GJM exactly know how to take advantages of DW, before announce he posted DW photos of his eye and mold under eyebrow…
I think Mr. Guo decided to give his drama a little push while Deng Wei is getting so much buzz from *Divas Hit the Road*. But I’m really happy to see these new unedited shots. I’m hoping we’ll get lots of exciting stuff at the iQIYI conference.
The premiere is tentatively scheduled for September 9, 2026. Starting today, the pre-release promotion has officially begun: official stills have been released, along with a poster celebrating 500,000 reservations, and the actors’ studios have also shared their promotional materials. Now we wait!
This will probably be the first Chinese variety show I actually follow. I watched the pilot episode, and it was so much fun and genuinely hilarious. I really hope it only gets better and better from here. And I have a feeling this team is going to completely break the “even-season curse” with their optimism and amazing team spirit.
Oh my God, my favorite Mountain God is going to appear in Bai Yao Pu too! Xu Zhen Xuan will also be one of the guest stars! I really hope his arc gets a happy ending this time, because the Mountain God’s death in Fangs of Fortune shattered my heart into a million little pieces. I cried over him more than anyone else.
Unfortunately, I still haven’t been able to find an electronic version of Book 5. Apparently, it’s only available as a physical edition, which is really strange.
What I did find is that Book 5 is supposed to have a storyline related to his origins/background. But I have no idea what exactly the mystery is. Maybe we need to look for spoilers on fan sites or in fan communities.
What is actually said about the “marriage curse” This appears in the second part of the novel, in the 《暗刀》 (Àndāo, “Dark Blade”) arc. The older brother, Si Jingyuan (司静渊), is trying to find a bride for Kuanglan and specifically looks at her 八字 (bāzì — the “eight characters” of one’s date and time of birth, a traditional system used to determine fate/compatibility). Before this, Jingyuan explains that the girl is 命硬 — mìng yìng, literally meaning that she has a “strong/tough fate.” This makes Taoyao suspicious, because traditionally, a woman with such a fate could be sought as a wife for a man believed to have 克妻 — kè qī, meaning a fate that “harms one’s wife” or is “inauspicious/fatal for one’s wife.” Taoyao directly asks: 司狂澜真是天生克妻命？ “Does Si Kuanglan really have a 天生克妻命 — a fate that is naturally inauspicious for his wife?” Jingyuan immediately denies it: 胡说！都是外头瞎传的。 “Nonsense! Those are just baseless rumors people are spreading.” But Taoyao corners him: if it is all nonsense, then why is he specifically looking for a girl with 八字硬 / 命硬, meaning a “strong fate,” for his brother? Then she says the most important part: 我可是听说了，跟你家澜澜曾有过婚约的姑娘，最后都不得善终。莫非连这也是胡说？ Meaning: “But I heard that the girls who had previously been betrothed to your Lanlan all came to bad ends. Are you saying that’s just nonsense too?” And this time Jingyuan does not deny that it happened. He admits: 是有那么两三位姑娘出了点事，但可能只是巧合。 Approximately: “Yes, something did happen to two or three of those girls, but it may have just been a coincidence.” After that, he refers to these as sad matters and does not want to continue discussing them. So this does NOT mean “he is forbidden from marrying” This is very important. In the original, I do not see any statement that Si Kuanglan is under a literal magical curse along the lines of: “If he gets married, his wife will die” or “He cannot marry.” Instead, he has a reputation for having a 天生克妻命 — people believe that his fate brings misfortune to his wife. The reason for this reputation is quite specific: two or three girls to whom he had previously been betrothed really did suffer misfortune / come to bad ends. His older brother says that it may simply have been a coincidence. Moreover, Jingyuan does not behave at all as though Kuanglan cannot marry. On the contrary, he explicitly says that he wants to see his brother: 娶妻生子，享尽天伦之乐 — “marry, have children, and fully enjoy the happiness of family life.” And even earlier, he actively tries to find him a match. In 《龙雀》, Jingyuan explains that he checked the 八字 of the girl Yue Pinchuan and saw that she was 命硬 — that she had a “strong fate” — so he wondered whether she might be a suitable match for Kuanglan. So, to put it as precisely as possible: It is not “a curse that prevents Kuanglan from marrying,” but rather a rumor/fatalistic belief that he is 克妻 — a man whose fate is harmful or inauspicious to his wife.
Seriously? I’m off to read the original myself, because all these second-hand stories are going to make me cry. But just saying: up through Arc 5, there was no mention anywhere of Si Kuanglan having a demonic alter ego. Or did I miss something?
And again, reincarnation is always an option. Maybe there’ll be another little fox running around with Tao Yao until he finally gains a human form. 😂
While I am very distracted by gorgeous visuals of the leads and their costumes and shared scenes, great to see…
I’m so mad that I can’t get a proper close-up look at all the characters’ costumes. Especially that winged crown of Lanlan’s! And the hanfu — just let me touch them and try them on! 😭
I’m not sure they’ll show us his look. Remember how there was only one photo from LOTDT where Su Yishui had white hair? And then we only got one photoshoot with that look. I think they’ll keep his demonic look under wraps too, or Mr. Guo will reveal it himself in all its glory.
I was just happy to see that tag removed. It tends to attract people who then complain that they were misled because they didn’t get some grand love story.
After reading up on the screenwriter, I realized that a proper romance arc probably isn’t what they’re going for here. At most, there might be just a subtle hint of romance. So I hope the drama will be watched and rated by people who judge it for what it actually is.
God, I just noticed that romance isn’t listed among the genres. Is that even possible? 😂 They usually shove romance into titles where there isn’t even a hint of it. Though “historical” is among the tags, and it’s pretty hard to call this series historical.
I already want to watch this drama! 😭 It’s been less than two weeks, and I’m already ready to watch everything they’ve filmed so far. I probably need to shift my focus to something else, or I’m going to lose my mind waiting for it. 😂
That's a very engaging visual! GJM at his best with the bl- Brotherly Love, of course. I'll add these two compilations…
I want to say that, as a translator myself, I completely understand these problems — especially the difficulty of translating Chinese idioms. And translation in general is not simply about conveying the meaning of a particular sentence, saying, proverb, or idiom as accurately as possible.
Translators also have timing constraints: the translation has to fit into the amount of time the actor has on screen to deliver the line. In Chinese, a certain phrase may consist of just a few characters, while conveying the same meaning in another language might require 30–40 letters. Yet you still only have the few seconds it took the actor to say that short line.
And the translator does not simply need to translate it in a way that allows the audience to understand the literal meaning. There are cultural differences as well, so certain sayings, proverbs, and idioms have to be adapted for an audience from a different cultural background — while still fitting everything into the available timing.
Again, I am not a professional translator. Unfortunately, in my country, Chinese content and Chinese dramas are practically never translated by either public broadcasters or private platforms. The most we can usually rely on is something like Netflix, but there the available translation is mostly in English, while my native language is completely different.
That is why Chinese dramas in my country are often translated by people who may have very little to do with translation as a profession. Unfortunately, this affects how a work is perceived. Sometimes the meaning of a particular line gets distorted, and as a result, an entire scene can end up being perceived completely differently.
So yes, I regularly complain about subtitles and translators when I see something translated incorrectly. But at the same time, I understand why it happens. In the end, we all have to choose: either do nothing at all, or at least do something and make mistakes from time to time. I am one of those people who choose the second option.
Believe me, learning Chinese is not merely difficult — it requires an enormous amount of time. And an ordinary viewer who simply wants to watch a drama is unlikely to spend years learning Chinese just so they can watch it with Chinese subtitles. And I am not even talking about reaching the point where they can fully understand spoken Chinese without subtitles.
As for Guo Jingming's work, I understand that he is always walking a very fine line. Yes, he does not actually cross certain boundaries, but even if we put aside his tendency to flirt with BL themes, there always seems to be some kind of controversy surrounding him. One day there are discussions about safety on his sets; now everyone is arguing that he practically forces his actors to lose excessive amounts of weight. Overall, in China he seems to have this very particular, scandalous and eccentric aura around him.
Personally, BL themes are not a problem for me at all. I watch European and American films and series, where heterosexual actors routinely play gay or lesbian characters, while actors who belong to the LGBTQ+ community play heterosexual characters. I have never viewed that negatively. I honestly do not care about an actor's sexual orientation. I watch a film or a drama for the story, and if I like the plot and the story itself, I will watch it.
Unfortunately, the situation in the Chinese entertainment industry is different. The expectations placed on actors regarding their public image are so strict that sometimes it almost feels as though they are not allowed to have personal relationships at all. And, of course, even the mere shadow of a scandal can have a very negative effect on an actor's career, especially if they do not have powerful backing behind them.
We all understand perfectly well that not everyone in this industry operates on equal terms. People can talk publicly about equal opportunities as much as they like, but in the end, we can clearly see who gets to be the protagonist of this play and who is relegated to a supporting role.
That is why I remember watching iQIYI Scream Night live last year, and almost immediately afterwards I saw posts saying that Guo Jingming and Deng Wei had followed each other. I immediately thought: this is not random; some kind of future collaboration is being prepared. And I was absolutely over the moon.
By that point, I already knew it was going to be *Bai Yao Pu*, which made it even more exciting for me. Yes, I know that in China these pseudo-historical costume idol dramas are often not regarded as some form of "high art." But I like them. And ever since I discovered Guo Jingming's work, I had really wanted Deng Wei to work with him one day — despite everything.
The thing is, back then I was not nearly as deeply immersed in the Chinese drama industry as I am now, and I was still looking at many things through the lens of the European entertainment industry. Then, so to speak, my eyes were opened. And I realized that yes, I am incredibly excited about this collaboration, and I am sure that visually and creatively it could turn out to be an amazing project. But at the same time, things could develop in ways I would really rather they did not. That is exactly why I worry.
I am equally certain that the scenes we saw being filmed yesterday have absolutely nothing to do with intimacy. But I showed that video — without adding any comments of my own — to a friend of mine who has been following the Chinese drama industry for much longer than I have.
And the very first thing she said was:
"Wait, are they about to kiss?"
And I was just sitting there thinking: for goodness' sake, why does everyone immediately think of that?
So... yeah. That's basically where I'm coming from.
That's a very engaging visual! GJM at his best with the bl- Brotherly Love, of course. I'll add these two compilations…
I’ll be honest about *The Legend of Rosy Clouds*: I never finished it. I stopped somewhere around episode 20, I think, because I was so put off by the visual presentation, especially the lack of proper retouching, that I simply couldn’t keep watching. 😂 I keep saying that I wish some kind soul would make a mini-movie consisting entirely of Deng Wei’s scenes. I would happily watch all of them and then forget that this drama ever existed, like a bad dream.
As for shipping Joseph Zeng and Deng Wei, I’ve honestly heard quite a lot of rather unpleasant gossip surrounding it. As far as I know, people had been shipping them long before this drama — and I mean the actors themselves, not their characters. So for me, it’s rather sensitive territory. I’m generally very cautious about shipping real people. You and I can simply have fun and notice some “chemistry,” but once that kind of fun crosses certain boundaries and becomes too widespread, it’s the actors who have to deal with the consequences and distance themselves from those rumors, not you or me.
As for *Fangs of Fortune*, though, I can speak with much more confidence because I actually worked on this drama as a translator, mostly working directly with the Chinese subtitles. During the translation and editing process, I rewatched some episodes five or six times. So I remember the dialogue, the context, and the way the relationships between the characters were constructed very well.
That’s exactly why I’m quite skeptical about shipping Zhao Yuanzhou and Zhuo Yichen. To me, their relationship was very clearly built around an “older brother–younger brother” dynamic. I didn’t see anything even remotely romantic about it.
And this wasn’t conveyed through dialogue alone. In their conversations, their behavior, their body language, and even the way Zhao Yuanzhou carried himself around Zhuo Yichen, he consistently took the position of the older, more experienced brother — someone who could guide, support and protect him, while occasionally teasing the younger one with a slightly patronizing air.
And I think this was especially important for Zhuo Yichen because of his brother’s death. After that loss, he subconsciously sought that same kind of brotherly relationship in his interactions with other men. He needed someone older and more experienced — someone who could become a mentor to him, support and protect him, and perhaps take at least some of the enormous burden of responsibility he was constantly carrying off his shoulders.
So I can absolutely understand how inaccurate or incomplete translations could lead international viewers to interpret some of their scenes very differently. But if you look at the drama through the original Chinese dialogue and take the full context of their relationship into account, then for me personally, their dynamic was never romantic. It was fundamentally brotherly.
That's a very engaging visual! GJM at his best with the bl- Brotherly Love, of course. I'll add these two compilations…
Regarding Tushan Jing, I still wouldn’t say that he was one of the most hated characters before the drama aired. He already had his own group of supporters among readers of Tong Hua’s novel. Xiang Liu also had a very active fandom of his own, perhaps even a more aggressive one when it came to ship wars. His fans often referred to the claim that Tong Hua herself had called Xiang Liu her favorite character, although I personally haven’t seen the original source for that quote, so I can’t confirm whether she actually said it.
When I talked about the “scandal” surrounding *Lost You Forever*, I meant something completely different — the reaction to the scene of Xiao Yao’s death in the plum garden. There was a lot of criticism, especially from viewers who hadn’t read the novel. To them, the scene looked as though Tushan Jing, despite possessing certain powers and abilities, simply sat there holding Xiao Yao, crying and essentially doing nothing to save her. Because of that, the character himself was criticized as weak and helpless, while Deng Wei was accused of not portraying Jing’s despair convincingly enough.
However, behind-the-scenes footage was released later, and comparing what was actually filmed with the final version of the scene changed the way many people viewed it. It became much clearer how much depended not on Deng Wei’s acting, but on the directing, the script adaptation, the choice of shots, and the editing. In my opinion, the final scene was put together so poorly that it became ambiguous and made Tushan Jing look like nothing more than a helpless, tearful young man who did absolutely nothing at a critical moment.
And I certainly don’t think Deng Wei somehow made Tushan Jing popular out of nowhere. The character already had fans because of the novel. It was more that several factors came together at exactly the right time. Chinese audiences were already receptive to a type of male character who wasn’t built around aggressive masculinity — someone loyal, devoted, emotionally vulnerable, and willing to give up his status, wealth, and power for the woman he loved. Deng Wei fit that image remarkably well.
But he didn’t turn Jing into simply “a pretty boy who stands there and cries beautifully.” Even with limited screen time and a character who was quite restrained in expressing his emotions, Deng Wei managed to convey genuine longing, pain, guilt, and Jing’s awareness that his own choices and obligations were hurting Xiao Yao. At the same time, he also showed another important side of Jing: he couldn’t simply abandon his clan, the people who depended on him, and all the responsibilities he carried. To me, that is also an important and positive aspect of the character.
So, to me, Deng Wei’s achievement wasn’t that he “saved a bad character.” It was that he embodied Tushan Jing so convincingly that a huge number of viewers accepted and loved him despite some questionable decisions in the writing, directing, and editing. And I think the character’s performance within Tencent’s character popularity system speaks for itself: his popularity reached a level that has remained extremely difficult to surpass, even for characters played by much bigger traffic stars with larger and far more aggressive fandoms.
As for *The Days of Seclusion and Love*, I didn’t follow the source material or the project itself that closely, but I really didn’t like what I was seeing during the filming process. I tried to remain optimistic, but at this point I honestly don’t see much potential in the drama, and I’m more afraid that it could end up hurting Deng Wei rather than helping him.
Because no matter how talented an actor is, they cannot save a drama single-handedly. We’ve seen this happen with plenty of projects. You can have excellent actors, beautiful visuals, and even very popular names, but if the script is weak, the directing and editing are poor, or the CGI, retouching, and post-production are badly done, the drama can still fail.
And the most frustrating part is that actors are still the public faces of that final product. When a drama becomes a huge hit, they receive an enormous boost in popularity. But when it fails, a large share of the criticism falls on them as well, even when the real reasons for that failure have very little to do with their acting.
That is exactly why I worry so much about *Bai Yao Pu*. It’s not because I think Deng Wei is a weak actor or because I don’t trust his choices. Quite the opposite — I’ve already seen how much he can bring to a character. I simply understand that an actor controls only one part of the final product. And considering how much has already been said and written about Deng Wei over the past few years, I really want this time not only his character and performance to be strong, but the drama itself to be a genuinely good production as a whole.
That's a very engaging visual! GJM at his best with the bl- Brotherly Love, of course. I'll add these two compilations…
The problems Immortality and Winner Is King have had with obtaining broadcasting licenses are directly related to the Chinese authorities’ negative attitude toward adaptations of BL novels. It’s good that the actors are doing fine now. But these dramas still never aired, so it is almost as if they never existed.
As for the official documentation, on September 16, 2021, the NRTA held a meeting in Beijing on the “comprehensive regulation of the culture and entertainment sector and the promotion of the high-quality development of television dramas.” The official notice was published by the NRTA on September 17.
In it, NRTA Deputy Director Zhu Yonglei (朱咏雷) explicitly stated:
坚决抵制流量至上、“饭圈”乱象、“耽改”之风等泛娱乐化现象
Which roughly means:
“Resolutely resist such phenomena of excessive entertainment as the pursuit of traffic and popularity, the chaos of fan circles, and the trend of dan’gai adaptations.” So yes, this is not a separate law “banning BL adaptations.” It is an official regulatory directive/policy position for the television industry. But within China’s licensing system, this has very practical consequences: when the regulator publicly instructs the industry to 坚决抵制“耽改”之风 — “resolutely resist the trend of dan’gai adaptations” — platforms and producers understand that such projects will face serious problems obtaining a license to air. So yes, there is no law prohibiting the filming of dramas of this kind, but everyone understands that they are unlikely to receive a broadcasting license unless the authorities change their position.
https://wiki.d-addicts.com/Abyss_(iQiyi)
What I did find is that Book 5 is supposed to have a storyline related to his origins/background. But I have no idea what exactly the mystery is. Maybe we need to look for spoilers on fan sites or in fan communities.
This appears in the second part of the novel, in the 《暗刀》 (Àndāo, “Dark Blade”) arc. The older brother, Si Jingyuan (司静渊), is trying to find a bride for Kuanglan and specifically looks at her 八字 (bāzì — the “eight characters” of one’s date and time of birth, a traditional system used to determine fate/compatibility).
Before this, Jingyuan explains that the girl is 命硬 — mìng yìng, literally meaning that she has a “strong/tough fate.” This makes Taoyao suspicious, because traditionally, a woman with such a fate could be sought as a wife for a man believed to have 克妻 — kè qī, meaning a fate that “harms one’s wife” or is “inauspicious/fatal for one’s wife.”
Taoyao directly asks:
司狂澜真是天生克妻命？
“Does Si Kuanglan really have a 天生克妻命 — a fate that is naturally inauspicious for his wife?”
Jingyuan immediately denies it:
胡说！都是外头瞎传的。
“Nonsense! Those are just baseless rumors people are spreading.”
But Taoyao corners him: if it is all nonsense, then why is he specifically looking for a girl with 八字硬 / 命硬, meaning a “strong fate,” for his brother?
Then she says the most important part:
我可是听说了，跟你家澜澜曾有过婚约的姑娘，最后都不得善终。莫非连这也是胡说？
Meaning:
“But I heard that the girls who had previously been betrothed to your Lanlan all came to bad ends. Are you saying that’s just nonsense too?”
And this time Jingyuan does not deny that it happened. He admits:
是有那么两三位姑娘出了点事，但可能只是巧合。
Approximately:
“Yes, something did happen to two or three of those girls, but it may have just been a coincidence.”
After that, he refers to these as sad matters and does not want to continue discussing them.
So this does NOT mean “he is forbidden from marrying”
This is very important.
In the original, I do not see any statement that Si Kuanglan is under a literal magical curse along the lines of:
“If he gets married, his wife will die”
or
“He cannot marry.”
Instead, he has a reputation for having a 天生克妻命 — people believe that his fate brings misfortune to his wife. The reason for this reputation is quite specific: two or three girls to whom he had previously been betrothed really did suffer misfortune / come to bad ends. His older brother says that it may simply have been a coincidence.
Moreover, Jingyuan does not behave at all as though Kuanglan cannot marry. On the contrary, he explicitly says that he wants to see his brother:
娶妻生子，享尽天伦之乐
— “marry, have children, and fully enjoy the happiness of family life.”
And even earlier, he actively tries to find him a match. In 《龙雀》, Jingyuan explains that he checked the 八字 of the girl Yue Pinchuan and saw that she was 命硬 — that she had a “strong fate” — so he wondered whether she might be a suitable match for Kuanglan.
So, to put it as precisely as possible:
It is not “a curse that prevents Kuanglan from marrying,” but rather a rumor/fatalistic belief that he is 克妻 — a man whose fate is harmful or inauspicious to his wife.
And again, reincarnation is always an option. Maybe there’ll be another little fox running around with Tao Yao until he finally gains a human form. 😂
After reading up on the screenwriter, I realized that a proper romance arc probably isn’t what they’re going for here. At most, there might be just a subtle hint of romance. So I hope the drama will be watched and rated by people who judge it for what it actually is.
Translators also have timing constraints: the translation has to fit into the amount of time the actor has on screen to deliver the line. In Chinese, a certain phrase may consist of just a few characters, while conveying the same meaning in another language might require 30–40 letters. Yet you still only have the few seconds it took the actor to say that short line.
And the translator does not simply need to translate it in a way that allows the audience to understand the literal meaning. There are cultural differences as well, so certain sayings, proverbs, and idioms have to be adapted for an audience from a different cultural background — while still fitting everything into the available timing.
Again, I am not a professional translator. Unfortunately, in my country, Chinese content and Chinese dramas are practically never translated by either public broadcasters or private platforms. The most we can usually rely on is something like Netflix, but there the available translation is mostly in English, while my native language is completely different.
That is why Chinese dramas in my country are often translated by people who may have very little to do with translation as a profession. Unfortunately, this affects how a work is perceived. Sometimes the meaning of a particular line gets distorted, and as a result, an entire scene can end up being perceived completely differently.
So yes, I regularly complain about subtitles and translators when I see something translated incorrectly. But at the same time, I understand why it happens. In the end, we all have to choose: either do nothing at all, or at least do something and make mistakes from time to time. I am one of those people who choose the second option.
Believe me, learning Chinese is not merely difficult — it requires an enormous amount of time. And an ordinary viewer who simply wants to watch a drama is unlikely to spend years learning Chinese just so they can watch it with Chinese subtitles. And I am not even talking about reaching the point where they can fully understand spoken Chinese without subtitles.
As for Guo Jingming's work, I understand that he is always walking a very fine line. Yes, he does not actually cross certain boundaries, but even if we put aside his tendency to flirt with BL themes, there always seems to be some kind of controversy surrounding him. One day there are discussions about safety on his sets; now everyone is arguing that he practically forces his actors to lose excessive amounts of weight. Overall, in China he seems to have this very particular, scandalous and eccentric aura around him.
Personally, BL themes are not a problem for me at all. I watch European and American films and series, where heterosexual actors routinely play gay or lesbian characters, while actors who belong to the LGBTQ+ community play heterosexual characters. I have never viewed that negatively. I honestly do not care about an actor's sexual orientation. I watch a film or a drama for the story, and if I like the plot and the story itself, I will watch it.
Unfortunately, the situation in the Chinese entertainment industry is different. The expectations placed on actors regarding their public image are so strict that sometimes it almost feels as though they are not allowed to have personal relationships at all. And, of course, even the mere shadow of a scandal can have a very negative effect on an actor's career, especially if they do not have powerful backing behind them.
We all understand perfectly well that not everyone in this industry operates on equal terms. People can talk publicly about equal opportunities as much as they like, but in the end, we can clearly see who gets to be the protagonist of this play and who is relegated to a supporting role.
That is why I remember watching iQIYI Scream Night live last year, and almost immediately afterwards I saw posts saying that Guo Jingming and Deng Wei had followed each other. I immediately thought: this is not random; some kind of future collaboration is being prepared. And I was absolutely over the moon.
By that point, I already knew it was going to be *Bai Yao Pu*, which made it even more exciting for me. Yes, I know that in China these pseudo-historical costume idol dramas are often not regarded as some form of "high art." But I like them. And ever since I discovered Guo Jingming's work, I had really wanted Deng Wei to work with him one day — despite everything.
The thing is, back then I was not nearly as deeply immersed in the Chinese drama industry as I am now, and I was still looking at many things through the lens of the European entertainment industry. Then, so to speak, my eyes were opened. And I realized that yes, I am incredibly excited about this collaboration, and I am sure that visually and creatively it could turn out to be an amazing project. But at the same time, things could develop in ways I would really rather they did not. That is exactly why I worry.
I am equally certain that the scenes we saw being filmed yesterday have absolutely nothing to do with intimacy. But I showed that video — without adding any comments of my own — to a friend of mine who has been following the Chinese drama industry for much longer than I have.
And the very first thing she said was:
"Wait, are they about to kiss?"
And I was just sitting there thinking: for goodness' sake, why does everyone immediately think of that?
So... yeah. That's basically where I'm coming from.
As for shipping Joseph Zeng and Deng Wei, I’ve honestly heard quite a lot of rather unpleasant gossip surrounding it. As far as I know, people had been shipping them long before this drama — and I mean the actors themselves, not their characters. So for me, it’s rather sensitive territory. I’m generally very cautious about shipping real people. You and I can simply have fun and notice some “chemistry,” but once that kind of fun crosses certain boundaries and becomes too widespread, it’s the actors who have to deal with the consequences and distance themselves from those rumors, not you or me.
As for *Fangs of Fortune*, though, I can speak with much more confidence because I actually worked on this drama as a translator, mostly working directly with the Chinese subtitles. During the translation and editing process, I rewatched some episodes five or six times. So I remember the dialogue, the context, and the way the relationships between the characters were constructed very well.
That’s exactly why I’m quite skeptical about shipping Zhao Yuanzhou and Zhuo Yichen. To me, their relationship was very clearly built around an “older brother–younger brother” dynamic. I didn’t see anything even remotely romantic about it.
And this wasn’t conveyed through dialogue alone. In their conversations, their behavior, their body language, and even the way Zhao Yuanzhou carried himself around Zhuo Yichen, he consistently took the position of the older, more experienced brother — someone who could guide, support and protect him, while occasionally teasing the younger one with a slightly patronizing air.
And I think this was especially important for Zhuo Yichen because of his brother’s death. After that loss, he subconsciously sought that same kind of brotherly relationship in his interactions with other men. He needed someone older and more experienced — someone who could become a mentor to him, support and protect him, and perhaps take at least some of the enormous burden of responsibility he was constantly carrying off his shoulders.
So I can absolutely understand how inaccurate or incomplete translations could lead international viewers to interpret some of their scenes very differently. But if you look at the drama through the original Chinese dialogue and take the full context of their relationship into account, then for me personally, their dynamic was never romantic. It was fundamentally brotherly.
When I talked about the “scandal” surrounding *Lost You Forever*, I meant something completely different — the reaction to the scene of Xiao Yao’s death in the plum garden. There was a lot of criticism, especially from viewers who hadn’t read the novel. To them, the scene looked as though Tushan Jing, despite possessing certain powers and abilities, simply sat there holding Xiao Yao, crying and essentially doing nothing to save her. Because of that, the character himself was criticized as weak and helpless, while Deng Wei was accused of not portraying Jing’s despair convincingly enough.
However, behind-the-scenes footage was released later, and comparing what was actually filmed with the final version of the scene changed the way many people viewed it. It became much clearer how much depended not on Deng Wei’s acting, but on the directing, the script adaptation, the choice of shots, and the editing. In my opinion, the final scene was put together so poorly that it became ambiguous and made Tushan Jing look like nothing more than a helpless, tearful young man who did absolutely nothing at a critical moment.
And I certainly don’t think Deng Wei somehow made Tushan Jing popular out of nowhere. The character already had fans because of the novel. It was more that several factors came together at exactly the right time. Chinese audiences were already receptive to a type of male character who wasn’t built around aggressive masculinity — someone loyal, devoted, emotionally vulnerable, and willing to give up his status, wealth, and power for the woman he loved. Deng Wei fit that image remarkably well.
But he didn’t turn Jing into simply “a pretty boy who stands there and cries beautifully.” Even with limited screen time and a character who was quite restrained in expressing his emotions, Deng Wei managed to convey genuine longing, pain, guilt, and Jing’s awareness that his own choices and obligations were hurting Xiao Yao. At the same time, he also showed another important side of Jing: he couldn’t simply abandon his clan, the people who depended on him, and all the responsibilities he carried. To me, that is also an important and positive aspect of the character.
So, to me, Deng Wei’s achievement wasn’t that he “saved a bad character.” It was that he embodied Tushan Jing so convincingly that a huge number of viewers accepted and loved him despite some questionable decisions in the writing, directing, and editing. And I think the character’s performance within Tencent’s character popularity system speaks for itself: his popularity reached a level that has remained extremely difficult to surpass, even for characters played by much bigger traffic stars with larger and far more aggressive fandoms.
As for *The Days of Seclusion and Love*, I didn’t follow the source material or the project itself that closely, but I really didn’t like what I was seeing during the filming process. I tried to remain optimistic, but at this point I honestly don’t see much potential in the drama, and I’m more afraid that it could end up hurting Deng Wei rather than helping him.
Because no matter how talented an actor is, they cannot save a drama single-handedly. We’ve seen this happen with plenty of projects. You can have excellent actors, beautiful visuals, and even very popular names, but if the script is weak, the directing and editing are poor, or the CGI, retouching, and post-production are badly done, the drama can still fail.
And the most frustrating part is that actors are still the public faces of that final product. When a drama becomes a huge hit, they receive an enormous boost in popularity. But when it fails, a large share of the criticism falls on them as well, even when the real reasons for that failure have very little to do with their acting.
That is exactly why I worry so much about *Bai Yao Pu*. It’s not because I think Deng Wei is a weak actor or because I don’t trust his choices. Quite the opposite — I’ve already seen how much he can bring to a character. I simply understand that an actor controls only one part of the final product. And considering how much has already been said and written about Deng Wei over the past few years, I really want this time not only his character and performance to be strong, but the drama itself to be a genuinely good production as a whole.
As for the official documentation, on September 16, 2021, the NRTA held a meeting in Beijing on the “comprehensive regulation of the culture and entertainment sector and the promotion of the high-quality development of television dramas.” The official notice was published by the NRTA on September 17.
In it, NRTA Deputy Director Zhu Yonglei (朱咏雷) explicitly stated:
坚决抵制流量至上、“饭圈”乱象、“耽改”之风等泛娱乐化现象
Which roughly means:
“Resolutely resist such phenomena of excessive entertainment as the pursuit of traffic and popularity, the chaos of fan circles, and the trend of dan’gai adaptations.”
So yes, this is not a separate law “banning BL adaptations.” It is an official regulatory directive/policy position for the television industry. But within China’s licensing system, this has very practical consequences: when the regulator publicly instructs the industry to 坚决抵制“耽改”之风 — “resolutely resist the trend of dan’gai adaptations” — platforms and producers understand that such projects will face serious problems obtaining a license to air.
So yes, there is no law prohibiting the filming of dramas of this kind, but everyone understands that they are unlikely to receive a broadcasting license unless the authorities change their position.