Deep Rooted Tree (Korean뿌리 깊은 나무; RRPpuri Gipeun Namu) is a 2011 South Korean television series starring Han Suk-kyu, Jang Hyuk and Shin Se-kyung. Based on the novel of the same name by Lee Jung-myung, it aired on SBS from 5 October to 22 December 2011 on Wednesdays and Thursdays at 21:55 for 24 episodes.

Deep Rooted Tree
Promotional poster
Also known asTree with Deep Roots
GenreHistorical
Mystery
Romance
Created byKoo Bon Geun (SBS Drama Headquarters)
Based onDeep Rooted Tree
by Lee Jung-myung
Written byKim Young-hyun
Park Sang-yeon
Directed byJang Tae-yoo
StarringHan Suk-kyu
Jang Hyuk
Shin Se-kyung
ComposerJeon Changyeop
Country of originSouth Korea
Original languageKorean
No. of episodes24
Production
Executive producerChoi Moon Seok (SBS Drama Operation Team)
ProducersKyung Min seok
Lee Young jun
Jung Hoon-tak
Jang Jin-wook
Production locationKorea
Running timeWednesdays and Thursdays at 21:55 (KST)
Production companyiHQ
Original release
NetworkSBS
Release5 October (2011-10-05) –
22 December 2011 (2011-12-22)
Related
Six Flying Dragons
Deep Rooted Tree
Hangul
뿌리 깊은 나무
Revised RomanizationPpuri gipeun namu
McCune–ReischauerPpuri kip'ŭn namu

Taking its name from the poem Yongbieocheonga that says that trees with deep roots do not sway, the series tells the story of a royal guard (played by Jang Hyuk) investigating a case involving the serial murders of Jiphyeonjeon scholars in Gyeongbok Palace while King Sejong (played by Han Suk-kyu, in his TV comeback after 16 years of solely film work) comes to create the Korean alphabet.[1][2]

Synopsis edit

Early in his reign, King Sejong inevitably causes the death of his in-laws and their slaves in an attempt to save them from his brutal father, King Taejong, mainly due to his lack of authority and power. Two young slaves, Ddol-bok and his friend Dam, survive but neither knows if the other has. Ddol-bok blames the king and vows to kill him to avenge the deaths of everyone he loved and spends years becoming a great warrior. Dam, who has a photographic memory, becomes a court lady called So-yi (Shin Se-kyung), but she feels so guilty about her role in the other slaves' deaths that she becomes mute.

Ddol-bok returns to the palace under the name of Kang Chae-yoon (Jang Hyuk) to kill the king. However, during his time there, he becomes embroiled in the mystery surrounding the deaths of several Hall of Worthies scholars. The deaths were caused by a secret society called "Hidden Root," which was created long ago by followers of Jeong Do-jeon, with the goal of giving more power to ministers and less to the king. King Taejong killed Jeong Do-jeon and all of his family except his nephew, Jeong Gi-joon, who is now the leader of Hidden Root and lives in disguise not far from King Sejong.

It soon becomes known that the king, with the help of So-yi and the Hall of Worthies scholars, has been working for years on a secret project, which turns out to be the creation of the Korean alphabet. While tracking Hidden Root, Kang Chae-yoon and So-yi each realizes who the other really is - Ddol-bok and Dam. Realizing that each other are the ones who they were dying to find, So-yi begins to speak. So-yi shows Chae-yoon the alphabet and describes how it will give more power to commoners. Chae-yoon is amazed with the simplicity of the alphabet and is convinced to work with the king instead of killing him.

However, Jeong Gi-joon believes that the new alphabet is a threat to Confucian order, and decides to stop it at all costs. He murders the king's son, but this only makes Sejong more determined. Jeong is able to stop the king's dissemination efforts, and on the day the alphabet is to be publicly announced, both So-yi and Chae-yoon are fatally wounded by Hidden Root members. However, through their sacrifices, the event is successful, and commoners begin to use Hangul.

Cast edit

Main edit

The creator of Hangul. During his early years as king, Yi Do had a strained relationship with his father and harbored guilt for seeing people's suffering and death (including his wife's family) under his father's tyrannical rule. After the death of his father and his wife Soheon, Yi Do (now called King Sejong) employs Kang Chae-yoon as an investigator (unaware he is the same boy whom he spared years before) and is helped by So-yi in the creation of Hangul. He later finds out that Chae-yoon is the same boy who tried to kill him.
A former slave who has become royal guard and investigator for King Sejong. As a child, Ddol-bok protected his intellectually disabled father from the teasing of other servants of the Queen's family. Later, Ddol-bok 's father was arrested and beaten, finally dying in front of him and his childhood friend So-yi. Though he was actually saved by King Sejong, he doesn't know it, and because he blames Sejong for his father's death, has sworn to avenge him by killing the king. He becomes a soldier under a changed name, and also trains under a martial arts master named Lee Bang-Ji, who showed him the way of the leaping martial arts that shows incredible speed, agility, power and stamina. Chae-yoon later becomes a low-level guard along with his friends, because he wants to keep a low profile from the king. He doesn't know that So-yi is Dam, believing that she is dead.
Chae-yoon's friend who was saved as a child by Sejong's wife and became a court lady. During her early years as court lady, Yi Do apologized to her for his role in her family's death. She feels so guilty about her role in her fellow slaves' deaths that she cannot speak, but she is useful in the creation of Hangul because of her photographic memory.

Supporting edit

"Sambong" Jeong Do-jeon's brother
Sejong's bodyguard and friend who would sacrifice himself to protect his friend.
An assassin who was smitten by So-yi when he took her hostage.
Though his origins are vague, the drama refers him to be from the Yuan Dynasty (Modern China, Russia and Mongolia). He is a master assassin who belonged to the mercenary group called the Gokturks. It is said no one can fight him and win that's why he is also called the invincible man. His skills exceed those of Kang Chae-yoon, Moo-hyul and Yoon Pyeong. The only one that is equally matched to him is Lee Bang-ji, whom he kills.

Ratings edit

Episode # Original broadcast date Average audience share
TNmS Ratings[3] AGB Nielsen[4]
Nationwide Seoul National Capital Area Nationwide Seoul National Capital Area
1 5 October 2011 9.2% 11.0% 9.5% 11.1%
2 6 October 2011 8.2% 9.8% 9.8% 10.6%
3 12 October 2011 16.4% 18.7% 18.2% 20.7%
4 13 October 2011 18.8% 22.6% 19.1% 21.8%
5 19 October 2011 17.7% 20.6% 18.3% 20.5%
6 20 October 2011 18.3% 20.8% 18.6% 19.1%
7 26 October 2011 17.9% 21.0% 18.9% 20.1%
8 27 October 2011 18.3% 20.5% 19.2% 20.5%
9 2 November 2011 17.3% 19.2% 17.4% 18.9%
10 3 November 2011 18.5% 20.7% 20.2% 22.1%
11 9 November 2011 17.9% 20.3% 19.1% 20.4%
12 10 November 2011 18.9% 20.9% 19.9% 21.3%
13 16 November 2011 18.7% 21.4% 19.4% 20.9%
14 17 November 2011 19.0% 21.6% 20.5% 22.0%
15 23 November 2011 17.8% 20.6% 20.1% 21.1%
16 24 November 2011 19.9% 21.9% 21.1% 22.3%
17 30 November 2011 18.8% 20.7% 21.0% 22.0%
18 1 December 2011 18.6% 21.4% 20.8% 22.2%
19 7 December 2011 20.1% 23.1% 21.6% 23.0%
20 8 December 2011 20.2% 23.5% 21.7% 23.0%
21 14 December 2011 19.7% 22.3% 21.9% 23.3%
22 15 December 2011 19.3% 22.1% 22.7% 24.7%
23 21 December 2011 19.7% 22.5% 21.4% 23.2%
24 22 December 2011 23.6% 27.5% 25.4% 27.3%
Average 18.0% 20.6% 19.4% 20.9%

Source: AGB Nielsen Korea

Awards and nominations edit

Year Award Category Recipient Result
2011 Grand Prize (Daesang) Han Suk-kyu Won
Best Drama Deep Rooted Tree Won
Top Excellence Award, Actor in a Drama Special Han Suk-kyu Nominated
Excellence Award, Actress in a Drama Special Shin Se-kyung Won
Special Award, Actor in a Drama Special Cho Jin-woong Nominated
Special Award, Actress in a Drama Special Song Ok-sook Won
Producer's Choice Award Song Joong-ki Won
Top 10 Stars Han Suk-kyu Won
Jang Hyuk Won
2012 6th Mnet 20's Choice Awards 20's Male Drama Star Song Joong-ki Nominated
20's Female Drama Star Shin Se-kyung Nominated
7th Seoul International Drama Awards Grand Prize Deep Rooted Tree Won
Best Screenwriter Kim Young-hyun, Park Sang-yeon Nominated
Outstanding Korean Drama Deep Rooted Tree Nominated
Outstanding Korean Actress Shin Se-kyung Nominated
Grand Prize (Daesang) for TV Deep Rooted Tree Won
Best TV Drama Deep Rooted Tree Nominated
Best Actor (TV) Han Suk-kyu Nominated
Best Director (TV) Jang Tae-yoo Nominated
Best Screenplay (TV) Kim Young-hyun, Park Sang-yeon Won
Grand Prize (Daesang) Han Suk-kyu Nominated
Best Director Jang Tae-yoo Won
Excellence Award, Actor Yoon Je-moon Nominated
Top Excellence Award, Actor Han Suk-kyu Nominated

International broadcast edit

It aired in Japan on KNTV from 24 July to 17 September 2012,[5] which was followed by reruns on terrestrial network TV Tokyo.[6]

It aired in Thailand on Channel 7 every Monday to Thursday at 2.10 a.m. starting 14 January 2016.[7]

It aired in Indonesia on RTV ever Monday to Friday at 7:30 a.m. starring 6 May 2016.

References edit

  1. ^ Hong, Lucia (29 September 2011). "Jang Hyuk said did not want to take role in Tree at first" Archived 4 March 2016 at the Wayback Machine. 10Asia. Retrieved 1 April 2013.
  2. ^ "Actor Jang Hyuk's Soundtrack Picks" Archived 16 July 2014 at the Wayback Machine. 10Asia. 2 December 2011. Retrieved 1 April 2013.
  3. ^ "TNMS Daily Ratings: this links to current day-select the date from drop down menu". TNMS Ratings (in Korean). Archived from the original on 28 November 2013. Retrieved 5 October 2011.
  4. ^ "AGB Daily Ratings: this links to current day-select the date from drop down menu". AGB Nielsen Media Research (in Korean). Archived from the original on 26 December 2013. Retrieved 5 October 2011.
  5. ^ "韓流No.1 チャンネル-KNTV". Archived from the original on 7 November 2014. Retrieved 7 November 2014.
  6. ^ "根の深い木". Archived from the original on 7 November 2014. Retrieved 7 November 2014.
  7. ^ "ภ.เกาหลีชุด "จอมกษัตริย์ตำนานอักษร" (DEEP ROOTED TREE)". Channel 7 (in Thai). Archived from the original on 10 March 2016. Retrieved 12 January 2016.

External links edit