This is a textbook example of how China exploits Korean dramas for their 'Cultural Project.' The excessive use of Chinese idioms, constant referencing of Chinese sages, and a low-born queen fluently using Hanja are all historically inaccurate. It’s painfully obvious that these elements were directed under the influence of Chinese capital to glorify Chinese culture.

Most notably, the concept is a blatant gender-swapped rip-off of Zhang Yimou’s movie The Terracotta Warrior (1989). Even the plot point of a time-traveling protagonist becoming an actor is identical. Both the narrative and the visual style of citing Hanja feel jarringly foreign to Korean audiences.

This work is highly likely to face severe backlash over plagiarism and its questionable subservience to Chinese financial influence. This production company has a long history of controversies involving Chinese capital—this is far from the first time.