When the tvN drama "Bon Appetit, Your Majesty" became embroiled in a controversy over historical distortion, Park Guk-jae, the author of the original web novel, directly refuted the claims.
On the 19th, Park Guk-jae posted a lengthy message on his personal social media after capturing a scene from "Bon Appetit, Your Majesty."
Earlier, some viewers reacted that having Joseon King Yeonhee-gun and a Ming envoy sit side by side to watch a contest was "too far from historical fact."
He explained, "The National Rituals and Ceremonies (Gukjo Oryeui), the state's official etiquette book compiled in 1474, details how to entertain foreign envoys. In the section on banquet rites, it says the feast takes place at Taepyeonggwan where the envoys stay, the envoys' seats are located on the east wall, and the royal seat (the king's seat) is located on the west wall."
He continued, "It is a seating arrangement where the king and the envoys sit facing each other at the same height. If you look closely, the envoys' seats are actually the honored seats. According to Confucian etiquette, direction implies rank, and the east is considered higher than the west," adding, "That's why in the court the left state councilor (the higher post) is positioned on the east and the right state councilor is on the west."
Park also said, "If you look further into the records, the king first performs a bow (eui) to the envoys, and the envoys return the bow. The reason is simple: Ming envoys acted as representatives of the emperor, so protocol placed them above the Joseon king in ceremonial rank," adding, "This has nothing to do with national power or sovereignty. You can think of it as diplomatic convention or a protocol used in international events at the time."
He emphasized, "The 'Gukjo Oryeui' is the state's official etiquette book compiled just 30 years before the period depicted in the work. It is highly likely that practices were carried out as written at that time. So the depiction of the envoy banquet is properly evidenced based on official documents."
Meanwhile, "Bon Appetit, Your Majesty" is a survival fantasy romantic comedy about a chef who time slips to the past at the peak of their career and meets the worst tyrant and a king with absolute taste; it airs every Saturday and Sunday at 9:10 p.m.
[Photo] SNS, broadcast poster
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