The Story of Ming Lan

Both depict the story of how it was growing up in a particular time period. Although they include the main characters love stories they equally concentrate on their family life, social issues and the influence they had on the lives of these characters. Romance is not the most important part of the story, it's simply part of their lives, as is family, friends and everyday obstackles they have to overcome. If anything, they are the stories about family, growing up and what kind of adults they became while dealing with changes in the world that surrounds them.

basically if you want to see Li Yi Xiao playing the same character and having fun with her being over the top, this is your drama

I have no idea why these are two similar, only that everyone who adored Ming Lan reports that it is by the same director/writer and is just a great plot and extremely well written. I will return to edit this after seeing Battle.

Both drama:
The acting is top-notch and not just pretty faces.

In "The Story of Ming Lan", female lead suffers from neglect from her family especially her father, fortunately she receives love from her grandmother. The female lead is intelligent and witty.

In "Jun Jiu Ling", female lead is a princess but live as other identity to revenge.

Although both drama is not the same situation, I think both just have a great plot and extremely well written.

If you like Ming Lan, you will like Jiu Ling too.

The similar type of premises with
- Smart ML and Smart FL
- Palace setting
- Court setting
- Great pairing

Ml and fl are a husband- wife duo who work together to solve problems for the people
Mls family is evil
Fls mom died when fl was a kid and she gets revenge
Ml helps out fl when they are younger

while these shows are entirely different, they do follow a family through generations/characters from childhood to adulthood

- historical
- serious in nature
- great cinematography
- morally grey characters
- slow-paced
- dialogue heavy
- marriage themes
- not your typical cdrama/kdrama

Both dramas depict the struggles women face.

In both dramas, we see strong female leads.

In both dramas, the female lead initially considers marrying a weak man, but then meets a strong male lead.

Both dramas tell the marriage life of leads so they both give slice of life vibe. While TPOB involve arranged marriage between enemies, TSOFML involve marriage between friends(?). Leads in the dramas are equally smart and the ML are good fighter

In both shows the leads are socially awkward outcasts. They also idolize their popular love interest.

Both series focus a smart female character who hides her intelligence to protect and enable her to maneuver in the restrictive and dangerous role women had in historical china.

-Very intelligent female leads
-Both male leads are talented generals who are skilled in military strategies and martial arts
-The male leads are heavily caught up in politics

Although New Life Begins is more light-hearted, both dramas shine a light on the hardships and prejudice women in Ancient China are confronted with.

They take the audience on an enlightening and inspiring journey as these women fight against the patriarchal society to flourish both in business and marriage. We're shown not only the bad marriages but also the good ones, where husband and wife can work together to achieve gender equality, harmony and prosperity.

I'm recommending this as I recognised a few veteran actors and actresses from The Story of Ming Lan. ???

both drama show a strong woman who face same situation in childhood .After her mother’s death in a conspiracy, FL learns to control her emotions and move forward with strength. She hides her true talent from the world, using her pain as fuel to grow wiser, more resilient, and fiercely determined. Over time, she transforms into a strong and decisive woman, no longer driven by grief, but by purpose.