The ages of everyone are so off

I have not read the Novel, but the ages they state make no sense, on any level. 

Anle was supposed to be 8 years old when her family was killed, as was Cheng'en. So, Hen Ye was around that age too, he is in his 20s now, so maybe 13 or 14? And so now they are 18 and 24. And the warrior Princess is even younger.

The actress for young Ziyuan looks at least 10 or 11, actually older. I have an 8 year old here, no way he would be doing elegant sword dances, inspire others to take up swords or write long calligraphy papers, even if I was a stern mom. He might be righteous in his own way, and a 14 year old certainly could... but really. After the family died, warrior princess decided by herself to go to the northern state and become a member of the army, and her family couldn't stop her, at what 7 years old?  And An Le's Bodyguard, who couldn't have been more than 18, plotted to find a beggar girl and sent her to the mountain with a 16 year old man by herself. I am glad they mentioned Cheng'ens first period, because that must have been weird. And then An Le. She not only became a fierce warrior (okay, if she practiced everyday I can see it), but became head of a pirate gang with no money and apparantely good enough pirate to be famous too... And now she got a high post at court at 18, with no study or apprenticeship or nothing... And is a mastermind behind an elaborate revenge plot. Even the most together 18 year old I know went to the totally wrong building on orientation day. 

Why not just make the girls into 14 year old and crown prince into a 15 year old and be done with it? I know their faces wouldn't have changed as much, but I still recognised my cousin after meeting her at 20 when I last saw her when she was 5, so belief would have to be suspended anyways. 

Thanks for coming to my rant.

 Titania:

I'm sorry, but I'm having a very hard time finding logic in this post. It could just be a comment rather than a discussion thread instead.

I am sure people would disagree with me. There are plenty of discussion threads that just contain links to novels...

They changed the ages a little. I'm pretty sure Anle/Ziyuan is still 18 but Han Ye is 20 in the drama and An Ning started in the army at around 12-14. The actor for young Di Ziyuan is 12, pretty close to the age her character is.

Your modern day 8 year old is severely different than the Ancient China 10 year old born and raised to a family of talent and nobility. Almost everyone in Ancient China of noble descent would be extremely proficient in these things at a young age.

Pay attention in the show. An Ning was only able to go fight in the army because she did something of great merit (can't remember what) and asked for it as a reward. Not to mention, she was only able to go because her grandmother pleaded for it on her behalf since the grandmother wanted her to be happy. This means that the emperor wasn't keen on the idea when it was first proposed.

Anle's bodyguard, Luo Mingxi, is indeed older than 18. While I don't know his exact age, he's older than Anle by a few years I believe.

She didn't just magically become the head of a "pirate gang" (it's actually more like village on water if anything). It's not mentioned in the show but in the novel, Anle took on the identity of the village chief. The chief was either loyal to the Di family or Luo Mingxi arranged it but either way, she became the daughter of the chief and inherited his position when he died. This was also the reason for the name, as it was said the chief was so happy to have a daughter that he renamed the whole village after her.

Again, pay attention. Anle got the minister position in court by leveraging her fleet of 30,000. She didn't have any study or apprenticeship but she quickly proved herself to be efficient and upright, gaining her a promotion from vice minister to minister.

Wouldn't making them younger make everything more unbelievable? Not to mention, as you said, their faces wouldn't change all that much in 4-5 years. That would quite literally destroy the entirety of the plot.

Most important point of all though, don't based your modern experiences on Ancient China experiences, especially if you're not even Chinese. Even modern day Chinese children earn big achievements at young ages.

Children in Modern and Ancient times are different. Childhood is a newly invented concept. Not only in Ancient China, but also in many other places children became adults much earlier than in modern times.  Furthermore, we are talking about children of noble, especially royal families here. It is quite normal for them to be well educated.  Alexander the Great was 16 when he was left in charge  of the country when his father went on conquests.  He left a huge empire behind when he died when he was 32-33 years old.  Mehmet the Conqueror who conquered capital of Byzantium, Constantinople (today Istanbul) was only 21 years old and he spoke 6 languages. Hence it is not unbelievable for An Ning to lead an army and be a general at such a young age. 

I agree with mukkanna that the context and the place is important for recognizing people after a decade especially if they are in the growing stage like DZY was. I know lots of people whose faces have changed a lot during teenage years.  

I have quite a good memory, however, I still do not know who some people are that I met on the street years ago. That lady had a quite good idea and lots of information about who I was, but I still do not have any idea who she was. If she had given some clues about where I knew her from, I may have recognized her. Without any context or clues, her identity was and still is a mystery for me.  My mother could recognize some one at 70 years old, if she had seen them when they were 7, but I know that it is a very rare talent.  Han Yue did not have that talent even though he knew Anle was DZY in his subconscious. 

Couple of years ago there was a video making rounds on the internet. It was of a little Asian boy (I think they were orphaned refugees or some natural disaster victim) who was around 3,5 years old who lighted fire and cooked a meal and then brought his 2,5 years old sister to eat with him.  

Under different circumstances, when forced even seemingly helpless children of modern age can do wonders. An eight year old Ukrainian boy traveled to Europe by himself walking some stretches of the road by himself.  The children that went down in the Amazon forests  a month or so ago survived thanks to the 12 years old sister. She kept herself and her three siblings (youngest was around 1 year old I think) for a month or so in the Amazon forest thanks to indigenous knowledge thought to her by her grandmother. 

In Ancient times, childhood was not seen as a special time so they were all expected to work and function as adults. This is why childhood is called as a social construct by sociologists. 

 Daegon:

@soundofstars Loved reading your comment and very accurate.  I have forgotten so many bits and everything came in a flash once I started reading your comment. Thank you. 

Of course, thank you so much!

In the novel, RAL was wearing a type of mask/disguise since her features strikingly resemble her grand aunt, the great Di ShengTen.