In the introduction to the novel Dong Yi, the author, Chong Che-
in 정재인writes about the approach to writing the story. The writer
had to imagine what life was like for Dong-yi’s character as the
history books tell us very little about her since she came from
the servant class. All that’s known is that she was born into
the chonmin class – the lowest of all the social classes during
the Joseon period – and was taken into the palace as a maid to
serve King Sukjong. The King took her as a concubine and she
gave him three sons and the second son became King Yeongjo.
Chong Che-in writes that, according to the history books, both
Yongjo and his mother had a complex about coming from the
chonmin class. Chong wondered how she really felt about this.
Perhaps she was optimistic that the blood of low and higher
classes would mix and create social equality, so Chong
considered this point when writing the novel. Social classes
during the Joseon period Rules about marriage between the
classes seem to have changed several ti