Hello, you're watching AvenueX
and today let's talk about the chinese historical drama.
Tian Xia Chang He, The Long River
This is is a 40 episode period historical drama
that went live on november the 11th on the satellite television,
Hunan tv as well as its web platform Mango tv
it is written and directed by the director writer Zhang Ting
led by Luo Jin, Huang Zhizhong, Yin Fang
It is produced by the company Hao Ku, which also produced Da Ming Feng Hua
Not so long ago.
The drama was shot from last year September to this year January.
I am making this video based on the 21 episodes i've watched.
I will give this drama a two gold mine for now
as for the story itself,
it's set in the early reign of Kangxi around his early 20s
is where we start our story.
It is focused on the the floodway control project that did happen back
in Kangxi's reign on this very temperamental and very huge river,
often called china's mother river,
the yellow river.
Let's get down to the details about what is great
about this drama and what may not be so satisfying.
On the positive end, point 1
this is a full original voice acting period drama,
whether it's Huang Zhizhong, Luo Jin, Yin Fang
or the actors playing the other important subjects.
They all have very well trained academy style acting
and performing and ability to deliver lines.
So it's very ear pleasing drama for me.
And I know it wouldn't be something that is so important to international audiences
if you are always gonna just read subtitles anyway,
but it adds the extras a bit of pleasure,
almost like going to theater and just listen
to really well trained actors doing their job.
The second positive thing about this drama is
it is very similar to Da Ming Feng Hua (Ming Dynasty) in terms of
it's set in a real historical period of time and
featuring real did exist historical figures,
but it also gets some of the very dramatized,
legendary type of storytelling mixed in.
Previously, before I got into this drama,
I actually wasn't aware that it's a Zhang Ting's work.
Once I got to know that I immediately adjusted my expectation.
Now I would say this is actually both a positive and a negative thing,
so on the positive end it makes us drama much more entertaining.
Those create many such scenes that are so intentionally written for fun
through the performances,
through the line delivery,
through the creation of conflict and funny music.
The particular style of acting even
the third thing about this drama is
if you are a fan of either Luo Jin, Huang Zhizhong, Yin Fang
or Liang Guanhua, these actors
You're gonna love this drama,
it's their proper drama,
it's the drama where you can see them as proper actors,
not that everything is a masterpiece in this drama
and not that it's the best written historical.
We are actually very short of good historical in china right now.
It is still quite far away from the heydays of really good historical.
But if you are a fan of any of those actors,
you're gonna enjoy this drama probably more than other people.
The 4th thing it really is the only Qing dynasty setting,
at least to a level serious historical drama we have
We really haven't had such a drama for a long time for years,
because this genre is just so short or of works in it.
You have to kind of give it extra care and probably give it a little
bit more space and treat it with a little bit more kindness.
This type of drama are hard to write, for sure,
and they're hard to produce usually costs quite a lot of money.
And then because of all kinds of complicated outside of the drama reasons,
whether it's political,
whether it's this and that often serious historical,
just don't get supported,
or it's just too much of a hustle for any body to make them.
So we don't have that many going on.
And it's also not such a popular genre in terms of ROI
you know, what time type of drama do I going to make
If I have this lump sum of money
It's better to do this type of drama.
I'm likely to get more money back instead of
historical are not the first choice.
So all in all because of the rarity,
i'm just happy to see a qualified enough good enough drama going on right now.
And I think people also recognize that
overall people have very positive response to this drama
and they give it quite a high rating,
I think slightly inflated.
I think right now it's like over 8 point,
if honestly I would rate this drama probably at 7.9 just below 8
or maybe you can drag it to 8 but not higher.
These are the positive things.
Now let's talk about what's not so ideal about this drama,
mainly 2 points and they're all related to
the fact that this drama is not a full on serious historical
on one side is its research into history,
into characters.
Maybe they've done it,
but they intentionally change it or not follow the actual history,
because they wanna create more of a dramatic,
the Chuan Qi (传奇） legendary type of storytelling style.
So on the factual side of this story,
although Kang Xi did exist and in his life,
he did do certain things.
The Ming Zhu and Suo E Tu two major officials.
Early stage of Kang Xi's reign, Chen Huang, JIn Fu
those roles they all do exist in history and they
roughly all do have those functions as a drama has it,
but there's a significant of dramatization.
For example,
there will be scenes that are very funny to watch
high entertainment value,
great performances,
but totally totally untrue.
In this drama,
they depict the official Suo E Tu who is a Manchurian official
played by Liang Guanhua
As a wu fu (武夫）
somebody who's physically strong, but who is very not well educated,
who doesn't know how to write poems,
who would write those really funny and ridiculous poems
just to make the emperor happy,
and then becoming almost a buffoon type of role.
When he does that.
Just to please the emperor,
王母娘娘筛石灰, if you've watched the drama you'll know
It's very high entertainment value but it cannot be far enough from history
because historically, Suo E Tu this person,
although he's a Manchurian official,
he's one of the earliest "Han Hua" Manchurian official of the dynasty,
meaning that Hanize themselves in their daily habits,
in their education.
He is super well learned and taught.
He is a Da Xue Shi (大学士), which just literally is like court
given post doctorate type of level of well educated
of all the Si Shu Wu jing (四书五经)
of all the confucius teaching chinese calligraphy.
Everything that's Han cultured and important scholars must learn thing.
Suo E Tu is actually an expert,
not only is he like that,
his sons and his like many descendants in his family
are all very well educated in Han people's culture.
And they actually go to Ke Ju exams and
get very high positions and results of it.
So Suo E Tu, although he's Manchurian
he probably is better taught and learned many Han people at the time.
A complete contrast in history for real than
the version that they create in this drama.
So you see that they do it because it's dramatically fun.
Ming Zhu, this official whose opponent of Suo E Tu,
in early Kangxi reign is also a very prominent official
and they play him also in a way like a buffoon,
like a really ass kisser of Kangxi
who in reality, another super well taught well learned person.
and his son, One of his son
is the most famous Qing dynasty poet Na Lan Xing De
who if you watched this old drama before
was played by Zhong Hanliang
and yeah it's one of my favorite dramas of old times
Just to give you an idea about historically these
people are very different from the drama's portrayal.
If you are a chinese person,
you already know the history and of those characters,
you can watch the drama as fun.
And knowing it's not like that at all of these people,
but if you're not,
and then obviously you wouldn't bother to go research
about everything you've watched in a drama.
It really is like too far away from history, right?
Give you a completely wrong impression about certain
important historical figures in history in china.
So the manipulation of specific characters
as presented in the drama versus recorded in history
is something that this director and writer likes to do.
And he kind of did it even more crazily in the ming dynasty setting drama.
Da ming feng hua, particularly about the two empresses.
It's just such a crazy dramatization that has
nothing almost looking like real history anymore.
I feel that type of writing is always questionable, right?
Like there's a level of how far you can go and for what purpose you do it.
So personally i'm not such a huge fan of it,
but then if you don't care about it, it's fine.
The second thing related to that is
because I think this drama is trying to get two things done at the same time.
The serious historical and the funny dramatization
it gave a very weird combination whether it's from scene to scene
As you watch this drama,
the whole vibe of the drama does this very big turn
This scene looks like a super serious historical drama,
next scene funny and not serious at all and it's so theatrical.
In its performance, then it goes back to the more proper thing.
And it keeps doing that in every episode.
and It would also leak into the style of performances.
And you'll see there's actually a very distinctive different styles of acting,
for example,
the acting of Liang Guanhua and Gong Lei,
playing Suo E Tu and Ming Zhu,
because they got really dramatized as the buffon characters around the emperor.
They would act in the style,
let's say 80% dramatize, the legendary, not serious,
funny comedy acting and 20% of serious stuff.
Then Huang Zhizhong's role
because he is the good official
who is the essential in charge of the floodway project person.
So he is like 80% proper, historical serious acting,
think about Royal Nirvana.
And then you come across Yin Fang's character who is like70% serious,
30% funny and two different styles of acting.
And then you look at the actor can't remember his name, sorry,
but he plays the Xu Qianxue
another very important official character.
He's like 90% dramatization theatrical,
totally a comedy actor.
He almost has no serious moment at all in this drama
and then just like say 10% of proper stuff.
So every actor is kind of acting at a different
percentage of very strong different styles of acting.
so sometimes when one scene happens and you have two very
different configuration actors showing up together,
it creates a very weird experience,
very incoherent, that's how I would put it.
If you watch, you'll get it.
It's hard to describe it.
and I think it's unavoidable,
almost integral problem with this type of script writing.
It may put you off.
It may not actually matter at all.
So these are the main not so ideal parts of this drama.
So far I can see,
but i'll keep watching this drama because
really is the only one of its kind now.
And i'm curious to see how the drama at the end
is gonna tie up every individual character's fate
And also while I was watching,
there's one thing I really enjoy,
which is every time there's a scene between Luo Jin and Huang Zhizhong's roles
the emperor and the subject official, and particularly
when it's highly charged,
when one is kneel down in front of the emperor and the
emperor is you know
like those highly charged situation happening.
I can't help laughing secretly in my heart
and feeling the next moment Luo Jin is gonna suddenly jump up
and pointing at Huang Zhizhong and saying,
hey, dad, last lifetime,
you tortured me to no ends
see this lifetime.
I am tje emperor, I sit on top,
I come back at you
because of the Royal Nirvana, absolutely torture filled drama,
secret pleasure of watching this drama.
yeah If you happen to be a fan of royal nirvana,
you may have the same reaction as I do.
And that's definitely a plus for you to watch this drama just
feel that rush of revenge
that should conclude my halfway review on the historical period drama.
Tian Xia Chang He
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Thank you for watching AvenueX
i'll see you in my next video.
Meanwhile, live long and happy drama watching.