RSMasterfade

The latest five episodes were just wow! So many twists and turns, and (never imagined I would say this for a Chinese series) the VFX was fabulous! However, though I cannot be sure I think some lines were dubbed over and they're not for changed names. Need to read the novel to see whether there was real censorship. I'm fine with changed names (in fact I'm in favor of changing names for characters only loosely based on historical figures). But if there's more serious censorship, I hope they can release the original version for overseas blu-ray releases.

BTW, anyone know if Chinese dramas see blu-ray releases in Malaysia or Singapore? If not I guess we'll have to wait for Japan or South Korea.

While it's true that the censorship process for TV and web series is now the same, the new August directive was handed only to TV stations.

Anyway it's smart for Youku to finish airing the show earlier. The show is just getting too politically sensitive. With the latest plot developments, airing it closer to the 70th anniversary celebrations is just begging for trouble.

Yeah while in principle I see the point of giving Zhang Xiao Jing a new sidekick, the character was just poorly written. Yes he's supposed to be a Sassanid, but there is just not plausible that he kept referring himself as a Prince of Persia. Persia no longer existed as a political entity and he's now a Tang subject. All members of the Persian royal family escaped to China should be using Chinese titles granted by the Tang court instead of their Persian titles. Furthermore, what's with all the narcissism about himself being pretty? The Chinese back then found Caucasians strange looking, to say someone has 'tall nose and deep-set eyes" was considered an insult. A Persian won't be running around telling everyone how pretty he looked.

oh, I see. It's only a ruse. Tan Qi already apologized to Li Bi before shouting out that she's leaving him. And yes, she was trying to save Zhang Xiao Jing (but not to look for him).

Also I made the mistake of rewatching the earlier episodes with English subs, oh that made me angry.

I re-watched a few earlier episodes, now I've got the feeling that Yao Ru Neng might have been romantically and/or sexually attracted to Tan Qi (which he's in denial of). In episode 15 he seemed to be just too interested in Tan Qi's feelings for Zhang Xiao Jing. He went out of his way to insult her for liking Zhang Xiao Jing and for her low status. My interpretation was that he had been attracted to Tan Qi for quite some time but assumed Tan Qi liked Li Bi, but felt personally insulted when Tan Qi dared to like a lowly commoner like Zhang Xiao Jing instead of her high born master or other aristocrats. Also from the way Tan Qi handled Yao Ru Neng in episode 18, I think Tan Qi might be aware that Yao had a crush on her and used it to her advantage. Am I reading too much? (Let's use spoiler tag for information revealed after ep 20).

Don't believe episode previews!

I would disagree on Li Bi's morality. Yes, Li Bi was first and foremost loyal to the Crown Prince, and would choose to save the Crown Prince rather than the people of Chang'an if he had to choose. But that doesn't mean he's not motivated by morality. Li Bi had always justified his loyal to the Crown Prince on the Crown Prince's plan to revise the taxation system, rather than on his childhood friendship with the Crown Prince or his personal duty of loyalty to his patron. So he had been acting on his sense of morality (and was the opposite to a sociopath)

The central imaginary used throughout the show was the contrast between Kun & Peng (the giant mystical bird and fish, respectively) and pifu (termites). The relationship between the vast and the petty is the most important theme of the show, and it's a deeply Taoist concern. Recall the opening chapter of Zhuangzi. Creatures of different sizes have different perspectives. The giant Peng, soaring above the clouds, could not see clearly the small objects on the ground, whereas the termites could, but the termites couldn't see the shape of the land as the Peng could. Li Bi and Zhang Xiao Jing had different perspective on morality due to their different stations in life, but they're both motivated by their own understanding of morality. For me, one of the greatest pleasures of watching the show was to witness their growing friendship and mutual understanding/respect.

Great point on the parallel between Yao Ru Neng and Cui Qi.

Yao was a complex character. My take is that he was never indifferent. He wasn't this bored aloof egoist acting out of his calculated self-interests then somehow 'fired up' by the JingAnSi crew. Rather he was person with a sense of morality, but tried very hard to become indifferent and ultimately failed. To me, what he said to Cui Qi was as much about convincing Cui Qi as convincing himself. In episode 32, Tan Qi, after being verbally degraded by Yao, told Yao that he said what he said to wash away his guilt. In episode 23, if he was truly indifferent, he wouldn't have admonished Cui Qi for betraying JingAnSi.

Also consider Yao's background. Not long ago he was a sheltered aristocrat with no ambition in life and associated most closely with people like Li Bi and the Crown Prince, both with strong senses of morality. I'd say this background was unlikely to produce a calculating person. And in this way he's very different from Cui Qi. Cui Qi had always been calculating (he had to), Yao was only learning.

I'd say he was a coward in the sense that he knew all along what was the right thing to do, but chose to do otherwise because of his self-interests and the interests of his family. So he lacks moral courage.

Love the part where the high born Li Bi kept asking Long Bo who's the mastermind behind him, seemingly incapable of countenancing the possibility that a lowly commoner like Long was capable of acting on his own initiative.

So much emotions in episodes 36-38. Just wow. I even began to like the Crown Prince as a person.

Yao Ru Neng had been working for Lin Jiu Lang since the very beginning of the show. He kept Lin updated with Zhang Xiao Jing and Li Bi's progress. In the earlier episodes Lin's lackey was getting information from someone named San Nv (三女). That's Yao. And Li Bi once asked Yao why it took him so long to return to JingAnSi. Probably to report to Lin.

Yao was usually cowardly but capable of acts of great courage in the right situation. In the Ep23 showdown he clearly wanted to go help Cui Qi but couldn't because of fear or his calculated self-interests. He was clearly torn and eventually went in (lucky for him help arrived at the same time). At that moment he was ready to die for Li Bi and Cui Qi. The same is true for the watch tower drum. His self-interests and cowardice were overcame by his conscience and his friendship with the JingAnSi crew, and he acted bravely. He later told the imprisoned poet it was a spur of the moment decision.

I think the key to read Yao is his background. He was a high born aristocrat who lived a sheltered life and never achieved anything despite his considerable natural talents (he had much better natural memory than Xu Bin). Then his family was ruined by his father. He was suddenly tossed into the real world and had to shoulder burden of his entire family - he's the only surviving male member of the Yao family. Being a good-for-nothing idler meant he's not taken seriously by his friends, and his only asset is the trust of his friends, so he sold it to their enemy Lin Jiu Lang.

Five instead of three episodes will be released next Monday and Youku will release the finale to paid members on Aug 12.

Again thank you for the critique! I do need to control the urge to cram every bit of information.

I did a little rearrangement. It's now 143 words and 714 characters.

”744 A.D., Chang’an, the cosmopolitan heart of the Tang Empire. The remnants of a vanquished Central Asian kingdom have infiltrated the world’s largest city for a planned attack during the Lantern Festival. Meanwhile, the court is fraught with infighting. The aging Emperor is expected to announce the regency of the Right Chancellor during the festival and retreat to the mountains with his young lover. If the Right Chancellor becomes the regent, the reformist Crown Prince risks being deposed—or worse. Intelligence chief Li Bi, a young Taoist priest and ally of the Crown Prince, has only 24 hours to prevent both the attack and the regency. After a botched attempt to capture the infiltrators, Li Bi and his team call in the services of death row prisoner Zhang Xiao Jing — a war veteran, beloved police chief, and murderer of his last direct superior."

Thank you for the suggestion. Yes the two threads (the attack and the regency) have to be connected. I thought it was interesting that Li Bi was a Taoist priest because that's very unusual for a intelligence chief (do we have setups like this other than Father Brown?) and might just get the potential viewers' attention . But I agree that his birth is far less important.

Thank you for the great rewrite! It's so nice to have help from a real professional.

I made a few changes to 1) offer a portrait of Li Bi, 2) specify the reasons for the emperor's planned retreat, because the story of the Illustrious Emperor and his young love is just too legendary to pass (watchers of the Story of Ming Lan might remember how Gu Ting Ye used their story to describe Qi Heng and Ming Lan). The result is slightly longer (151 words, 802 characters).

"744 A.D., Chang’an, the cosmopolitan heart of the Tang Empire. The remnants of a vanquished Central Asian kingdom have infiltrated the world’s largest city for a planned attack during the Lantern Festival. After a botched attempt to capture the infiltrators, Chang’an’s intelligence chief Li Bi, a bright but inexperienced 23-year-old aristocrat-cum-Taoist-priest, turns to death row prisoner and former police officer Zhang Xiao Jing to lead the investigation. Meanwhile, the court is fraught with infighting. The Emperor is expected to announce the regency of the Right Chancellor during the festival and retreat to the mountains with the love of his life. If the Right Chancellor becomes the regent, the reformist Crown Prince risks being deposed—or worse. Having only 24 hours to save Chang’an and the Crown Prince, Li Bi and his team must rely on Zhang Xiao Jing — a war veteran, beloved police chief, and murderer of his last direct superior. "

Again, feedback are most welcome!

Hello all!

The current synopsis on this page was written before the show's airing. It contains errors and also presents the show as a crime show when it's actually more of a political thriller. I think it's desirable to have a correct synopsis that doesn't give the readers wrong expectations on the show's genre. I'm giving it a try and would like to receive some feedback (both substantive and stylistic) before submitting it to the MDL editors.

"744 A.D., Chang’an, the capital of the Tang Empire and largest city in the world. When it was discovered the remnants of a Central Asian kingdom had infiltrated Chang’an, the court tasked the newly created national intelligence agency with foiling the attack. The agency’s leader Li Bi, a 23-year-old aristocrat and close friend to the Crown Prince, had the reputation of a genius but no experience. After the failure of an earlier operation on the eve of the Lantern Festival - the day of the planned attack - Li Bi transferred death row prisoner and former police chief Zhang Xiao Jing to lead the investigation. Meanwhile, the Emperor was expected to announce the regency of the Right Chancellor during the Lantern Festival and retreat to the mountains with the love of his life. The ambitious Right Chancellor had long been waging a political war with the reformist Crown Prince. If he were to become the regent, the Crown Prince would face deposition or worse. Having only 24 hours to save Chang’an and the Crown Prince, Li Bi must rely on Zhang Xiao Jing – a war veteran, beloved former police chief, and murderer of his last direct superior."

Feedback are most welcome.

Some changes were close like He4 Zhi1 Zhang1 (贺知章) to He2 Zhi2 Zheng4 (何执正), or Yang2 Yu4 Huan2(杨玉环) to Yan2 Yu3 Huan4 (严羽幻). But other changes were more marked, like Li Lin Fu (李林甫) to Lin Jiu Lang (林九郎).

In one of the recent episodes they used the term 'Li Fu' (Li Manor) rather than dubbing it to 'Lin Fu' (Lin Manor). And in the latest episode, Yan Yu Huan asked a visitor to call her Yu4 Huan2 (玉环) when it should have been Yu3 Huan4 (羽幻). So I think they're dropping the dubbing.

I hope they can go back and remove the earlier dubbing too, at least the ones with minor differences.

Yes, save for the dubbing over and singing, the voices were all recorded live.

Also, it seems in more recent episodes they decided to stop dubbing over the changed names.