[Mainland Chinese Drama 2014-2015] The Empress of China 武媚娘传奇

[halfmoonsmile]

Taiwan's gonna air the unedited version! I hope they upload this version online. Plus, TVB's censorship is a lot less obvious according to this article. YAY!

Jaynestars

[da-chan]

Oh I hope it comes out in cantonese! I don;t understand Mandarin >.< I'm not sure what channel or time it will air though :/ 

[halfmoonsmile]

It's confirmed that the Cantonese version of The Empress of China will be aired on April 26.

Source: Jaynestars

[Guest lenny123_stv]

>>>>>>>>> SPOILER ALERT <<<<<<<<<<<<<

I've watched this drama over and over again because of the scenes with Aarif Lee and Fan Bing Bing and their undying love story for this strong and powerful drama. 
It was a bit of the drag, but if you skip episodes you will miss some pieces of the puzzle. Like myself I skipped a lot of the episodes and my verdict after watching this drama was: "The first king didn't love the Wu Mei Niang, blah blah the ending with Li Zhi and Mei Niang was confusing....." but after rewatching is a few times I got the hang of it.
To wrap it up, the drama tells of Wu mei niang entering the palace at 14 years and she through all sorts of possible tragedies and evil scheming plots stayed by the king (Li Shimin) who which loved and adored her very much, it was when he corted her that the rumor 'the three dynasties of the Li kingdom will be destroyed by a female with 'Wu' in her name' that the drama started revealing itself. 
Li Shimin at once did not believe this, his defence was that it could be anyone and does that mean has has to kill all people with 'Wu' in their names? The palace began to get dangerous for Wu Mei Niang as people under the king wanted the king to kill her at once but Li Shimin didn't. At last, for her safety he used the excuse of hunting to allow her to be taken away from the palace so she could escape and live a peaceful life, however the guard whom the king ordered to escort her disobeyed this and tried to murder her on the way but was lucky enough to be saved by the King. 
During the time of when she suffered ordeals back at the palace, she met young Li Zhi who (the young character that played this looked way too young btw and I kept forgetting that Fan Bing Bing is 14-16years around this time) instantly fell in love with her. Even until he grew up to the handsome (Aarif Lee) he still loved her and only had her in his heart. 
Back to the escape plan the King failed, many other men under Li Shimin still wanted Wu mei niang dead, in return to keep her life the king suggested (remember this part) that Wu Mei Niang will not have his kids, female or male will be killed off as a deal to keep her alive. So she stayed alive till about when Li Mu (Li Chen), Wu Mei Niang's childhood friend and almost husband before his family was framed for trying to destory li kingdom came into the palace for Mei Niang. 
He wanted to take her away many times but she refused and said this was her home and the man she loved was Li Shimin, after a few incididents Mei Niang finally decided to run away with Li Mu (she still didnt love him). Somehow he got caught through something and that run away was postponed. 
Mei Niang spent days and nights pleading Li Shimin to not kill Li Mu and pleaded that her and Li Mu were like brothers and sisters and the love she had towards him was only gratitude. The king did believe her but showed no signs, he visited Li Mu in jail and Li Mu still wanted to take Mei Niang away (told the king that before and he got pissed) finally, Li Shimin set up a two drinks, one with and without poison. Shimin said if he chose the poisoned one, Shimin will spare Mei Niangs life, if the cup he chooses has no poison he will die. Consequently Li Mu thought the king was a bit of a jerk, but he drank one cup and also the other. 
Soon Shimin told mei niang that he had Li Mu killed off last night, and she wanted to die with him because she wasnt able to save him. Shimin then granted her wish and gave her a glass of poison aswell. From then, Wu Mei Niang did not exist.

Ofcourse which was the kings plan to allow mei niang to leave the palace without harm and he knew Li Mu will take very good care of her (How sweet of the king eh?) Out of the palace, mei niang woke up and demanded to know the truth. Li mu told her that the king had saved them both in ordder for her to not come to any harm in the palace and for he was setting off to fight a war and did not know whether he would return, and he didn't want Mei Niang to become a nun or be killed because he is no longer there, she was still young and had a whole life infront of her to live.
Mei Niang left Li Mu to find the king in the battle zone, consequently once she returned to the palace (everyone only knew she went missing or died). She told her bestfriend Tu Xui (Janine Chang) that she was with the king in the battlefield. Chang used this and told people so that they can confront the king and tell the king that Wu Me Niang should have not been there, that it is a sign she wants to take over (Idk something about women not being allowed in the battlefield). 
THe king told these idiots that she saved his life so on, but it has come to a point where she could no longer be saved. Mei niangs suggest was to let her go with Princess Gaoyang outside the palace (as she was getting married off, for falling inlove with a monk who the king later killed). This saved Mei niangs life again but she was not to ever enter the palace or see the king again. 
At this time Li Zhi became prince and had to marry Shi Shi, however he did not touch her or even care about her because he only had mei niang in his heart. He often visited mei niang outside the palace using the excuse of visiting his sister. 
When the king because ill, mei niang snuck in with gaoyangs help to see the king for one night. After that the king passed and Li Zhi became emperor. Mei Niang did not get to see the Li Shimin before he died. However he left Li Zhi will saying "The fortune of female wu taking over li dynasty should not be forgotten, if she has kids no matter boy or girl, kill them." 

However Li Zhi did not reveal this will to anyone because he questioned why his father could be so cruel to mei niang. 
Back to Mei Niang, she was forced to enter the nun temple outside the a palace. She soon finds out that she was pregnant, with Li Zhi (this part was unclear as to how or when, but maybe after the kings death when Li Zhi comforted Mei niang?). She plotted to escape the temple in order to raise the child and asked GaoYang to help her and not tell anyone. Gaoyang agreed but then went off to tell her brother (Li Zhi). 
As mei niang escaped, she ran into Li Zhi and an army who tried to kill them. Li Zhi's 3rd brother saved them and mei niang was brought back to the palace to have her child. Mei niang did not tell a soul, and i mean literally NO ONE that the kid was Li Zhi's, s everyone obviously thought it was Li Shimins.

to be continued......

[sugarplum892]

Source: MingPao / 163 EntPhoto Credits: Ming Pao / on.cc / Wtoutiao & as labeled on photosTranslated by: Chloe.C 
TVB's version of "The Empress of China" will not be "big-headed dolls"; Hides cleavage by adding fabric to costumes
Earlier, when "The Empress of China" was broadcasted in Mainland China, because the cleavage of the actresses were seen as too sexy, they were forced to edit the scenes so that cleavage wouldn't be shown. As a result, many scenes were zoomed in to show only their heads and a lot of the background and costumes could not be seen. As TVB will be broadcasting the drama this week, in order to keep the quality of the production, they spent extra money to hire a professional team to add fabric in front of the actresses' chests, instead of cutting the scenes. The colour and pattern of the clothes are carefully managed, so that the audience cannot tell it is done by the computer. This way, the audience can still see the beautiful scenery and costumes that the audience longed to see in the drama. TVB has also re-edited the drama as a 70 episode production (compared to the 96 episodes in China).
Regarding this "added fabric" version, Kathy Chow, who plays Consort Yang in the drama, commented saying she does not think it's unfortunate that the actresses' "good bodies" are being censored. She laughed: "The most important is that the story can be displayed as it was made. I felt that the "big-headed dolls" version was more unfortunate. Everything was zoomed in, so no one could see the surroundings and environment. " Therefore, she feels this method is just like pulling up the clothes, much better than "big heads". 
"The Empress of China" will be airing on Sunday April 26th at 9:30pm. The drama will air everyday.

[sugarplum892]

Kathy Chow's head developed blood blister whenever she removed the head ornament?

Artiste Kathy Chow (周海媚) was promoting Mainland China series, The Empress of China (武則天) in Tseung Kwan O TV city (將軍澳電視城) and disclosed her head developed blood blister after removing the heavy head ornament each time due to long hours. She said: "No choice and everyone had the same problem too. Thus, the edited version wasted our 8 hours of wearing head ornament, costume and beautiful scenery."

Source: ON.CC (HK)
Translated by: tvfan @ Asian E-News Portal

[-jade-]

Meany-chan said: I guess I will attempt to watch the drama in its original Mandarin then. I did some research and it turns out that the women of the high class were allowed to show cleavages during the Tang Dynasty, meaning that the drama is at least historically accurate in that aspect.

[halfmoonsmile]

jadecloud said: Meany-chan said: I guess I will attempt to watch the drama in its original Mandarin then. I did some research and it turns out that the women of the high class were allowed to show cleavages during the Tang Dynasty, meaning that the drama is at least historically accurate in that aspect.

[sugarplum892]

Series, The Empress of China: Linda Chung will be singing the ending theme song and this shows she is not 'frozen' by TVB?

In order to make the series, The Empress of China (武則天) impressive, TVB decided to compose 4 new songs. Singing diva, Joey Yung (容祖兒) will be singing the opening theme song, while Jinny Ng (吳若希), Linda Chung (鍾嘉欣) and Aarif Rahman (李治廷) will sing the ending theme songs. Jinny's work had been increasing after signing contract with TVB, while singing one of the ending theme songs showed that Linda remained well-loved and not 'frozen' by TVB.

Source: ON.CC (HK)
Translated by: tvfan @ Asian E-News Portal

[sugarplum892]

Source: Wacow 
Translated by: Chloe.C  

TVB Ratings Report (04/20/2015 - 04/26/2015)

Dramas 
Smooth Talker - 以和為貴 (EPS 16-20 END) - 25 PTS

Romantic Repertoire - 水髮胭脂 (EPS 16-20) - 24 PTS

Romantic Repertoire FINALE - 水髮胭脂大結局 (EP 21 END) - 24 PTS (Peaking at 26 PTS) *AIRED ON SUNDAY

The Empress of China - 武則天 (EP 01) - 23 PTS (Peaking at 24 PTS) *AIRED ON SUNDAY

Come Home Love - 愛.回家 (EPS 750-754) - 22 PTS 

Variety Shows 
Neighbourhood Gourmet 3 - 街坊廚神舌戰新台韓 - 20 PTS (Peaking at 22 PTS)

Telling Maria 3 - 最佳男主角 - 20 PTS

Sze You Tonight - 今晚睇李 - 18 PTS (Peaking at 20 PTS)

Scoop - 東張西望 - 18 PTS

What's Daddy 2 - 萬里尋爸2 - 11 PTS

(Nielsen TAM: 1 point represents 64,920 viewers)

[sugarplum892]

The Empress of China series reached highest ratings at 28 pts last week

 

The Empress of China (武則天) series broadcasted by TVB on last Friday achieved the highest ratings at 28 pts, around 1.81 millions audiences, and the average ratings for last week was at 24 pts.

As for the highest ratings for the debut of the series, Limelight Years (華麗轉身) aired last week was at 27 pts, around 1.75 millions audiences, and the average ratings was at 23 pts.

The Greed of Man (大時代) series reached another breaking point

TVB re-broadcasted the series, The Greed of Man which had an average ratings at 6 pts last week and achieved the highest ratings at 8 pts on last Friday. Also, it was considered the highest ratings when airing series during midnight when compared to the past.

Source: ON.CC (HK)
Translated by: tvfan @ Asian E-News Portal

[sugarplum892]

Source: Wacow
Translated by: Chloe.C

TVB Ratings Report (04/27/2015 - 05/03/2015)

Dramas 
The Empress of China - 武則天 (EPS 02-06) - 24 PTS (Peaking at 28 PTS) *MONDAY TO FRIDAY EPISODES

Limelight Years - 華麗轉身 (EPS 01-05) - 23 PTS (Peaking at 27 PTS)

Come Home Love - 愛.回家 (EPS 755-759) - 22 PTS

The Empress of China - 武則天 (EPS 07-08) - 21 PTS *SATURDAY AND SUNDAY EPISODES

Variety Shows 
Good Cheap Eats 3 - 食平3D - 22 PTS

Neighbourhood Gourmet 3 - 街坊廚神舌戰新台韓 - 20 PTS

Sunday Songbird - Sunday靚聲王 - 20 PTS

Eating Well with Madam Wong 2 - 吾淑吾食 2 - 19 PTS

Scoop - 東張西望 - 18 PTS

Walking Tours - 賞遊澳門 - 16 PTS

What's Daddy 3 (China Edition) - 萬里尋爸3 (中國篇) - 15 PTS

Sze You Tonight - 今晚睇李 - 14 PTS

(Nielsen TAM: 1 point represents 64,920 viewers)

[HKong]

I recently started watching this cause TVB is airing it. Then out of curiosity I watched the 1st episode of Taiwan's CtiTV version. The cut version airing on TVB really got chopped up. About 2/3 of 1st episode was cut from the un-cut version. I really hope someone English subs the Taiwanese version. I seems much better un-cut I understand Mandarin but since this an ancient Chinese series I really need English subs to better understand,

[sugarplum892]

Source: Wacow

Translated by: Chloe.C

TVB Ratings Report (05/04/2015 - 05/10/2015)

Dramas

The Empress of China - 武則天 (EPS 09-13) - 25 PTS (Peaking at 29 PTS) *MONDAY TO FRIDAY EPISODES

Limelight Years - 華麗轉身 (EPS 06-10) - 24 PTS (Peaking at 27 PTS)

The Empress of China - 武則天 (EP 15) - 24 PTS (Peaking at 26 PTS) *SUNDAY EPISODE

Come Home Love - 愛.回家 (EPS 760-764) - 22 PTS

The Empress of China - 武則天 (EP 14) - 21 PTS *SATURDAY EPISODE

Variety Shows

Good Cheap Eats 3 - 食平3D - 22 PTS

Sunday Songbird - Sunday靚聲王 - 21 PTS

Neighbourhood Gourmet 3 - 街坊廚神舌戰新台韓 - 18 PTS

Eating Well with Madam Wong 2 - 吾淑吾食 2 - 18 PTS

Scoop - 東張西望 - 18 PTS

Sze You Tonight - 今晚睇李 - 15 PTS

What's Daddy 3 (China Edition) - 萬里尋爸3 (中國篇) - 14 PTS

Walking Tours - 賞遊澳門 - 13 PTS

(Nielsen TAM: 1 point represents 64,920 viewers)

Related News:

- There has been a continuous misunderstanding that TVB is not willing to broadcast the original version of "The Empress of China" and therefore added fabric to cover cleavage. However, TVB Executives have explained several times that this is NOT true. They are simply broadcasting the version that was given to them by the production company. TVB was NOT the one to add fabric to the drama; it was the Mainland production company that owns the drama.

[sugarplum892]

The Empress of China series achieved highest ratings at 28 pts

 

 

TVB announced the ratings for golden prime time slot last week. The Empress of China (武則天) series was broadcasted daily and the average ratings for weekday was at 26 pts, while weekend ratings was between 21 to 23 pts. Friday had the highest ratings at 28 pts, around 1.83 millions audiences while average ratings was at 27 pts.

As for Come Home Love (愛．回家) sitcom and Limelight Years (華麗轉身) series, it achieved average ratings at 22 pts and 24 pts. Lastly, The Greed of Man (大時代) series aired during Friday midnight had the highest ratings at 7 pts.

Source: ON.CC (HK)
Translated by: tvfan @ Asian E-News Portal

[sugarplum892]

Source: Wacow 
Translated by: Chloe.C

TVB Ratings Report (05/11/2015 - 05/17/2015)

Dramas
The Empress of China - 武則天 (EPS 16-20) - 26 PTS (Peaking at 28 PTS) *MONDAY TO FRIDAY EPISODES

Limelight Years - 華麗轉身 (EPS 11-15) - 24 PTS (Peaking at 30 PTS)

The Empress of China - 武則天 (EP 22) - 23 PTS *SUNDAY EPISODE

Come Home Love - 愛.回家 (EPS 765-769) - 22 PTS

The Empress of China - 武則天 (EP 21) - 21 PTS *SATURDAY EPISODE

Variety Shows
Good Cheap Eats 3 - 食平3D - 22 PTS

Sunday Songbird - Sunday靚聲王 - 20 PTS

Neighbourhood Gourmet 3 - 街坊廚神舌戰新台韓 - 18 PTS

Eating Well with Madam Wong 2 - 吾淑吾食 2 - 18 PTS

Scoop - 東張西望 - 18 PTS

Sze You Tonight - 今晚睇李 - 17 PTS

What's Daddy 3 (China Edition) - 萬里尋爸3 (中國篇) - 14 PTS

Walking Tours - 賞遊澳門 - 13 PTS

(Nielsen TAM: 1 point represents 64,920 viewers)

Related News:
- Because of the Amber rainstorm signal last Monday, the ratings of the dramas that day raised (due to more people staying home). Average rating that day for "Limelight Years" (broadcast at 8:30 pm) was 26 PTS, peaking at 30 PTS, while average rating for "The Empress of China" (9:30pm) was 27 PTS, peaking at 28 PTS. 

- Aside from the rainstorm signal on Monday, the highest rating for "The Empress of China" for the week was Friday, average 27 PTS, peaking at 28 PTS.

[sugarplum892]

Source: Wacow
Translated by: Chloe.C

TVB Ratings Report (05/18/2015 - 05/24/2015)

Dramas
The Empress of China - 武則天 (EPS 23-27) - 25 PTS (Peaking at 26 PTS) *MONDAY TO FRIDAY EPISODES

Limelight Years - 華麗轉身 (EPS 16-20) - 24 PTS (Peaking at 26 PTS)

Come Home Love - 愛.回家 (EPS 770-774) - 23 PTS

Weekend Episodes
Limelight Years FINALE - 華麗轉身 大結局 (EP 21 END) - 26 PTS (Peaking at 29 PTS) *AIRED ON SUNDAY

Variety Shows
Good Cheap Eats 3 - 食平3D - 21 PTS

Neighbourhood Gourmet 3 - 街坊廚神舌戰新台韓 - 21 PTS

Scoop - 東張西望 - 17 PTS

Community Chest - 萬眾同心公益金 - 16 PTS

Sze You Tonight - 今晚睇李 - 16 PTS

What's Daddy 3 (China Edition) - 萬里尋爸3 (中國篇) - 16 PTS

(Nielsen TAM: 1 point represents 64,920 viewers)

Notes:
- Weekend dramas will now be separated due to being only one episode ratings
- The Empress of China weekend episodes did not air due to Limelight Years finale and Community Chest charity show.

[Guest DJG]

Thanks for the updates.

[sugarplum892]

Thanks for the updates.

​You're welcome!  Glad soompiers do check out these ratings haha

[Guest deker_stv]

Anywhere I can watch the original un-edited version? Tried looking for the Taiwanese version but I can't find anything ;-;