PeachBlossomGoddess

Is he the one that was executed by slow slicing by the Qing? Omg... I hope not... Poor Yimei...

Well... as it turns out his dumbness can be quite fortuitous at times.

Thanks for this. Seems like while they changed a few things, substantively the drama has so far quite faithfully followed the novel.

Exactly. I don't understand why audiences nowadays insist when it comes to period dramas that main characters are only allowed to have one true or one best love in their lives. In reality it is never that clear cut. I have no problem with Yimei and Pingyuan loving each other in the beginning but then moving on to love other people later on. Audiences these days seem to glorify these terrible, ridiculous stories like Pearl Girl where the FL mourns one dude her whole life and never moves on. Why??? The Little Nyonya was a huge hit decades ago and it was about a woman born in chaotic times who loved 4 different men in different ways. Bad shit happens in troubling times. People should be allowed to move on and try to live full and happy lives regardless.

Why do you think the censors would have a problem with portraying this period? It is well known official history in China. The current Chinese government had nothing to do with this massive loss of life - indeed it highlights the shortcomings of imperial China. That is definitely not a taboo subject as far as the CPC is concerned. Even the Cultural Revolution can be portrayed, the CPC/official history has acknowledged that it was a mistake. It was portrayed the way it was written in the recent drama adaptation of 3 Body Problem.

Ah me bad - I didn't see the second one.😅

From her styling I am going to guess a noble lady, maybe even a princess.

Actually as long as it is historically accurate, it can be adapted. Most Chinese viewers are very knowledgeable about this period in history as it is part of their core education curriculum. Many recent Chinese dramas about the path towards being a republic are very open about the democracy movement and why it didn't succeed in China.

That's a great video. And yes it was a horrible time, which is why we should brace ourselves for bad things to happen. Poor Yimei hitched herself to a doomed cause... but luckily she didn't end up in the cult leader's harem.

Yes the anti-Manchu movement prevailed throughout most of the Qing dynasty. They were actually good administrators, far better than Ming dynasty, which is probably why they lasted so long. And they were quite Sinicized their rulers adopted Chinese names and Chinese language as the official language of the court. But I think the queue or the Manchu hair cut was the ultimate indignity and a constant reminder that they were still essentially a foreign power. When the empire weakened towards the end with the interference of other foreign powers, they finally overthrew the Manchus to become a republic.

I agree with you - she was actually prepared to wait 10 years for Gu, she had no idea he was going to escape and return. I was told that in the novel Pingyuan and Yimei were each other's first loves - she never loved the general, she just had no other realistically viable choice. But that kind of storyline is not palatable to audiences nowadays so they conveniently made Yimei fall in love with the general. There were many old HK TVB dramas set in this time. My grandma used to binge them they were all mostly tragic. In chaotic times, survival is the most important thing. As for love, it is a good enough outcome to end up with someone you are contented with or grew to love. But nowadays you can't tell stories like that, audiences don't want to watch them.

I don't know if they still pan fry it nowadays but you can look through their tea library I think they talk about how the different varieties are made. Lots of different tea varieties on here. Maybe they ship to where you are:
https://www.tenren.com/

I found out about it when I stayed in Boston for almost 2 months.
Here you go:
https://www.bostonteapartyship.com/tea-blog/colonial-green-teas-roots-china

You are probably correct. The cast list on MDL is not always that reliable.

Hope you enjoy!

As I said, to me TDHR ending was perfect and respected the genre. I wouldn't have changed a thing. The ending the screenwriter tried to sneak it would have ruined it utterly for me.

No idea - I just went with what was on the cast list. That was a long case I don’t have time to look for it.

Lol yes I found him A-ok with her praying to Guanyin for
him strange as well. But those were really turbulent times and I guess the Manchus were also a foreign power. I don’t love this period of history so
I don’t know it that well either.

The leader was a preacher who proclaimed himself to be the brother of Jesus Christ. I kid you not. Truth is stranger than fiction! They weren't all Christians, in fact it was more anti-Manchu than anything else - they were just discontented with the widespread corruption and famine wanted to upend the prevailing social order at the time. It was full of contradictions bc the leader was anti-establishment and yet promoted followers into princes seemingly on a whim or just his say so. I don't understand the rebellion that well either it always struck me as rather incoherent. Nonetheless it lasted 14 years and they controlled large swarths of Southern China. This drama takes place towards the end of it - the leader/Jesus bro should die in the next year or two and then it ends.

I haven't even looked but I have been expecting Cixi to show up so I am guessing this has to be her.