki
Yoo Yun-ji
Jeong Yu-mi
Choi Soo-han
Tae Hwang

Original soundtrack

No.	Title	Artist
1.	"Song of the Wind (바람의 노래)"	Jo Sung-mo
2.	"Line of Sight (눈 길)"	Young Ji
3.	"Tears (눈물꽃)"	HowL
4.	"Yearning (Impossible Dream...) (그리움 [이루어질 수 없는...])"	Jo Sung-mo
5.	"Still Thinking of You (그리고 그리며)"	Kim Hyuna
6.	"Yearning (Love Theme) (그리움 [Love Theme])"
7.	"Dohwaseo (도화서)"
8.	"The Painter of the Wind (Title Theme) (바람의 화원 [Title Theme])"
9.	"Ink (Tension Theme) (墨 (먹) [Tension Theme])"
10.	"The Secret Painting (비밀의 그림)"
11.	"Laughing and Crying (울다가 웃다가)"
12.	"Aged Paulownia Hides Its Melody (동천련로 항장곡)"
13.	"Street Market Scenes (저잣거리 풍경)"
14.	"Student Wears Blue in the Morning (생도청의 아침)"
15.	"Moonlight Lovers (月下情人 [월하정인])"
16.	"Long Waves (장 파 형)"
17.	"Mountain Tiger (묘향산의 호랑이)"
18.	"The Aged Paulownia Hides Its Melody (Freestyle Ver.) (동천련로 항장곡 [산조 Ver.])"
19.	"Dancing Child (舞童 [무 동])"
20.	"Student Wears Blue in the Morning (Korean Classical Ver.) 생도청의 아침 [Korean Classical Ver.]"
21.	"Competition of the Workmen (필선의 대결)"
22.	"Youth Enjoying Nature (年少踏靑 [연소답청])"

Episode ratings

Date	Episode	Nationwide	Seoul
2008-09-24	1	11.6% (8th)	11.7% (8th)
2008-09-25	2	12.6% (9th)	12.8% (9th)
2008-10-01	3	10.7% (11th)	10.6% (13th)
2008-10-02	4	11.7% (11th)	11.4% (10th)
2008-10-08	5	12.7% (9th)	12.7% (8th)
2008-10-09	6	12.1% (9th)	11.7% (10th)
2008-10-15	Special	12.2% (8th)	12.6% (7th)
2008-10-16	Special	9.6% (15th)	10.0% (11th)
2008-10-22	7	12.6% (8th)	12.6% (8th)
2008-10-23	8	16.1% (5th)	15.8% (5th)
2008-10-29	9	15.1% (5th)	15.0% (5th)
2008-10-30	10	15.0% (6th)	15.2% (4th)
2008-11-05	11	12.5% (8th)	12.0% (7th)
2008-11-06	12	15.0% (8th)	15.0% (7th)
2008-11-12	13	11.9% (9th)	11.5% (10th)
2008-11-13	14	14.4% (8th)	14.1% (8th)
2008-11-19	15	12.9% (11th)	12.8% (10th)
2008-11-20	16	13.0% (10th)	12.1% (12th)
2008-11-26	17	13.7% (9th)	13.8% (8th)
2008-11-27	18	13.4% (10th)	12.7% (10th)
2008-12-03	19	12.7% (11th)	13.0% (9th)
2008-12-04	20	14.7% (9th)	15.2% (8th)
Average		13.2%	13.1%

Source: TNS Media Korea

Awards and nominations

Year	Award	Category	Recipient	Result
2008	21st Grimae Awards	Best Achievement for a Production, Drama category	Bae Hong-soo (cinematographer)	Won
		Best Actress	Moon Geun-young	Won
		Best Lighting Director	Song Wook	Won
	16th Korean Culture and Entertainment Awards	Best New Actress (TV)	Moon Chae-won	Won
	SBS Drama Awards	Grand Prize/Daesang	Moon Geun-young	Won
		Top Excellence Award, Actor	Park Shin-yang	Nominated
		Top Excellence Award, Actress	Moon Geun-young	Nominated
		Best Supporting Actor in a Drama Special	Ryu Seung-ryong	Nominated
		Top 10 Stars	Moon Geun-young	Won
		New Star Award	Moon Chae-won	Won
		New Star Award	Bae Soo-bin	Won
		Best Young Actress	Kim Yoo-jung	Won
		Best Couple Award	Moon Geun-young and Moon Chae-won	Won
2009	45th Baeksang Arts Awards	Best Drama	Painter of the Wind	Nominated
		Best Actress (TV)	Moon Geun-young	Won
		Best New Actress (TV)	Moon Chae-won	Nominated
		Most Popular Actress (TV)	Moon Geun-young	Nominated
	4th Seoul International Drama Awards	Best Mini-series	Painter of the Wind	Nominated
		Best Actress	Moon Geun-young	Nominated
		Most Popular Actress	Moon Geun-young	Won
2010	43rd WorldFest-Houston International Film Festival	Silver Remi Award	Painter of the Wind	Won
2010	16th Shanghai Television Festival	Asian TV Series Special Award	Painter of the Wind	Won

Continuity errors

In E09 Sang-gung uses the pen name Hyewon... before this pen name has been given (E13).^[11]
In E15 56:28, the bad guy is plainly played by the same actor as the mysterious man (Baek Dong-soo).
Problems in sexagesimal cycle. When "now" is 1777 = jeong-yu 정유, then "ten years before" is 1766 = byeong-sul 병술. And not byeong-jin 병진. Both the Korean soundtrack ("everywhere") and the Chinese characters in the "secret library" (E14, 09:27) are describing 丙辰年, i.e. 1796.^[12]

Artistic license

The events described by the twenty episodes are dated 1777 (=now) with flashbacks from 1766 (=ten years before). This crosscutting style between two time periods required some artistic license, with the meager historical facts known about the painters involved. Among the distortions are:

Painter Yi Myeong-gi was only known by 1791-1796. Painting of Seo Jik-su (E08) was drawn in 1796.
Portrait of Chae Jegong (E09) was drawn in 1792 by Yi Myeong-gi, not in 1777 by Kim Hong-do.
Gang Se-hwang lived from 1713-1791, and therefore was not murdered in 1766.
Portrait of King Taejo, Taejo Eojin, was painted in 1872.
Dasan Jeong Yak-yong lived 1762-1836. In 1766, he hadn't drawn any machine sketches.
Nam Gye-u lived 1811-88. His Butterflies were not painted circa 1777.

Such artistic license allowed for the screenplay to have narrative cohesion, and has been largely acknowledged by the writer. Each episode of the series begins with a foreword, stating: "The contents of this drama may not match some of the historical facts" (on the left of the text is the stylized title).

Foreword

Several academics have criticized the drama due to these historical distortions. Despite that, it resulted in an increased interest for artistic topics among the general public. An exhibit at Gansong Art Museum in Seongbuk-dong attracted 200,000 visitors when it opened on October 12, 2008, who bought more than 2,000 prints of the art on display.^[2]

Featured paintings

More than forty paintings were featured in the series, providing a possible context for each of them. For the paintings from the Hyewon pungsokdo, this exercise was all the more striking since the present-day titles were not given by the painter himself, but were attributed more than a century later.