This was my second Chinese series, the first was Empresses in the Palace which was also good but not the caliber of this series. I am now on my 3rd rewatch in less than 6 month. I watched the first time as a 5 day binge watch. The actress who plays Ruyi elevates this series to a high caliber. She is totally believable, expresses more with her eyes than most famous actors today and you are drawn into her life and loves as if you are there.
The costumes, sets and majority of supporting characters are also very good with standouts from the actors who play Jia, junge lin, "Linger". There is sometimes a bit of melodramatic acting and of course many of the minor plots are pretty unbelievable but that is typical of all soap style series regardless of country of origin. Watching this made me delve into ancient Chinese history and I came away very impressed by their respect for spirituality, elders, ancestors,education and beauty in all forms, art, poetry, nature, etc.
I was especially fascinated with life in the harem and the Forbidden City. The slaves and eunuchs were basically expendable and had literally no chance to elevate their station unless they were exceptionally beautiful or talented in some way. The women of the harem led an especially difficult life as they all vied for the attention of one man, could never leave the city and their actions affected not only their birth family but their entire clan. One misstep could result in the disgrace and ruin of the whole clan or tribe. Absolutely fascinating dramatization of a part of history most people know little about and an introduction to the history of a world power. You can see how and why they became so powerful, with their attention to detail, respect for authority(obviously now under communism/dictator rule they have no choice), work ethic and education.
Since then I've watched other Chinese history series and movies and none so far have come close to the excellence of this one. I highly recommend it. Please note I only took a point off for the sometimes implausible storylines and melodrama but to be fair, in many ways they added positively to the series as a whole so if I was grading using a standard of a series that stays with you and you want to re-watch again and again, it's a 10.
The costumes, sets and majority of supporting characters are also very good with standouts from the actors who play Jia, junge lin, "Linger". There is sometimes a bit of melodramatic acting and of course many of the minor plots are pretty unbelievable but that is typical of all soap style series regardless of country of origin. Watching this made me delve into ancient Chinese history and I came away very impressed by their respect for spirituality, elders, ancestors,education and beauty in all forms, art, poetry, nature, etc.
I was especially fascinated with life in the harem and the Forbidden City. The slaves and eunuchs were basically expendable and had literally no chance to elevate their station unless they were exceptionally beautiful or talented in some way. The women of the harem led an especially difficult life as they all vied for the attention of one man, could never leave the city and their actions affected not only their birth family but their entire clan. One misstep could result in the disgrace and ruin of the whole clan or tribe. Absolutely fascinating dramatization of a part of history most people know little about and an introduction to the history of a world power. You can see how and why they became so powerful, with their attention to detail, respect for authority(obviously now under communism/dictator rule they have no choice), work ethic and education.
Since then I've watched other Chinese history series and movies and none so far have come close to the excellence of this one. I highly recommend it. Please note I only took a point off for the sometimes implausible storylines and melodrama but to be fair, in many ways they added positively to the series as a whole so if I was grading using a standard of a series that stays with you and you want to re-watch again and again, it's a 10.