Mui Siu Ching’s “The Virtuous Queen of Han” Is Not About Harem Politics
Known for her Hong Kong blockbuster television hits such as Forensic Heroes <法證先鋒>, Beyond the Realm of Conscience <宮心計>, and Can’t Buy Me Love <公主嫁到>, former TVB producer Mui Siu Ching (梅小青) will be bringing back her grandiose style with the upcoming Now TV and Huace Media co-produced period epic, The Virtuous Queen of Han <大漢賢後衛子夫>. The 47-episode historical fiction drama will be the first installment in Huace’s planned “The Queens” series franchise, and it will also be Now TV’s first self-produced drama for mainland China.
The 100 million RMB drama features top artistes from mainland China and Hong Kong, including Raymond Lam (林峯), Niki Chow (周麗淇), Jeremy Tsui (徐正曦). Mainland Chinese actress Wang Luodan (王珞丹) stars as the titular character Wei Zifu, the second longest-reigning empress in Chinese history. Raymond Lam portrays her husband, Emperor Wu, while Niki Chow portrays the emperor’s older sister, Princess Pingyang.
Recently, producer Mui Siu Ching, Niki Chow, and Richie Jen (任賢齊) – who performs the drama’s theme song – arrived at the HKTDC Hong Kong International Film & TV Market (HK FILMART) to promote the series. At the event, Mui Siu Ching unveiled a new international poster and introduced the series as a “positive” palace drama.
Chinese palace dramas that have a strong female cast, notably TVB’s War and Beauty <金枝慾孽> and Beyond the Realm of Conscience, focus on harem politics and the struggles of women living in the closed-off borders of the royal palace. Mui Siu Ching said it is impossible to compare the above series with The Virtues of Queen of Han.
“No fighting, no displaying, and no exposing,” said Mui Siu Ching. “The Han culture was an extensive and profound cultural system. Even to this day, the culture receives the worship of many people from the west and the east. The goal of The Virtuous Queen of Han is to present these traditional cultures. It aims to send out kindness. [Wei Zifu] does not see the harem court as her battle arena, but as her family. The drama aims to present a model of traditional Chinese family values and brotherhood.”
The Virtuous Queen of Han is deemed as a biopic of Wei Zifu’s influential reign during the early Han Dynasty. It is largely considered as a political drama, but Mui Siu Ching stressed that she hopes the series can provide viewers with positive outlooks and values. While maintaining its theme of peacekeeping, the series also spread various Buddhist philosophies, such as the four ideals: give people confidence, give people happiness, give people hope, and give people comfort.”
Mui Siu Ching expressed confidence in the ratings of The Virtuous Queen of Han and calls it one of her representative works. She also voiced her confidence in Raymond Lam and Wang Luodan, adding that she is confident that their new pairing will be well-received by the audience.
“The Virtuous Queen of Han” Trailer
[vsw id=”Jill2JCIPf8″ source=”youtube” width=”500″ height=”375″ autoplay=”no”]
Source: QQ.com
This article is written by Addy for JayneStars.com.
I’ve always believed that TVB limits its talent with their politics and resources. I’m curious to see how this drama stacks up.
And now with a budget to match.
CBOL, BTROC were done okay. costumes isnt everything. acting more important
agree
i just want raymond and niki will be their original voice, not dubbing
Txb won’t allow.
Just auto tune it.
So it’s wat you are doing?
It so unintresting, same works as TVB’s dreadful ancient series.
wow………..the clothing that they are wearing is
so weird and plus that they have so much make up on
seriously???????? why would they have that much makeup
on?????????that’s horrible
The makeup is not that heavy in my view. Actually TVB make up for Tavia in Storm in a cocoon, especially before she married Steven is too much.
Series, that I’ve seen, with best makeup must go to My Love From The Stars. I rarely watch Korean series, but that series is amazingly gorgeous.
Well Tavia’s makeup makes her look pretty. Some of the makeup in the trailer made the actresses look awful.
what’s so weird about the costumes? Japanese kimonos and Korean hanboks were inspired by these clothing styles in ancient times.
I agree and do not see anything wrong with the costumes. I have seen way worse so this is not bad at all. At least they are better than the costumes in the more recent TVB series. Now some of those are bad.
LOOK BORING, MAYBE I M NOT INTO ANCIENT SERIES….
when will nowtv start broadcasting their dramas? they have gotten their license for a while now…
Wish it was in cantonese…
Anticipation!! Counting the days to this series airing!
LF Love FUNG!