Fengshui is a 2018 filmed by director Park Hee-gon, starring Cho Seung-woo, Ji Sung, and Kim Sung-kyu. The film’s Korean title is Myeong-dang, which means an auspicious site.
The film explores the superstition surrounding Korean’s belief in the power of land. As the opening scene opens, the voice describes myeong-dang as an auspicious site, which is “land’s energy that can change people’s fates”.
Before I get to myeong-dang, let’s look at some of the real-life figures and who they are in the movie.
Real-life Figures
Crown Prince Hyomyeong is the prince that dies after drinking the poison given to him by the royal physician. He was King Sunjo’s son and King Heonjong’s father. People considered him a prodigy, but he died when he was only twenty years old. He left behind numerous original works including written work about court dances.
King Sunjo is the king that decides to bury his dead son where the ministers suggest against Park Jae-sang’s plea. He married the daughter of Kim Jo-sun, the leader of the Andong Kim family.
King Heonjong is the young king, who doesn’t have power even in his court. He took the throne when he was only seven years old and his grandmother, Queen Sunwon became regent per the royal court’s rules. Just as the movie depicted, the young king didn’t have much power as Andong Kim held all the power.
Prince Heung-seon is the prince that burns down the temple to make his son the future king. He is known as Heungseon Daewongun and was the regent for King Gojong, his son. He worked to get rid of Andong Kim from power.
Andong Kim clan held onto the power in court which began as Queen Sunwon became the regent for the young king. What the movie didn’t show was that Andong Kim’s held onto power even after King Heonjong’s death when they chose King Cheolijong as the next king. It was Queen Cheorin, King Cheolijong’s wife, who chose the next king. She was also a member of Andong Kim clan.
The Plot
Aside from the real-life characters, the movie is about a fictional character Park Jae-sang. He’s a modest man who only wanted to serve his country and people. All that is taken away by the greedy Kim clan when Park speaks out against Minister Kim’s gravesite recommendation.
Park goes on a journey to find the source of Kim clan’s power, hidden gravesites of their ancestors. He uses his skills to make money from people eager to change their fates. He helps women looking to get pregnant or get their sons to study. He meets a group of merchants looking to revive a dying marketplace.
Prince Heungseon lives a life of a royal dog as he acts a fool in order to survive. He is also desperate to bring down the Kim clan as he sees the royal family’s humiliation.
Park Jae-sang and Prince Heungseon meet, and they form a short alliance based on their desire to end Kim clan’s hold on power. The tension between the two friends start when they find that there is a myeong-dang that will produce two kings.
Prince Heungseon burns down a temple and makes a temporary truce with Kim Byung-ki. Park Jae-sang tries to tell Prince Heungseon that the land is cursed, and his family line will end after the two kings. The temptation of making his son the future king is too great. He doesn’t hear anything else.
The movie concludes as King Gojong is crowned with a text that says the Prince Heungseon’s line ended after two kings. Kim clan falls after burying Kim Jwa-geun in the land Park Jae-sang recommended. The Kim family lost everything, and the specialists tell Kim Byung-ki that the gravesite is cursed. Park Jae-sang is an old man when freedom fighters ask for an auspicious place to start their military school, a place where they can work on regaining their country.
Culture
Much of the drama is fictitious, but the importance of myeong-dang is very real. Depending on who you ask, people still believe in the power of land. While it is important to understand the cultural significance of myeong-dang, it is equally important to know the danger of placing too much weight on superstition. It is easy to blame people’s fortune or misfortune to some invisible power, but that discounts choices and decisions that led to their condition.
Even in my family, the gravesites were chosen after consulting a specialist. With development of Korea, my family decided to sell the land that my grandparents were buried. From what my aunt said, the gravesite was supposed to produce two PhDs in my generation (my siblings and my cousins). Against the protests by other family members, my uncle, the elder in the family decided to sell the land and move my grandparent’s grave to another location.
My cousins and I don’t put much weight in this superstition, but we often tease my uncle that he’s the reason we don’t have a doctor in the family. My grandmother’s sister’s family also moved the gravesite after a specialist recommended the gravesite of one of my relatives.
At the end of the day, this is supposed to be a fun movie. People don’t believe that Joseon fell because of where the past kings were buried. The movie does highlight an important cultural idea. It’s an idea that still finds its way in modern Korea. As Korean move more to cremation rather than land burial, this superstition may disappear. As long as we have films like this, we will continue to have a window into our cultural heritage and our past, even the ones that are based in superstition.