Ruby Lin Sides With Novelist Qiong Yao Over TV Plagiarism Controversy
Ruby Lin (林心如) has made up her mind about Qiong Yao‘s (瓊瑤) plagiarism claims against Mainland screenwriter Yu Zheng (于正). Although the actress has appeared in both parties’ television productions, she publicly gave her support to the famous author, saying that she is siding with justice.
The controversy came to light after Qiong Yao, a popular romance novelist, published an open statement via Weibo on April 15. The letter describes her devastation upon realizing that Yu Zheng’s latest work The Palace 3: The Lost Daughter <宮鎖連城> closely resembles the plot of The Plum Blossom Brand <梅花烙>, the first story of her renowned Plum Blossom Trilogy <梅花三弄>. Both series, set in the Qing dynasty, tell the story of an unwanted princess swapped with a male baby at birth. The forsaken girl goes through many hardships while living among the common poor but one day runs into the adopted prince and falls in love. The two eventually discover their true identities and tragedies ensue.
Qiong Yao, who was in the process of rebooting The Plum Blossom Brand, chastised the act of plagiarism and has asked China’s film and television administration to pull Yu Zheng’s series off the air. Yu and Palace 3‘s network Hunan Weishi have refused to terminate the program, with Yu saying that the similarities are purely coincidental. Qiong Yao reportedly is so upset that she has stopped all work on her reboot and requires a copious amount of sleeping pills every night. She has even threatened to retire from the business altogether, causing loyal fans to post messages of concern online.
Ruby Lin, one of Qiong Yao’s favorite from her group of “Qiong Girls”, pledged her support for her 76-year-old mentor on April 21. “I cannot speak too much since this matter has entered legal proceedings. Let’s just say that I stand on the side of justice!”
Getting her start in the industry as a model, Ruby attracted Qiong Yao’s attention early on and was signed to her production company at age twenty. She was later given a starring role in Qiong’s highly popular series Princess Pearl <還珠格格>, which instantly propelled her to super stardom. Ruby has great respect for her mentor and has kept in touch throughout the years. She has also continued to make time to shoot Qiong’s newer productions despite her busy filming schedule.
Although she has also starred in Yu Zheng’s series, 2010’s Schemes Of A Beauty <美人心計>, Ruby was allegedly on bad terms with the screen writer when he claimed that she had used his series’ popularity to sell her own production, Introduction of the Princess <傾世皇妃> to the networks. The two were seen engaging in a war of words on Weibo back in 2011, though Yu later denied that his inflammatory posts were directed at Ruby.
Sources: Oriental Daily; Sina.com
This article is written by Katrine for JayneStars.com.
I thought Ruby wasn’t also on good terms with QY.
That was something of the past,but even if they were on bad terms,who said that she cannot defend her? You do not need to be the best of the best friends in order to defend each other over issues like this.
I’m saying if Ruby isn’t on good terms with either of them, then it’s more likely for her to take a neutral stand. But, I guess she cleared whatever it was with QY.
I don’t care who Ruby defends, but where is the relevance? Does who or what Ruby defend shed any light on the plagiarism case against Yu Zheng? Does she know something that the public doesn’t, or is she simply supporting Qiong Yao out of her own bias and loyalty? @HTS, you’re right in saying that Ruby doesn’t need to be QY’s best friend to defend/support her, but she does need evidence, and more than her simple opinion of the matter, if she’s going to talk about justice, which means proving someone’s guilt or innocence based on evidence. It actually sounds more like false authority on Ruby’s part. Being an ex-model, actress, celebrity does not automatically give her authority on plagiarism or this case. Rather than listening to Ruby’s thoughts on the matter, why not revisit this dispute between QY and YZ when some real/actual evidence surface.
“why not revisit this dispute between QY and YZ when some real/actual evidence surface.”
You want real/actual evidence? Watch Plum Flower Series I and watch The Lost Daughter and there is your evidence. And Ruby is right. She is prepared to burn her bridges but I don’t know if for justice or whatever is her reason. She is just speaking out for Qiong Yau who has a strong case against Yu Zheng. Yu Zheng is not lucky this time because he is taking on a giant in literary world. I may hate Qiong Yau’s stories but this time Yu Zheng is in the wrong and the worst is he doesn’t care.
I hope Jayne will translate Qiong Yau’s letter and Yu Zheng’s reply in full to know and see the actual dispute rather than snippets. You can then see why Qiong Yau was so upset and why Yu Zheng is branded egoistical.
Ruby is not burning her bridges because of this incident. She and Yu Zheng did not get along before this Qiong yao incident, and YZ used to make snide comments about her on weibo. Ruby maintained relatively good terms with QY, as you can see from her continued participation in QY series.
Another incident regarding Gong 3, would be about the actress acting as the princess. Apparently, she had noticed the similarities when acting in it, and in some interview, mentioned that the storyline was iinspired by the Plum Blossom Trilogy, then YZ took to scolding her on weibo, calling her a traitor etc. (this was before QY wrote the letter) and was really nasty about it. Then of course when QY writes the letter, YZ grovels like the rat he is.
As I know, there was some troubles between them long times ago.(Around QSSYMM days) But later QY said she and ruby are clearing the air and invited ruby in her recently tv dramas as cameo role.
This is not first time YZ involved with plagiarism claims. He nicknamed by netizen as Copycat Yu.
It’s very heartbreaking to work so hard on something you created to be stolen by someone else. You lose all motivation to continue your work. While the one that cheated get popularity and fame off your back. Best of luck to Quiong Yao. Hope she does not lose heart.
totally agree … ive just went through this situation =/… and from now on i learn that is best to release works on our name.
yu zheng is an ass. enough said.
He needs to get sue up his @$$ too! Some one needs to teach him a lesson! Stop copying you pork chop!
Plum Blossom Trilogy is one of my family favorites. I haven’t seen the Gong 3 yet but if it’s based on that description then its too much of a coincidence. I saw Plum Blossom Trilogy pretty young and it was a big hit around town. Was it as popular in China? I do know there was a season 2 where they were reincarnated.
Yu Zheng is famous for his plagiarism. Gong 1 was so much more similar to BBJX and I’m sure that he did also copy the plot from Hana Yori Dango. He just collected plot from different stories then put them together and claimed they were all his. I know this is kinda off topic but if anyone has seen Beauties of the Emperor, you would feel like you are watching another version of Mei Gui Jiang Hu (his other production).
OMG! Sooooo true. After watching one eposide of beauties of emperor, i completely gave up due to the similarities of mei gui jiang hu. its crazy. like whats the point of making the drama since the storyline and scripts are pretty much the same.
Thanks for pointing that out! I also saw Gong 1 and couldn’t fathom over its similarities with HYD and BBJX. It was pretty ridiculous to the point where I had to stare away from my screen because MG was one of my all time favs :). Yu Zheng brings shame to all writers and he needs to be taught a lesson.
Wow – I thought that was a picture of Myolie. Anyone else made that same mistake?
same
Same and she kinda Ishy looks a bit like Cheryl Cole aswell. She’s a famous British person btw if you don’t know! 🙂
me too i thought that picture of that article i thought that was myolie wu as well
“Introduction of the Princess ”
Official title is The Glamorous Imperial Concubine.
And the similarities are not purely coincidental. He copied the thing wholesale right down to the whole extended torture scenes that YZ was never famous for but QY is.
And Ruby doesn’t look like Myolie. Never mistaken them together. Myolie is sharper face, Ruby’s rounder.
kind of……..>>>>
Likewise. Ruby is also know for her big, round eyes.
Yu Zheng definitely has a track record of copying…pretty much everyone knows that, which is why it’s hard for me to believe that anyone would take his side. It’s disgusting that he is able to get away with the copying thing every time.
Honestly, does this bastard have super thick skin or something? Otherwise, how can he copy every single production he does and then turn around and claim that all of it is purely ‘coincidental’? The guy is such a jerk!
All the current & past dramas on chinese television all kinda revolve around the same themes e.g. palace power struggles, sappy romantic love etc. That may be one of the reason why plagiarism is so often frequent – not excusing yu zheng of course – but just saying that he may well be a product of the commercial environment he finds himself in.
And coupled that with censorship as well – this means producers aren’t as likely to be more “creative” and take more risks in their storytelling.
Which is a shame because there’s so much potential in chinese television. Wish they could one day do a chinese version of Game of Thrones for example – wouldn’t that be something?
i was thinking of that last night while watching the latest episode! LOl the twin being love part will be the most disturbing lol! Who would play such a pair humm….
It is definitely coincidental if they revolve around the same theme, but YZ is such a lazy bastard, he actually copies scenes word for word, or play by play.
Exactly! The one that got me most pissed off was Swordsman. Of course, most of us have a bone to pick with him over the horrible way he ruined that story overall. But there were actually quite a few scenes in the beginning that he lifted directly off of TVB’s remake of the story, State of Divinity. A few devoted fans actually went through scene by scene to show which parts he copied — and the funny thing is, those scenes weren’t even in Jin Yong’s original novel, as TVB had made those parts up entirely (we all know that TVB often changes things in their remakes)…yet Yu Zheng put those same scenes in his own series and tried to pass them off as ‘his own interpretation of JY’s novel’. What a freakin’ bastard!
AND Jin Yong sold him rights to the books but banned TVB.
Oh, i agree about swordsman. and in swordsman, his ridiculous bout of copying actually lifted entire cutscenes from the XAJH online game. The exact same motions! The man hasnt an ounce of creativity in his body!
@Funn: Not exactly…Jin Yong turned over the rights to his books to a third party company to manage (since he is old now and probably not capable of managing his affairs on his own)…that 3rd party company is the one that sold the filming rights to Yu Zheng (I had read somewhere that YZ has some type of connection to that 3rd party company). I wouldn’t be surprised if Jin Yong has no knowledge of what Yu Zheng has been doing to his works (and it would be just like YZ to take advantage of JY being old and senile and not able to give him any grief about butchering his works…).
He copies word for word?? WOW, that is really really bad then. I can understand why QY is so upset. Copying certain things is one thing, but word for word??He is a lazy idiot then. I thought after he butchered XAJH and other adaptions that he is a creative person. I guess not.. He should learn to write and create his own stuff before he gets sued for plagiarism.
A part of me hopes Yuzhen gets fined or jailed or whatever he deserves for the wrongs he had done… but the bigger part of me wish they could at least finish airing the Gong 3 before going into further dispute. Because i have a feeling if this goes any further, they’re probably gonna stop airing Gong 3 for legal reason.
The guy doesnt deserve half the credit he often praises himself for. I cant stand watching his dramas purely based on principle. Like Gong was the most ridiculous copycat version of Hana Yori Dango Ive ever seen. The only saving grace were his actors/actresses. But i even lose respect for them for being in his bootlegged productions.
I don’t understand why people are still watching this jerk’s “productions”. He butches story line to the point it’s RIDICULOUS! And then he goes on and on and on about great, how perfect, blahblahblah his productions are. How thick is his skin? There’s confidence and then there’s arrogance. How can he even be called a producer or whatever the heck he is? I just wish someone would stop this jerk already, ughhh.
hunger games copied from battle royale but author claimed she didnt know aobut it. japanese didnt make a big deal cuz they dont want to upset their colonial masters. taiwanese writer suing chinese producer. easy case since chinese copies from everyone perception is there.
author of hunger games just didn’t want to pay royalties back to original creator of battle royale. its in poor taste but japanese too kind and not menial so they do not care. if it was americans, they would go bersekf suing the pants off each other for some money. integrity in life is key, therefore i never watched hunger games out of respect for the creator of battle royale, who put more hard work and energy to construct the philosophical scenarios of that story. i think life is fair, if you plagiarize, you will NOT be respected but hated by those who have knowledge of it.
author of battle royale set each character and individual stories up to have such inspiring feel. the timing, pace, and play out of the story is unmatched, no matter if the others copy. the detailed construct of each scenario is the work of a brilliant and elaborate mind. it is crafted in detail, a league of its own. no imitators will do.
Maybe the author of ‘The Hunger Games’ (Suzanne Collins) was telling the truth. Two people can come up with similar ideas independently.
When I first read the premise of The Hunger Game, my first thought was ‘Battle Royale’. But then, I read several ‘HG vs BR’ articles and most said the details and focus are very different. The only similarity is between the 2 is ‘children set up to battle one another’ element.
So, I believe Suzanne Collins when she said she didn’t know about BR.
Actually when I read Hunger Game and Battle Royale, I know Hunger Game has something to link with Battle Royale. The focus in the next part is definitely different, the story starts similarly to Battle Royale. The concept of 3 in final end to fight against the host then 2 passed, it is the other similar point. I refer to the visual audio of Battle Royale in lieu of the movie.
Divergent is claimed to copy Hunger Game but when I read, the differences are clearer than Hunger Game vs Battle Royale. As a result I choose not to believe Suzanne Collins. I am not a big fan of Hunger Game as well. If it wasnt Jennifer Lawrence, it hasnt been that successful. She made it likable. Divergent is more creative to me.
‘Divergent’ reminds me of ‘Harry Potter’ because of the premise that people are separated into groups base on their personality and leanings.
How to you find HG books. I was thinking of reading it, but, my friend said they are not good. So, I drop the plan.
Did not know this, might pick up BR in this case 🙂 since ATM, I’m out of drama to watch :p
At the root, HG is a teen romance novel with elements of dystopia and action. While the premises were similar to BR, it didnt manage to rid itself of the teen fluffiness tag, especially in the movie with JLaw. Much of the expected violence was also toned down in both the movies and books.
Divergent is nothing similar to Harry Porter in my opinion. At least it doesnt have any character who born to be hero. The villain isnt someone on top. I admire Four from the novel to movie.
I read Hunger Games on prc. I think you can download its prc or pdf somewhere on internet. I agree with your friend about its quality. The writting style isnt good in my opinion. It is definitely better than Twilight but worse than Divergent or The mortal instrument. I think the movie is at the same paper to the novel. It was Jennifer Lawrence who made it well. To recommend someone of a teenager book, I will say Percy Jackson for the writting, The mortal instrument for the plot and Divergent for the character. However if you like Peeta, you can give Hunger Games a chance. He is the best character of either novel or movie. The ending of Hunger Games is disappointing as well.
For Battle Royale, I recommend the visual novel or the manga over the movie. In the movie, the sex and thrilling actions are limited for the sake of audience. Shinji Mimura wasnt portrayed well, it is a pity. His character is much more interesting in the novel.
You seriously shouldnt recommend the mortal instrument, the author is like YZ! So no, I wouldn’t pick up that book even if it’s super good! And how is the plot good? Incest relationship is good? Or potential incest relationship is good? I read wiki for the plot before knowing about the whole plagiarism, and I think the plot sux :/
“Qiong Yao reportedly is so upset that she has stopped all work on her reboot and requires a copious amount of sleeping pills every night. She has even threatened to retire from the business altogether”
Her reaction was kinda dramatic.
I thought QY already retired years ago? I guess not..
Maybe she changed her mind about retiring last time.
I like her work and it would be nice if she doesn’t retire. Then, at least Ill know its something new
I don’t think she retired, she produced/wrote “Flower and Mists” that was aired last year. QY should come up with new stories. If she were to do a remake, she should do the “Ghost” husband remake. Loved that drama.
yu zheng is really useless. he is a parasite that sucks life out of others work.
I love Ruby so much she’s just beautiful!!! My dream girl if I was a man.
Say what you may about Yu Zheng copying others. But, YZ’s series always do well in the ratings.
Wonder why.
Young chinese kids are stupid/lack of knowledge and didn’t know/watch the original stuffs? So obviously with him copy every good bits, then put in beautiful actress and actors, with nice costumes, scenery, CG, it will obviously do well >_> apart from schemes of beauty (which I watched for Ruby) and gong 1, I don’t think I ever bother with YZ or YSS’ drama (she is just not the type to interest me, also it seem she appear to flag which series is YZ as I don’t generally go check who is the producer :p)
I am guessing it is because he chooses an attractive cast and sadly many just blindly go for the cast and not care about anything else?? That can be one of the reasons.
Curiosity, young cast and not like old CCTV sort of production where it is silent. His clothes are vibrant and colourful.
i’m watching it now and am enjoying it, having never seen qiong yau’s original work. however, i am disgusted with yu zheng for his blatant plagiarism and denial. i feel even female prime minister ripped off jewel in the palace a little. gong was definitely a copy of bbjx and mg, and i hated it.
Plum Blossom Trilogy is one of my all time favourite drama … i feel it is the most grand production by Qiong Yao, in fact no other taiwanese dramas has been able to beat the grandness of Plum Blossom Trilogy … and Ma Jing Tao’s acting was very very very good in that drama (first part as prince) … it was a very very good show, the music soundtrack was also very good … i feel is among the best Mandarin dramas ever in taiwanese television history.
i like almost all Qiong Yau’s taiwanese production … i watch almost all her dramas and movies and collect alot of her novels … but the last Qiong Yao show that i like is Tears in Heaven … after that i never liked any other dramas that she produce in China including My Little Princess.
I think Huan Zhu Ge Ge I and II (Original) was the best production Qiong Yau ever produced/wrote. The story was great, the actors/actresses was awesome, beautiful costumes! Plum Blossom Trilogy, I can never understood how selfish the two main characters were. The Princess was the only one that I was watching for. Of course I watched this show many years after it was originally aired and was married so my thoughts on the Plum Blossom story show was, WTF!! I might have a different reaction if I was a teenager and wasn’t married, but seriously, the “fox” going after a married man in the same house as the Real Wife was a bit WTF! Lol. I now realized it was because QY’s love was like that, and that is why she writes so many novels about the Married Man having an affair or loving another women besides the wife.