This review may contain spoilers
A Historical Account presented masterfully in an engaging drama.
The initial 5 episodes are chaotic and confusing, needing to be revisited time and again. By the last episode it's incredible how the entire series tied up, and how high, the characters in Ep 1 has risen.
There is the bigger background story of a period when China was going through a chaotic period when 5 dynasties succeed each other in rapid sequence in the North. Simultaneously, it also chronicled the rise and fall of 10 kingdoms in the South. There is only one Emperor who rules from Kaifeng and is the dominant power of the North/Central Plains. He heads a Dynasty, or family, and the change of Emperor together with the fall of the his family marks the transition of a Dynasty when there is no orderly succession. Each Kingdom has its own monarchy with its familiar politics. Although these Kingdoms maintain its own independence, they are all beholden to the Emperor in Kaifeng. Depending on the highly dynamic relationships between the Emperor and these Kingdoms, the Emperor may have very benevolent and friendly ties or on the contrary be highly antagonistic to the point of military subservience.
The fall of the Tang Dynasty, plunged the era and especially the Central Plains of the North, into a turbulent period of wars and power struggles between opposing states and military regimes. The Tang dynasty was ended by Zhu Wen, a rebel warlord who founded the Later Liang dynasty. He was in turn overthrown and replaced by Li Cunxu, son of his main military rival, Li Keyong, founding the Later Tang dynasty, the second dynasty after Tang. Li was in turn usurped by a trusted general, Shi Jintang, son of another Commander in Li Keyong's army, with the help of the Khitans, setting up the Later Jin Dynasty, the 3rd Dynasty after Tang.
This CDrama starts with the compromised Emperor Shi, beholden to the Khitans being the Central Plains dominant power.
Within this background was the Kingdom of Wuyue, a small but extremely prosperous Kingdom, who lived by the mantra of "serving the central plains". They were a vassal state within the Central Plains paying homage and tributes to the Central Plains Emperor. The King at the start of the series was Qian YuanGuang, who has 2 adopted sons, the 1st and 2nd Princes. This is the story of the 9th Prince, Qian HongChu.
Wuyue borders with the Kingdom of Southern Tang. They are both adversaries and often in armed conflicts. Within this corner of the world, there operates a strong independent sea borne merchant fleet headed by a strong willed woman, Lady Yu, who was once the wife of King YuanGuang. She left the King after he married another as part of a power alliance.. She is the biological mother of the 3rd Prince, Qian HongZuo, and also the mother of Sun Taizhen, her only daughter and another younger son ChengZuo. Lady Yu and her brother, Yu Wenxiu, runs the HuangLong Society fleet out of HuangLong Island.
Within this mix of royals, there is a powerful ensemble of nobles, generals and merchants, each with their own interests. A prominent merchant from Wuyue, Cheng Zhaoyue is plotting with Li YuanQing, a Commander of an elite Southern Tang military unit.
QHC, who seems to have a predilection to get into spots is captured aboard a HuangLong Society ship and brought to HuangLong Island, where he was attended to by STZ.
This is a historical account seen from the smaller perspective of the trials and tribulations of a vassal state against the bigger canvas of shifting power dynamics of imperialism. One needs to get past the first 10 episodes before the the entirety of the canvas becomes more apparent. There are more villains than heroes and principles are readily abandoned for power and ambitions.
There are several threads that are sometimes loosely intertwined and then ends up tightly bound for a very engaging story line and immensely engaging plot.
There is the bigger background story of a period when China was going through a chaotic period when 5 dynasties succeed each other in rapid sequence in the North. Simultaneously, it also chronicled the rise and fall of 10 kingdoms in the South. There is only one Emperor who rules from Kaifeng and is the dominant power of the North/Central Plains. He heads a Dynasty, or family, and the change of Emperor together with the fall of the his family marks the transition of a Dynasty when there is no orderly succession. Each Kingdom has its own monarchy with its familiar politics. Although these Kingdoms maintain its own independence, they are all beholden to the Emperor in Kaifeng. Depending on the highly dynamic relationships between the Emperor and these Kingdoms, the Emperor may have very benevolent and friendly ties or on the contrary be highly antagonistic to the point of military subservience.
The fall of the Tang Dynasty, plunged the era and especially the Central Plains of the North, into a turbulent period of wars and power struggles between opposing states and military regimes. The Tang dynasty was ended by Zhu Wen, a rebel warlord who founded the Later Liang dynasty. He was in turn overthrown and replaced by Li Cunxu, son of his main military rival, Li Keyong, founding the Later Tang dynasty, the second dynasty after Tang. Li was in turn usurped by a trusted general, Shi Jintang, son of another Commander in Li Keyong's army, with the help of the Khitans, setting up the Later Jin Dynasty, the 3rd Dynasty after Tang.
This CDrama starts with the compromised Emperor Shi, beholden to the Khitans being the Central Plains dominant power.
Within this background was the Kingdom of Wuyue, a small but extremely prosperous Kingdom, who lived by the mantra of "serving the central plains". They were a vassal state within the Central Plains paying homage and tributes to the Central Plains Emperor. The King at the start of the series was Qian YuanGuang, who has 2 adopted sons, the 1st and 2nd Princes. This is the story of the 9th Prince, Qian HongChu.
Wuyue borders with the Kingdom of Southern Tang. They are both adversaries and often in armed conflicts. Within this corner of the world, there operates a strong independent sea borne merchant fleet headed by a strong willed woman, Lady Yu, who was once the wife of King YuanGuang. She left the King after he married another as part of a power alliance.. She is the biological mother of the 3rd Prince, Qian HongZuo, and also the mother of Sun Taizhen, her only daughter and another younger son ChengZuo. Lady Yu and her brother, Yu Wenxiu, runs the HuangLong Society fleet out of HuangLong Island.
Within this mix of royals, there is a powerful ensemble of nobles, generals and merchants, each with their own interests. A prominent merchant from Wuyue, Cheng Zhaoyue is plotting with Li YuanQing, a Commander of an elite Southern Tang military unit.
QHC, who seems to have a predilection to get into spots is captured aboard a HuangLong Society ship and brought to HuangLong Island, where he was attended to by STZ.
This is a historical account seen from the smaller perspective of the trials and tribulations of a vassal state against the bigger canvas of shifting power dynamics of imperialism. One needs to get past the first 10 episodes before the the entirety of the canvas becomes more apparent. There are more villains than heroes and principles are readily abandoned for power and ambitions.
There are several threads that are sometimes loosely intertwined and then ends up tightly bound for a very engaging story line and immensely engaging plot.
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