Historical Dramas Club

 xinya:

On MDL Three Kingdoms has 2,191 watchers. Compare that to The Untamed (68,190), Nirvana in Fire (20,680), or Ten Miles of Peach Blossoms (35,621). It might be a very popular drama in China, but clearly not many MDL users have watched it compared to newer dramas. As it was MDL users who were voting on these lists, the popularity on MDL is what was relevant to the discussion.

The observation that the "historical" list had a lot of Korean dramas while the "period" list had a lot of Chinese dramas is an observation (you are free to go look at the lists and I think you'll find that my observation is accurate), not a value judgement.

MDL isn't a sign of popularity nor is relevant. Three kingdoms will forever stay the most watched chinese drama in the world. 

I still maintain the fact that u love to bash Chinese dramas to uplift the korean ones

 Yu Sifeng:

MDL isn't a sign of popularity nor is relevant. Three kingdoms will forever stay the most watched chinese drama in the world. 

I still maintain the fact that u love to bash Chinese dramas to uplift the korean ones

When did they bash Chinese dramas to uplift the Korean ones what???

 xinya:

Well now I'm curious, why did it get moved to the period list? Did I miss the discussion over this? I know it's chalk full of anachronisms and doesn't take the history seriously, but the synopsis says it's set during Sunjo's reign. (Haven't watched it, btw.)

I remember seeing it brought up a while ago but I believe it was moved because of the Time Travel & Body Swap stuff I could be wrong though

 smurf:

When did they bash Chinese dramas to uplift the Korean ones what??? 

clearly look at their two rating list in the chinese one she didn't give any positive rating and she's just complaining - leaving bad reviews while in the korean ones she just keep praising them 

 Yu Sifeng:

clearly look at their two rating list in the chinese one she didn't give any positive rating and she's just complaining - leaving bad reviews while in the korean ones she just keep praising them 

I think you should stop now because this "discussion"?/squabble does not look very well. If you are not pleased with the content of the lists and the voting outcome why not help with the next hall of fame lists/votings then? Do some constructive criticism and stop accusing others for bashing chinese dramas.

 xinya:

The observation that the "historical" list had a lot of Korean dramas while the "period" list had a lot of Chinese dramas is an observation (you are free to go look at the lists and I think you'll find that my observation is accurate), not a value judgement.

This is probably also because the source materials for Korean "Period dramas" are much lesser, as the Korean webtoons and web novels seemed to be mostly in modern contemporary settings, while Chinese webtoons and web novels have a good share set in ancient dynasty period. The web novels indicated in The Korea Herald's Web novels poised to become mainstream source for S. Korean drama content are in modern contemporary settings.

Separately, it's hard to really distinguish Period from Historical dramas. Here's an insightful discussion article by Korea JoongAng Daily on kdramas set in ancient times but do not feature any real historical figures: Historical K-dramas have some questioning what's fact and what's fiction. The points are not unique to Kdramas, and applicable to Cdramas as well.

• One felt that the purpose of a historical drama is to convey lessons from the past, and there needs to be a certain level of historical accuracy
• One expected historical dramas to promote Korean [traditional] culture rather than history, and that fictional period dramas are a trend worldwide
• One shared that what matters most is how interesting the plot is, and the priority of a drama is to be fun to watch, not to teach history, and how effectively a historical K-drama utilizes the genre's unique aspects to tell an appealing story

 Wish Upon A Star:

Separately, it's hard to really distinguish Period from Historical dramas.

Yeah, I completely agree. I think you could debate whether something like Empress Ki should really be considered a "historical" drama when they actually invented a Koryo king, because the actual king at the time wouldn't have made a good romantic lead! How many major inaccuracies can there be before we say, "this isn't really historical"? And I think you could also make the case that Mr. Sunshine is more of a period drama, because although there are real historical figures and major historical events, the main story is really the personal story of fictional characters, just set against that backdrop, which is kinda what we think of as a period drama in Western media.

It seems possible that censorship could also play into things. A lot of Korean dramas that are based on real historical figures take A LOT of liberties. I think it might be more difficult to get away with that in China, so perhaps that's part of the reason there are more dramas in fictional dynasties. However, it does seem like there's beginning to be more and more Korean historicals that are set in Joseon, but not in any real king's reign.