Nepeta 22

Sounds good. I haven't but looks interesting.

It looks like it as the police officer shows her son a photo of him, so I assume that meant that was the other person with her in the car as originally they assumed it was Tang Yi Xun.

Could be. But, he is getting the roles now and he has a lot of very promising dramas to come. I'm looking forward to How Dare You.

Looks like you know a lot of the differences & the pinyin system/ tones! I must admit I was not paying attention to that level! The only thing I know is in China, they tend to favour the northern or Beijing accents more, especially for historic dramas. Perhaps many of the actors that strive for perfection, whether they are born native to Beijing or not, may practice to sound more like a Beijinger. It's lost on me obviously as I'm busy trying to catch the subs too much 😉!

Yes, that's the song. I heard the other Cantonese song as well. Not sure of its origins, but suspect it would have been some old folk lullaby coming from the farming communities of the past.

ML seemed to be speaking normal mandarin so not aware if he spoke in any other dialect. I'm new to mandarin, so can't tell accents. Someone told me Beijing mandarin has stronger tongue roll on the 'r' sound and many of the end/tail words ends with an 'er' sound. But I can't tell!

It's not a shelved drama. It was after his success of A Journey to You. This was filmed not that long ago. There are big actors like Liu Yi Jun and Tong Yao in it so very unlikely held back or shelved.

Thanks for confirming that. I was sure it was Hakka dialect, there are a lot of variations based on areas in China. Maybe that poster was thinking of the group in places like Fujian which has a large Teochew speaking community. Since I saw it was filmed in Meizhou, it's well known in China as the Hakka speaking capital. It also helps as I grew up listening to this dialect with my parents...

Also I like how the drama lifts music from the past to put as part of the score here. That's evident with other songs played. The song from the end of episode 3 was a modern version from an old Hakka mountain song which is part of Hakka culture.

Thanks for that honest response 😂!

It's all good, and I know this particular drama has its plus points. Otherwise if your points of 1,2 & 3 didn't exist, I'm afraid it may have been less successful.

With the last paragraph, yes that forced marriage by emperor has happened and seen loads of times, but for me, this was less of female opinion and empowerment but more laced with high drama and designed for us the viewer/reader to get aggravated and annoyed, or even angry. Sadly less of the emperor but more the 2ML. It should be more about (if this was from a female empowerment point of view) why FL is not tackling this old system or is she waiting for the man to make the move for change because it also affects men?

What was more interesting was some viewers seem to be more annoyed that FL cooked and made some needlework for her love. But they seemed to gloss over the fact that the message FL gave episodes before that was demeaning to some of the "female" roles of sewing and cooking by contrasting it against defending borders and it was a subtle way of saying being a soldier or general was better and more moral than sewing. It also tells women they need to do "everything" including traditional areas that men dominated in. If this isn't pressure on women, I don't know what is. I find that type of brainwashing more damaging than FL cooking for someone she loves which she clearly "chose" to do.

It starts from around 1940s to 1990s so I would say it's more than a republican era drama. Cheng Lei will be in the early segments as it's an all-star ensemble cast which I expect will get a lot more chatter and interest. I have been waiting for a drama like this for ages, so looking forward to it.

What are the sole reasons that attract you to watch this drama? Is it because it's fun to see women posing as a men? Because there are numerous dramas that have females dressing in male attire and never really questioned. They just are, and they work in men's spaces of the past. So this type of scenario would be a bit old-hat & done many times before.

A little tug and chase of ML finding out she's a female and happy ever after after a convoluted twist and turn with of course some 2nd ML in the way to cloud her judgment whilst she's usually level headed in all other matters?

It obviously can't be anything to do with female empowerment with this drama, as clearly the drama classically puts in the emperor forcing "female" general to "marry" who and when he wants. Regardless of if she likes either suitors. This, after all that gallant talk to the other females about defending country and important work for the emperor.

Or is it a chance to see female dressed in a man's attire act all flirty and childlike for most of the drama because you get cheap laughs when it's probably a man's fantasy for such an act. Or do women see this and fall in love with it too? Because if you do, may be, just maybe you have been brainwashed by storylines that have male influence rather than a female's view point. By the way, women can be the tool men's fantasy. This happens every day. To me, this drama represents it in the most graphic form.

I don't follow Chinese entertainment that closely. This is the first drama I have seen ZYR in. When you mentioned nepo baby, I was curious as I did a quick check on him yesterday but could not see if his family were influential or not.

But if you meant his agency, then I don't think that would be the actor's fault. Most times, they're quite powerless to their agencies' antics. Only the very big well known actors that have been around a bit have influence on how they are managed, but I doubt actors of this range would.

I agree, some platforms and agencies have very questionable practices that many can see through anyway. And as I can see, it can ironically bring more hate than love which is a little short sighted on their part.

Are you sure that's Teochew dialect? It sounds like Hakka dialect including one of the ending songs in episode 3. It was filmed in Meizhou which is in Guangdong province, and Hakka dialect is the dominant language there.

No it's a mystery drama.

Please let us know what you meant with the nepo baby comment regards to ZYR.

I agree with you there. I had waited for this since it started filming. It has not disappointed. Triple Echo of Time is also on my list. I think there will be a few good dramas coming soon.

I watched it to the end and I must say I felt it got better towards the end. The first half was a page turner and felt more like a soap opera. From 2/3 onwards the story slowed but at a more manageable pace with wider plot-points. Whilst it is sad all-round, but it was told in a matter-of-fact way.

I also did not feel the ending was rushed. It's clear they wanted to pick the eras they wanted to highlight. If people need every decade depicted, then it's better to watch some documentary instead.

I liked how by older age, the way she narrated how her husband never returned in a calm yet honest manner reflects how she by then knew she had already lived a great life with him there, and was quite content considering her sister and all that's happened around her. It's a slightly rose-tinted view that she was most likely trying to convey as the ending scenes are of childhood, youth and of course her own parents. I don't think it's about acceptance or forgiving. It's a point in life where hate or anger has passed and no longer relevant to her.

All in all a nice drama that loosely fits into a bit of entertainment and interesting talking points about past practices, customs and humanity. So many grey characters where poverty and circumstances pushed them to life choices that some may term as criminal and unacceptable today, but it was practically lawless then. Village chiefs readily manage their business in-house. I liked how her brother flitted from KMT to Communism and how older generation kept their heads down because that was something they always did in the past. This is very real and how people from that class tended to do. The villagers there were going through upheaval and change but in their minds, they lived off the land the best they could, even if it was rented in all shapes and forms.

Thanks for clarifying that. I thought you might be teasing but wasn't 100% sure.

Yes, there had been a lot of discussion of the slant on the adaptation. I guess, in the end, change is still relatively new and you can't wipe away 1000s of years of past China. Socialist ideals is a very western concept and going back to the 1900s many Chinese met with Japanese youth to study it more in Japan. Russia bordering China, it was only natural that this seeped into China quickly.

Personally, I think the drama fell into the middle ground of trying to straddle both sides is realistic and a reflection of gradual change. Hardcore socialism became more progressive during the 1950s to 1970s.

I understand that viewing public may not be able to stomach the harsh truths of the old ways with poor treatment of women and this obsession with being respectful to parents whatever the reason, otherwise they are better off just watching a documentary, so I agree with the drama's placement of the subjects.

Initially I didn't because it felt almost like they were trivialising of such sensitive and serious subjects, brushing past storylines lightly and quickly moving on...but after the second half of the drama, it slowly fell naturally in place and became less soap opera-ish.

Many dropped it because they said the Mango TV translation was not good enough, but I didn't seem to have any issue with it. It's free to watch through Mango on Youtube. I understand it is not for everyone. But for me, it's memorable.

No problem. She was in Romance in the Alley too, which was one of the best dramas I have seen come out of China.

I don't understand your comment about communist propaganda. In all honesty, if you do watch a lot of dramas or films around the world, I can assure you that you will see many falling into the socials "dream ideal" even though in reality we don't wholeheartedly live that life but it's always touted as more nicer and more sharing. This drama no different.

It is also not secret that most peasants were likely to cheer and support communist ideals considering this drama's core subject. It would be weirder for me if the majority supported feudalism or even KMT.