This is an 87-episode fictional historical drama based on the lives of 18th century Emperor Quinlong, and his consort, and subsequently his Empress, Ruyi, of the Ula-Nara clan. Quinlong was the Qing emperor—the Manchu dynasty which succeeded the Ming. Quinlong was the fifth Qing emperor, and the fourth to rule over China. But the plot is not really about Quinlong—it is about Ruyi. The series was shown on Chinese television in 2018. I only came across it a few months ago on Youtube. You can find the first (45 minute long) episode, with English subtitles, here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FwGz8S24A4M.
Looks good. Read Seth’s full post here.
Commentator F at the New Reform Club added: “1) The series was VERY popular in China and it was shown on Chinese state TV. Given that the CCP can prevent anything from being filmed much less broadcast, it is not correct to say it was “banned” by the CCP. After the series became very popular, the CCP said “stop making shows like this” – which is not exactly the same thing.”
Of course, that does not address the issue of WHY the CCP does not want more shows like this? Did they object to the reminder of China’s proud history? (Unlikely). Or was it the prominent role of women? (Also unlikely). Or did they just mean they did not want to underwrite the costs of any more 87 (!) episode-long series.
For anyone interested in Chinese dramas, let me put in a plug for “Reborn”, a modern police drama set around Chongqing on the Yangtse river. Like most Chinese telenovellas, it is a long series with many sub-plots and interesting characters. The background of life in a modern Chinese city is fascinating, and some of the actors are excellent.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=56bhoqjAeNI
Wolf Hallit isn’t. More like a Latin-American soap opera, a Brazilian Isaura The Slave comes to mind (only know how it was called for Russian audiences)