[Mainland Chinese Drama 2020] Royal Nirvana 鹤唳华亭

[PPB]

 

@CDVK my view on the Emperor is not a positive one... I don't think we get to see if he does good for his people or not (he may do, I'm not sure, if so, I've missed it), and he's also not an extremely tyrannical Emperor either, as emperors go. However, I feel that the framing of his brother, the original CP, for the throne, and the way he's constantly balancing the ministers in order to make sure HE stays on top regardless of whom he hurts, is pretty telling. He may be benevolent in some aspects, and also love his sons to some degree, but only if it serves him and helps him to remain the Emperor. Indeed I think it has to be so, for the push and pull of the relationship between him and CP to work, as well as for the very ambivalent position he holds towards the Uncle, who has helped him get on the throne, but is also a threat to him. Perhaps at the very end, in ep 12 of the new season, he's finding his moral compass again, spurred by the loss of the son he loved (but not enough, and far too late!), and the new grandson. But throughout the first series, it seems to me that he's very adept at putting himself first, though of course one could argue that this is what he must do as an Emperor...

[CDVK]

@bluehibiscusEverything in your list is also in my favorite list too. I would add the kiss scene in  Royal Nirvana Special Ep4 to that too - it too was very beautifully done! 

@PPB I agree with your assessment of the Emperor completely - I think you had also commented in an earlier post about why he may be ok with the grand child (it will be a long time before he becomes a threat to his power) and about his guilt regarding CP's death (if CP had survived, it would have been the same push-pull relationship all over again).

Like @PPB mentioned, my family and friends were also patiently tolerating my gushing over Royal Nirvana for a year (well, more accurately once I started to understand the story better with the help of @bluehibiscus and this forum). It is so much better to share with like-minded fans who understand what I am talking about :-)

 

Spoiler

Does anyone have an opinion on/know if Wenxi and CP consummated their relationship at the teacher's house the night of the "screen kiss" or in Royal Nirvana Special ep4? After "screen kiss" would make sense because at that point in time they barely survived their respective ordeals and could not be sure what the future held. "Ep 4" would make sense from Wenxi's point of view - given her respectable background, she would wait until after they were married.

 

Some more questions - if I may:

Who really poisoned CP's Mom - is it Jiang?

Who really killed CP's sister - Master Xu's Mom?

 

Thanks in advance!

 

[bluehibiscus]

4 hours ago, CDVK said:

@bluehibiscusEverything in your list is also in my favorite list too. I would add the kiss scene in  Royal Nirvana Special Ep4 to that too - it too was very beautifully done! 

@PPB I agree with your assessment of the Emperor completely - I think you had also commented in an earlier post about why he may be ok with the grand child (it will be a long time before he becomes a threat to his power) and about his guilt regarding CP's death (if CP had survived, it would have been the same push-pull relationship all over again).

Like @PPB mentioned, my family and friends were also patiently tolerating my gushing over Royal Nirvana for a year (well, more accurately once I started to understand the story better with the help of @bluehibiscus and this forum). It is so much better to share with like-minded fans who understand what I am talking about :-)

 

  Hide contents

Does anyone have an opinion on/know if Wenxi and CP consummated their relationship at the teacher's house the night of the "screen kiss" or in Royal Nirvana Special ep4? After "screen kiss" would make sense because at that point in time they barely survived their respective ordeals and could not be sure what the future held. "Ep 4" would make sense from Wenxi's point of view - given her respectable background, she would wait until after they were married.

 

Some more questions - if I may:

Who really poisoned CP's Mom - is it Jiang?

Who really killed CP's sister - Master Xu's Mom?

 

Thanks in advance!

 

 

I believe in the first season, it should logically be after the second screen meeting but in the second season, it would seem they did not consummate until Ep 4. 

 

Spoiler

Jiang poisoned CP’s sister and then made Xu’s mother her scapegoat. Empress Gu died of sickness due to her grief over the death of her daughter.

 

[bluehibiscus]

 

 

Nice artwork done by Cucumber from Korea. You can find more drawings at https://leeyoonmee.lofter.com/post/4b9011a4_1caa3f9d2

[PPB]

Really lovely drawings  Cucumber managed to capture CP's pained expression, which is really difficult to do. Also the view from the back, really accurate in the way he sits. Good artist! 

[CDVK]

Thankyou @bluehibiscus for answering my questions. Much appreciated!

Beautiful drawings! Cucumber really did capture Luo Jin's expressions (the sadness), and the posture - it almost looks like a photograph. Very talented!

[bluehibiscus]

I have 2 exciting pieces of news to share. Our dear @PPB’s comment got picked by the director. If you can understand Mandarin, you can listen to it here.

https://m.weibo.cn/status/4573654228927204

 

There is another clip where he answered selected questions. It’s about half an hour long.

https://m.weibo.cn/status/4573654471420294

 

Luo Jin has been named by the Ministry of Culture and Tourism as a Level 2 Actor in the country (Level 1 is the highest possible). He is part of the China Coal Mine Art Troupe. A total of 22 artistes have passed the vetting process. Jin Dong (Nirvana in Fire) is named a Level 1 Actor.

https://ent.sina.cn/star/tv/2020-11-25/detail-iiznezxs3585755.d.html?from=wap

[PPB]

Yes!!

 

A huge, massive thanks to @bluehibiscus for making it all possible, I am sooo thrilled!

 

I was beyond pleased, as I so love RN, and I wanted to convey that to the director, whom I believe is a true artist. (and now my homework has begun... Translating what the director says! I should be done in about a year... Lol)

 

Thanks @bluehibiscus also  for telling us about the level 2 achievement by Luo Jin. Do you know how many levels there are? Are these levels very prestigious? (I can assume they are)

And if I may ask one more question, what is the China Coal Mine Troup? 

 

Thank you as always!! 

 

 

 

 

[bluehibiscus]

@PPB I’m not familiar with this either. It appears to be a system of evaluation and certification by the Ministry of Arts and Tourism on competency levels of professionals within the arts industry. The performance group would include actors and performers. The production group would include directors, cinematographers, composers, lyricists, scriptwriters, choreographers, art designers, etc. There’s also a group for technical support eg stage technical support. Some articles mentioned they revamped the criteria this year to include more jobs like internet authors, contracted authors, freelance writers, independent producers, independent singers etc, and there are 4 levels of grading. 

 

The troupe is one of several national level art troupes under state-owned enterprises. Its website describes itself as a national level A-grade performance troupe. Liu Haoran recently joined this company and it made quite big waves apparently. You can read the implications here. https://liuhaoranintl.com/2020/11/09/liu-haoran-joins-the-china-coal-mine-art-troupe/amp/

 

China Railway also owns a troupe which is not surprisingly called China Railway Art and Culture Troupe. https://www.odt.co.nz/features/sponsored-content/china-railway-art-culture-troupe-feast-chinese-culture

 

[CDVK]

Thank you @bluehibiscus for sharing the information! Congratulations @PPB. 

 

I am very happy to hear that Luo Jin is getting another recognition that he truly deserves! Luo Jin and Tan Yang did some video regarding Chinese Art (some sort of role playing), in collaboration with a museum add/or historians year or so ago.

 

After watching Luo Jin and Li Yi Tong, and others perform so well in Royal Nirvana - it is a bit hard to watch other dramas where the performance it not that great - sigh! Its a bit of a torture getting through "The Legend of Xiao Chuo".

 

I think I have watched most of Lui Jin's work now (starting in 2008) - (some with no English subs, so not sure how much of the story I got right :-) ) - and you can see his amazing ability to connect and be that character in each of those dramas. I watched "Royal Nirvana" and "I will find you a better home" back-and-forth and never once saw one character in the other, they were very distinct! With many other actors, I see many similarities in each role they play to the point where I see the actor more than the role. Luo Jin reminds me of, in ability, the American actor Tom Hanks (my 2 cts worth).

 

While waiting for Luo Jin's new dramas, I decided to check out some of Li Yi Tong's old work - Bloody Romance - I think the leads there are pretty good!

 

[skibbies]

Level 2 is pretty darn good for an actor his age! People are usually more familiar with level 1, they are veteran actors that had made incredible achievements in their fields, a number of absolutely fantastic supporting actors you see in dramas are level 1 (if the chinese audience aren't familiar with them, then they've been active as a play actor, rather than a drama or movie actor).

 

Being in actor troupe is something that's more common amongst older actors since that was much more trendy before, what with guaranteed salary and usually it means certain level of resources. It's not that common now since it's not that easy to get into, so it's always a surprise when you find young people part of it. According to Song Yi (most well known for her supporting role in Disguiser & recently Joy of Life) who was part of one, and have now quit it, they basically have to allocate minimum amount of time per month doing plays for their troupe, great opportunity to hone your acting skills, since there's no repeat for plays, but you aren't compensated much for your time and it might have scheduling conflict with dramas/movies you want to play in. The pay is usually average or just less than the average of local salary, but it's also highly tied to senority and a number of other things. In drama world, that means extremely low, main leads in webdramas that barely anyone has heard of could make 100x more (ofc if you are just a minor character, it might be the same as acting troupe or even less, and you aren't guaranteed work in drama world).

[bluehibiscus]

Doing further digging, Huang Zhi Zhong (Xiao Rui Jian) is Level 1, Wang Jin Song (Lu Shiyu) is Level 2 and Zhang Zhi Jian (Li Baizhou) is Level 3. Zhang Zhi Jian did not level up despite his age because he stopped drawing salary from his troupe since 1995 in order to move to Beijing to be with his wife. However he has won the prestigious Magnolia Award for Best Male Actor in a Supporting Role in 2017.

 

On another note, Li Yitong and Jin Han (1st Prince) have been cast as the leads in a new contemporary suspense drama called My Deepest Dream. They are currently filming in Xiamen.

 

https://video.weibo.com/show?fid=1034:4575202194161708

[PPB]

Thank you @CDVK, I know it's silly, but I'm very excited by this! Also they send a little RN memento to those whose questions have been selected. It has to be within China, and I have a friend there who can receive it, all arranged through @bluehibiscus to whom I'll be forever grateful. 

 

Thank you @skibbiesfor the very interesting information about the levels etc. I imagine this system is the older style, what was in place many years ago? I think I read somewhere that, for ex, the father of the actress Miao Pu (Emperor's main concubine then later made Empress - also ex girlfriend of Luo Jin!) is an old actor too, and I bet he's in that system. I watched an interview with the both of them, though I didn't exactly understand everything... (i.e. didn't understand much lol)

 

@CDVK No arguments from me about Luo Jin, I've now seen a number of things he's been in, and though they vary greatly in quality, he's always, consistently, really good. I agree with you on An Jia, he inhabits that role, yet he's very different from other roles, like the cool producer in Behind the Scenes (Mu hou zhi wang). He can be a really good comic actor too (like in Diamond Lover), he's very skilled, and has very subtle, but different, face expressions, which are very fun to watch. He's certainly as good as any internationally recognised actors. As indeed many Chinese actors are.

 

I have watched a couple of episodes of Blossom in Heart with Li Yitong, and she's so different there, she's a great actress too! I heard that Legend of Xiao Chuo is not so good... I will watch and see, but sounds maybe like another Princess Weiyoung... though this has a special place in my heart as it was the very first Chinese drama I saw, and the acting was good overall, the story was a bit... not quite sure how to put it. Let's just say there was a lot of poisonings! Someone described Legend of Xiao Chuo as 'trope heavy'. I suppose these are very good examples of how the actors may be very good, but the story, the script, the director, and everything else needs to also be very good to make an outstanding drama, such as Royal Nirvana of course.

[PPB]

Hi everyone, the Royal Nirvana mail is very swift! My friend in China has received the package (tissues with RN written on them). I'm very pleased! When I work out how, I'll post the pic. 

 

Thank you @bluehibiscusof course! 

[bluehibiscus]

@PPB, wow, they’re efficient. Looking forward to seeing your photo.

[bluehibiscus]

Li Yitong did an interview recently. It is very long so I’m only translating the part where she talked about Royal Nirvana. At 12:40, Li Yitong mentioned Lu Wenxi in Royal Nirvana is her most unforgettable role to date. The character has a lot of depth and layers. It is the one that her heart aches for the most and the one with the most crying scenes. The interviewer praised her for convincing viewers that she was really from that period as she learnt the etiquette of that time very well due to her former background as a dancer. He felt that she exuded an aura when dressed in palace uniform.

 

When interpreting a character, Li Yitong felt she had to have the belief that she was that character. One of the most difficult scenes for her was when her character learnt of her father’s death from a third party as she had never experienced such in real life. They did two takes. The enlightenment and guidance from the director were important in helping her find the most real state as well as his use of the monitoring equipment to capture her state and tell her which was the most correct moment. This kind of communication with the director was critical. The other difficult scene was in the jail cell where she discovered the cricket woven by her brother. That was completed in one take as the moment she went in, she felt she was really Lu Wenxi/Gu Se Se.

 

 

[PPB]

7 hours ago, bluehibiscus said:

@PPB, wow, they’re efficient. Looking forward to seeing your photo.

Yes, I couldn't believe it either! Really nice. As you mentioned, the two tubes are a bit squashed , but it's all good. They got something written on them that is quite funny, about crying! 

 

Brilliant about Li Yitong, she was amazing in RN. I remember well the scene where she found the cricket, really touchingly sad. 

[CDVK]

Thank you @skibbies for sharing the information the award Luo Jin won! Though I don't fully understand the details, I can see that he is in very good company!

 

Thank you @bluehibiscus for translating the Li Yi Tong's interview. I did see the video in YouTube but didn't know what was said. There are many such videos - sigh! I remember the prison scene - it was amazing acting on Li Yi Tong's part. Another one was when, CP refuses to take her paining through the carriage window and says he cannot and does not want to help her father and brother, and Wenxi says something to the effect of I was a fool - that was heart wrenching too! Also her portrayal of Wenxi when she sees CP for the first time after 3 years - the yearning, the eagerness, the confusion, the hurt, the defiance, and finally the capitulation - was all done really well. I think in that scene, I think she even surpassed Luo Jin.

 

Princess Weiyoung was the first C-drama I watched and I was hooked! I still think of it as one of the best drama's I have seen - the acting, cinematography, story telling, directing, fight scenes - they were all great! In my opinion, in terms of the story telling - I think Princess Weiyoung  did a much better job than Royal Nirvana did (this may be partly due to the bad English subs in the official release of Royal Nirvana, but I feel it is also because of the way the drama scenes were edited in telling the story). I have recommended Princess Weiyoung to many of my non-Chinese speaking friends and they all loved it. When I suggest Royal Nirvana - I also have to tell them to go read @bluehibiscus's posts here to really appreciate the drama.

 

Speaking of - @bluehibiscus would you be ok with it, if I post a link to your index page (p52 I think) in the comments for first episode of "Royal Nirvana" and first episode of "Royal Nirvana Special" on their official YouTube channel "Idol and Romance" - to help other poor souls such as I looking to understand this drama?

 

On a related note - are you still planning to translate some of the other Royal Nirvana Special episodes? No pressure - just asking :-) I really would like to fully appreciate the farewell scene if possible.

 

Legend of Xiao Chuo is nothing like Princess Weiyoung. On a scale of 1-10, I would give Princess Weiyoung a 10, and Legend of Xiao Chuo a 5. The acting is mediocre with a few exceptions, and no matter how hard I try, I don't feel transported to another era like with Princess Weiyoung or Royal Nirvana. Tan Yang is good when she is doing serious/sad scenes (later in the drama), but really bad at happy or carefree scenes. The story telling is also a bit dumbed down here. My 2 cts worth.

 

[bluehibiscus]

On 11/29/2020 at 1:05 PM, CDVK said:

Thank you @bluehibiscus for translating the Li Yi Tong's interview. I did see the video in YouTube but didn't know what was said. There are many such videos - sigh! I remember the prison scene - it was amazing acting on Li Yi Tong's part. Another one was when, CP refuses to take her paining through the carriage window and says he cannot and does not want to help her father and brother, and Wenxi says something to the effect of I was a fool - that was heart wrenching too! Also her portrayal of Wenxi when she sees CP for the first time after 3 years - the yearning, the eagerness, the confusion, the hurt, the defiance, and finally the capitulation - was all done really well. I think in that scene, I think she even surpassed Luo Jin.

 

Princess Weiyoung was the first C-drama I watched and I was hooked! I still think of it as one of the best drama's I have seen - the acting, cinematography, story telling, directing, fight scenes - they were all great! In my opinion, in terms of the story telling - I think Princess Weiyoung  did a much better job than Royal Nirvana did (this may be partly due to the bad English subs in the official release of Royal Nirvana, but I feel it is also because of the way the drama scenes were edited in telling the story). I have recommended Princess Weiyoung to many of my non-Chinese speaking friends and they all loved it. When I suggest Royal Nirvana - I also have to tell them to go read @bluehibiscus's posts here to really appreciate the drama.

 

Speaking of - @bluehibiscus would you be ok with it, if I post a link to your index page (p52 I think) in the comments for first episode of "Royal Nirvana" and first episode of "Royal Nirvana Special" on their official YouTube channel "Idol and Romance" - to help other poor souls such as I looking to understand this drama?

 

On a related note - are you still planning to translate some of the other Royal Nirvana Special episodes? No pressure - just asking :-) I really would like to fully appreciate the farewell scene if possible.

 

 

 

 

@CDVK You’re welcome. Yitong comes across as quite a down-to-earth and unassuming person in her interview. She doesn’t care about the order of billing but cares about whether she’s acted well. When asked if she would want to stand in the centre position in a photo, she said it was something that depended on one’s status in society and not whether one was the prettiest or the most well-dressed. If Zhang Ziyi or Ging Li were around, it would be madness to think she could stand in the centre.

 

I don’t mind if you want to post the link to the index (it’s on p58) on the Youtube channels. I plan to continue with the translation whenever I get the time. Sorry for the wait.

[bluehibiscus]

 

Sharing closeup pics of the jewellery pieces worn by Li Yitong in the poster.