[Current Mainland Chinese Drama 2019] Ming Dynasty 大明風華

[Kachan02]

7 hours ago, Takingthehighroad said:

The thing that really bothers me (about myself) is that I find myself liking an Emperor who, according to history, really killed off quite a lot of people. And our ML did the same. I have a hard time separating fiction from historical fact. Nevertheless, I much prefer this drama than Royal Nirvana; at least, I laugh watching Ming Dynast

 I’m with u on this one. Somehow I like them too as specifically the grandfather and grandson relationship also the CP family, it seem to be little realistic .I guess if we compare to history them then we cannot laugh and enjoy our leads

[Kachan02]

11 hours ago, poipoipo said:

21 hours ago, Takingthehighroad said:

New to the thread but not to Soompi. Hope you don't mind me joining in. I'm in love with the ML & FL, both witty, returning tit-for-tat, neither afraid of the other. Tang Wei and Zhu Yawen, as well as the rest of the cast, are doing a marvelous job. I'm looking forward to the drama's progression but surely hope Zhu Yawen isn't killed off until much, much later. 

 

It's obvious which son the Yongle Emperor favors because of his military prowess, but I also believe he is well aware of his shortcomings, too. He sees the (former) Crown Prince as weak & subservient to his brother, easily used by them, always ready to give up his title for his brothers who are jealous & greedy. The Emperor is very savvy & so, I think, he is setting the stage for a revelation of his sons' true intentions & ability to rule as a monarch.

me too!! hope he doesnt die too early!!!!  im watching this and crash landing on you at the same time!!! lol .. whilst waiting for the episodes to air

 Hello guys, I feel the same way and I like our OTP and hoping the same. I also likehow  he is goofy , playfull and serious. It was nice that FL is not fearful and can throweither  or words.at him. Watching to see how they progress 

[Kachan02]

Ep 24 preview 

Spoiler

Someone said that emperor found the realmidne and our lead seem to plead something. Can anyone explain? I tot emperor already knew who she is and accepted Her. 

 

[A1mm3]

On 12/28/2019 at 9:51 AM, crackaddict said:

 

Oh, so the point that you're unhappy about is that the younger sister is being given the more senior wife position over the older sister? Just clarifying. I think the questions you asked about who decided that will be answered later. 

 

I am truly curious how they will work out the relationship between the two sisters. We're being shown that they're both very sharp but the Tang Wei is clearly the more "heroic" and upstanding one while Deng Jiajia is more savvy and understands how to survived the palace context better. What I don't hope to see is the sisters fighting for the affection of their husband because that seems out of character for Sun Ruowei and Zhu Zhanji. If that happened... it'd be like other palace dramas .

I guess episode 24 answered my question. Both of the sisters are not in love with the ML..yet. I’m guess the younger sister will be more of the power control. You can see that already. Now, she is the senior wife, that will give her more authority. Sigh. We’ll see how this play out.

[A1mm3]

6 hours ago, Kachan02 said:

Ep 24 preview 

  Hide contents

Someone said that emperor found the realmidne and our lead seem to plead something. Can anyone explain? I tot emperor already knew who she is and accepted Her. 

 

I don’t understand all of the conversation. Pretty much the gist I get is that the emperor already knew who she is and was waiting for ML to tell him. The ML plead for him to spare her since she took an arrow for him and let him meet the dethrone emperor. The emperor was asking if he likes (choose) power (title) or his love. And a bunch of stuff about the problem that can comes with her although she decided not to take revenge. Anyone with better mandarin can correct  me if I’m

wrong

[Takingthehighroad]

I swear I've never had so much fun watching a historical drama! The coffin scene in episode 20 was hysterical - the father & sons know each other so well. It also served to soften my view of the 2nd brother - such a spoiled, arrogant prince just couldn't get one over on his father.

 

The only one I have a hard time liking is the younger sister of our FL -  

[insertusernamehere]

I love this drama so much! So happy that it's doing well (its ratings are even higher than Ming Lan!) AvenueX youtuber just reviewed the drama and said it's really more like a family drama/sitcom set in ancient times, and I have to agree. It's kind of refreshing to not have so much inner palace fighting (I'm sure we'll get more soon, but at least it's just two people as opposed to many lol). The angst is also deliciously set up: blood sisters in the same palace! Star-crossed lovers! The dialogue is well-written and the characters fleshed out. Character motivations make sense and are layered. I only have great things to say!

 

Zhu Ya Wen is such a revelation. Now I want to watch all dramas that he's been in!

 

RuoWei and Zhanji have so much chemistry: she's a tsundere and he's a yandere  it's gonna be a difficult journey ahead for those two...I suspect we won't get lovey dovey scenes until much, much later, sigh.

 

Zhanji is also extremely quoteable. Some of my favorite scenes with his best lines: (some paraphrased for brevity)

 

Zhanji: Are you married?

Ruowei: No.

Zhanji: I'm also not married!

 

 

Zhanji: If you want to leave (town), you'd better find a way to make me forget you, otherwise don't even think about leaving!

 

He's kinda like a kdrama chaebol character except everything is way more high stake (high stake bully: if you don't do a makeover I'll kill you family; high stake meet-the-(rich)-parents: crown prince and the emperor!)

 

I kinda like the younger sister, her character is interesting with lots of internal moral conflicts. She's making her own path as well, but I guess they're building her up to be the villain

 

 

[Takingthehighroad]

Well, I had just begun to soften towards the 2nd brother. It's interesting to see a character that can be likable one minute then absolutely hated the next. And the third brother, so much like the CP but easily led by his more ambitious & greedy brother. Our poor ML, roped into accepting the younger sister as his wife. I think that is one reason he grows to really dislike her. 

 

I don't quite understand why there's so little activity on this thread. Neither do I understand why I'm reading so many negative comments about Tang Wei (not on this forum though). Is it because of that one acting role having to do with "Lust" - something like that? Or is it because she is not the typical palace beauty we see today? Compared to Royal NIrvana which has been full of angst from the start until now, Ming Dynasty is a welcome relief.

[Kilawolf]

What other forums are other people talking about this drama? I would love to discuss with others.

 

I'm really liking many of the characters in this drama, strangely even some of the "villains"- especially Tai Sun and Emperor. The only one I don't like is the little sis - too ambitious and willing to disregard everything for a single goal

 

I kind of feel Tang Wei doesn't suit this role as well as the others in this drama though (maybe it's the costume/hair/accessories)

 

[insertusernamehere]

I think Tang Wei's acting style is a bit more on the naturalistic side - the kind you see more in movies; she's been doing movies exclusively for the last 12 years, I wouldn't be surprised if she stood out (not in a good way) among drama veterans. Esp with period dramas, everyone acts in a slightly theatrical way. I love her so far, but also recognize that she is a bit different from the rest.

What negative things have people been saying about her?? Lust Caution was so long ago, and she has had many hit movies since, I don't think that would be the case.

[Takingthehighroad]

39 minutes ago, insertusernamehere said:

I think Tang Wei's acting style is a bit more on the naturalistic side - the kind you see more in movies; she's been doing movies exclusively for the last 12 years, I wouldn't be surprised if she stood out (not in a good way) among drama veterans. Esp with period dramas, everyone acts in a slightly theatrical way. I love her so far, but also recognize that she is a bit different from the rest.

What negative things have people been saying about her?? Lust Caution was so long ago, and she has had many hit movies since, I don't think that would be the case.

The majority of the comments I have read are on YouTube in the comment section, as well as the following:

 

https://entertainment.toggle.sg/en/entertainment/asianbuzz/article/tang-wei-criticised-for-poor-acting-in-comeback-drama-12220340

 

And then, of course, this from a former co-star:

https://supchina.com/2019/12/11/backlash-after-shaming-tang-wei-for-her-frequent-bathroom-visits/

 

Tang Wei is portraying her character on point:  reserved around those she doesn't quite trust. She is a product of her environment - boyish, having been raised around males & trained as an assassin. She is honest to a fault, unlike her sister; not accustomed to palace mannerisms, she can only feel overwhelmed & betrayed. Everything she's been taught, now in the span of only a few days/weeks is unraveling. We're only 20 or so episodes in so I am looking forward to her transformation & falling in love. She is most herself around the Emperor - they seem a lot alike.  

 

[insertusernamehere]

42 minutes ago, Takingthehighroad said:

The majority of the comments I have read are on YouTube in the comment section, as well as the following:

 

https://entertainment.toggle.sg/en/entertainment/asianbuzz/article/tang-wei-criticised-for-poor-acting-in-comeback-drama-12220340

 

And then, of course, this from a former co-star:

https://supchina.com/2019/12/11/backlash-after-shaming-tang-wei-for-her-frequent-bathroom-visits/

 

Tang Wei is portraying her character on point:  reserved around those she doesn't quite trust. She is a product of her environment - boyish, having been raised around males & trained as an assassin. She is honest to a fault, unlike her sister; not accustomed to palace mannerisms, she can only feel overwhelmed & betrayed. Everything she's been taught, now in the span of only a few days/weeks is unraveling. We're only 20 or so episodes in so I am looking forward to her transformation & falling in love. She is most herself around the Emperor - they seem a lot alike.  

 

Oh ok, yeah I tend to take YouTube comments with a grain of salt. But omg the costar comment! He's so rude!! 

Agree completely. I think Zhou Xun faced criticism in Ruyi for playing a 16 year old when she was 40. Tang Wei was 38 when she filmed this, but she looks amazing and her mannerism is appropriately youthful. She looks so regal as the empress in the first ep as well, I can't wait for those scenes. And when will she realize that the one she loves is Zhanji??? When can we get lovey dovey scenes or at least a confession from her? I don't think he'd completely ignore the younger sister (in the trailer looks like she was pregnant) but I hope she learns soon that he only cares about Ruowei!

[Kachan02]

6 hours ago, insertusernamehere said:

 

RuoWei and Zhanji have so much chemistry: she's a tsundere and he's a yandere  it's gonna be a difficult journey ahead for those two...I suspect we won't get lovey dovey scenes until much, much later, sigh.

 

Zhanji is also extremely quoteable. Some of my favorite scenes with his best lines: (some paraphrased for brevity)

 

Zhanji: Are you married?

Ruowei: No.

Zhanji: I'm also not married!

I like OTP as well. But I.m not sure when Zhanji was interested in her? when they first met or when she didn’t want to kill him in their second meet. Can anyone enlighten me?

 

 

[Le_Amarant]

1 hour ago, insertusernamehere said:

Oh ok, yeah I tend to take YouTube comments with a grain of salt. But omg the costar comment! He's so rude!! 

Agree completely. I think Zhou Xun faced criticism in Ruyi for playing a 16 year old when she was 40. Tang Wei was 38 when she filmed this, but she looks amazing and her mannerism is appropriately youthful. She looks so regal as the empress in the first ep as well, I can't wait for those scenes. And when will she realize that the one she loves is Zhanji??? When can we get lovey dovey scenes or at least a confession from her? I don't think he'd completely ignore the younger sister (in the trailer looks like she was pregnant) but I hope she learns soon that he only cares about Ruowei!

 

Don't hold your breath. In an interview, Tang Wei said that the only person her character RW loved was her first love, not Zhangji, so yeah...

[Le_Amarant]

Alright, I'm coming out of lurkdom to say I'm also following this show. I do get the criticism about Tang Wei's acting. So far, everyone else is acting circles around her, especially TaiShun. I don't know if Tang Wei is not a good actor or not used to historical dramas., but I'm been surprised at how subpar she is in this drama. You can tell the difference in acting by the way she says her lines versus her fellow actors.

 

Tang Wei aside, TaiShun is acting off his socks and singularly holding my interest in the entire show.

 

I think the Emperor is a terrible grandfather and father. He puts his sons and grandson through so much psychological torture. He's the sole reason why the dynamics between the brothers are so screwed up and he's responsible for all the familial bloodshed that follows. I don't understand why he doesn't curb the 2nd Prince. That guy is a bomb waiting to go off.

[insertusernamehere]

9 hours ago, Le_Amarant said:

 

Don't hold your breath. In an interview, Tang Wei said that the only person her character RW loved was her first love, not Zhangji, so yeah...

But the drama summary said she'd fall in love with him? Please let it be! 

I remember a scene in the trailer where she caressed his face while crying, let's hope it's not the case that she realized she loved him when he was dying!

[insertusernamehere]

10 hours ago, Le_Amarant said:

Alright, I'm coming out of lurkdom to say I'm also following this show. I do get the criticism about Tang Wei's acting. So far, everyone else is acting circles around her, especially TaiShun. I don't know if Tang Wei is not a good actor or not used to historical dramas., but I'm been surprised at how subpar she is in this drama. You can tell the difference in acting by the way she says her lines versus her fellow actors.

 

Tang Wei aside, TaiShun is acting off his socks and singularly holding my interest in the entire show.

 

I think the Emperor is a terrible grandfather and father. He puts his sons and grandson through so much psychological torture. He's the sole reason why the dynamics between the brothers are so screwed up and he's responsible for all the familial bloodshed that follows. I don't understand why he doesn't curb the 2nd Prince. That guy is a bomb waiting to go off.

Yeah, I think the way she enunciates and projects is not as good as the other (she sounds like she mumbles a lot of times), which is why I think her naturalistic acting style really hurts her here, where you have to be a bit more theatrical. 

 

The emperor is terrible,but also fun to watch! He's a clever and temperamental one. I'm guessing he doesn't curb 2nd prince right now to create "balance" in the court so that no prince can be too arrogant? 

[insertusernamehere]

10 hours ago, Kachan02 said:

I like OTP as well. But I.m not sure when Zhanji was interested in her? when they first met or when she didn’t want to kill him in their second meet. Can anyone enlighten me?

 

 

I think it was when they met for the second time and she almost drank the poisonous wine just to prove to him she was innocent. He said (in typical drama style!) "I've never met a woman like you before" and pulled her to jump down the balcony into the boat.

[smhelen]

On 12/28/2019 at 11:28 PM, poipoipo said:

and why are there not many people on this thread so sad.

I just joined and I love this drama and can hardly wait until episode 23 comes out. I do love the main male lead. 

[insertusernamehere]

I was talking with a few friends and realized that the English sub is missing a lot of the great nuances of the script/Chinese language. Vietnamese is very close to Chinese, and the translation quality is good, so I was lucky to get (hopefully) most of the nuances.

For example, in ep 6 around 38:05, Zhanji said "My heart can't be calmed" (he's worried about the consequences of letting the prisoners escape), so Ruowei said, holding out her hand "Give your heart to me, I'll calm it for you", so he playfully swiped his finger on the palm that she was holding out. That moment was super swoony, but the English sub simply said: "I'm worried", "I'll get rid of your worries for you", which doesn't explain his touch on her hand at all...