Rookie Historian is a kdrama available on Netflix. It is a historical drama set in Joseon period in Korea. While fiction, the series follows the path of Goo Hae-ryung a woman who is able to work as a Historian in the royal court. The series follows her challenges in the patriarchial Neo-Confucian society and her romance with the Prince Dowon. This is a beautifuly shot drama with an enjoyable story line. For the purposes of teaching, I would actually use clips from this to show the role of historians during the Joseon dynasty. Historians where tasked with compling the Veritable Records of the Joseon Dynasty. Professional Historians documented state affairs, daily life, the arts, economy, weather, religion etc. The great pains that were taken to keep the historical record neutral from outside influence such as not allowing the king and court to read the records as well as the independence Historians had is really highlighted in this drama. I would use scenes that show the historians capturing daily life, using the power of telling accurate history to affirm thier indepence and the value placed on having a historical record that was free of outside influence so that the history that was written was a credible. I think it would spark interesting class discussion with questions such as:
What is the of the role of history?
How/can we get unbiased history?
What does the role of historians in Joseon tell us about the culture and society?
How can the telling of history impact our understanding of events?
Why would it be important to a society to have a historical record that the rulers could not see?
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