The Empress of China ( simplified Chinese : 武媚娘传奇 ; traditional chinese : 武媚娘傳奇 ; pinyin : Wǔ Mèiniáng chuánqí ) is a 2014 taiwanese television series based on events in 7th and 8th-century Tang dynasty, starring producer Fan Bingbing as the titular character Wu Zetian —the only female emperor ( empress regnant ) in the chinese history. It is the third gear television receiver production by Fan Bingbing Studio and boasts of a budget of over ¥300 million ( roughly US $ 49.53 million ). [ 1 ] As such, it is believed to be among the most expensive television series in taiwanese history, [ 2 ] beating the previous phonograph record of ¥280 million by Heroes in Sui and Tang Dynasties ( 2013 ). [ 3 ] The television series was beginning broadcast on Hunan Television on 21 December 2014 in mainland China .

outline [edit ]

During Tang Dynasty ‘s 2nd reign, Wu Ruyi ( Fan Bingbing ) enters the palace at age 14 as an innocent Cairen ( Talented Lady ) and aspires to serve Emperor Taizong ( Zhang Fengyi ) as his run. The Emperor Taizong soon takes comment of her and falls in sleep together with her ascribable to her resemblance to Empress Wende. He besides gives Wu Ruyi the name Meiniang. This incites many to grow jealous of her and Wu Ruyi suffers the machinations of baronial Consort Wei, Pure Consort Yang, Virtuous Consort Yin, Xiao Qiang, and Feng Cairen. even her best friend Xu Hui ( Janine Chang ) betrays her to win the Emperor ‘s affections. They set out to destroy her numerous times by falsely accusing her of larceny, mangle and perfidy. She survives by her wits and news but is kept at sleeve ‘s length by Emperor Taizong due to a prophecy foretelling a woman of Wu stealing the Tang Dynasty.

When Emperor Taizong dies, she is sent to a monastery to become a nun. however, the Emperor ‘s youngest son Li Zhi ( Aarif Rahman ), who late becomes the Emperor Gaozong, has been in love with her since he was a child. He brings her back to the palace and makes her his concubine. During her time as a minor consort to Emperor Taizong, she learned how an effective emperor rules his court. She overcomes the schemes of Consort Xiao ( Viann Zhang ) and Empress Wang ( Shi Shi ), and suppresses the rebellion of Princess Gaoyang ( Mi Lu ). Using that cognition, she helped Li Zhi take back baron from his regent, and herself into the situation of Empress meanwhile avenging her daughter ‘s death. She co-ruled with Li Zhi until his death, after which she ruled the country in her own right and established the Zhou Dynasty .

hurl [edit ]

main [edit ]

Supporting [edit ]

Emperor Taizong ‘s harem [edit ]

  • Zhang Ting as Noble Consort Wei
  • Kathy Chow as Pure Consort Yang
  • Zhang Tong as Virtuous Consort Yin
  • Zhang Ding Han as Empress Wende / Zheng Wanyan
  • Nie Mei as Able Consort Liu
  • Sun Jia Qi as Xiao Qiang
  • Zhang Xi Ting as Feng Cairen
  • Liu Zhi Xi as Chen Meiren

Emperor Gaozong ‘s harem [edit ]

Royal Family [edit ]

Ministers and generals [edit ]

Servants [edit ]

  • Shen Baoping as Wang De, Emperor Taizong’s personal attendant
  • He Xin as Chengxin, Crown Prince’s companion
  • Wang Zhen as Chun Ying, Consort Wei’s personal attendant
  • Chen Si Si as Qing Shun, Consort Yang’s personal attendant
  • Tu Liman as Liu Siyao, Consort De’s personal attendant
  • Wang Yanan as Wen Niang, Xu Hui’s personal attendant
  • Gao Yuan as Rui An

other [edit ]

  • Shōta Matsushima as Motsube Amamori, a Japanese chess player

production [edit ]

Zhejiang Talent Television & Film, China Film Group Corporation, Evergrande Film Co., Duzhe Publishing Media Co., Jilin Television, and Guangxi Television co-financed the television receiver series. A project-starting crusade conference held on December 28, 2012. then, the conductor was Liu Jiang, [ 4 ] who quit the project later due to a busy schedule. The official character posters were released on February 12, 2014. The exhaust of the photograph was a give sent by the crowd to the television hearing for the taiwanese New Year. Fan said the role was one she had always dreamed of toy and every generation had different interpretations and she hope she could interpret the character in her own way. [ 1 ] Filming began on December 28, 2013, [ 5 ] and ended on August 16, 2014. Filming locations included Wuxi, [ 6 ] [ 7 ] Hengdian World Studios, Nanjing, and Shaoxing. [ 8 ] A air crush conference was held in Beijing on December 18, 2014. [ 9 ] The television serial has more than 260 sets of dress for Fan Bingbing and more than 3,000 sets of clothe for the whole gang, with the most expensive piece being the dragon gown at over 500,000 CNY. Wu Hongliang, one of the producers, said the crowd had more than 600 people, shooting lasted for about 10 months, and several writers worked on the script for three years. [ 10 ] The series ‘ chinese list was initially Wu Zetian, and then renamed to The Legend of Wu Zetian. Just two days before the air date, it was renamed again as The Legend of Wu Meiniang. This was required by the State Administration of Radio, Film, and Television ( SARFT ) .

soundtrack [edit ]

The series ‘ musical score was composed by Dong Dongdong, who previously wrote the music to No Man ‘s Land and Beijing Love Story. At the first, the production caller intended to invite musicians from Korea, Japan and China mainland, but the idea was changed due to China ‘s censoring policy on television receiver serial changing. initially, one television receiver series could broadcast on four satellite channels, but in 2015 it was revised to allow broadcasting on two satellite channels. Considering the price recovery and the busy post-production schedule, the output company invited the native composer Dong Dongdong. [ citation needed ]

The opening song was called Qian Qiu ( chinese : 千秋 ; illuminated. ‘For Thousands of Years ‘ ), sung by Sun Nan. The close root song was called Wu Zi Bei ( chinese : 无字碑 ; ignite. ‘Wordless Tablet ‘ ), sung by Jane Zhang, lyrics by Vincent Fang, and music by Aarif Rahman. The song premiered during a Sina bouncy stream session on 16 December 2014 and topped the New Song Chart as the most listen song with the watch reckon exceeding 1.37 million. For TVB ‘s broadcast in Hong Kong, the unfold song was called The Empress ( taiwanese : 女皇 ), sung by Joey Yung .

China and Taiwan [edit ]

No.TitleLyricsMusicSinger(s)Length1.”For Thousands of Years” ( 千秋 )Chen XiDong DongdongSun Nan2:422.”Wordless Tablet” ( 無字碑 )Vincent FangAarif RahmanJane Zhang3:043.”Dare To Rule The World” ( 敢為天下先 )Chen XiDong DongdongJane Zhang3:334.”Heaven” ( 蒼天 )Chris ShumLeon KoJacky Cheung & Evonne Hsu4:04

Hong Kong [edit ]

No.TitleLyricsMusicSinger(s)Length1.”The Empress” ( 女皇 )Hayes YeungAlan CheungJoey Yung3:322.”The Secret of Tears” ( 眼淚的秘密 )Sandy ChangAlan CheungJinny Ng3:353.”No Matter What It Takes” ( 不顧一切 )Sandy ChangDamon Chui & Johnny YimLinda Chung4:13

broadcast [edit ]

The Empress of China began airing from December 21, 2014 entirely on Hunan Television in mainland China, and has besides been broadcast on Chung T’ien Television in Taiwan, TVB in Hong Kong, and Golden Town Film Co., Ltd in Thailand .

Mainland China [edit ]

The television drama was suspended for four days from December 28, 2014 to January 1, 2015. Hunan Television said on its official Sina Weibo account that the television receiver play will stop from Sunday on due to ‘technical ‘ reasons but will return to the screen on January 1, 2015. [ 11 ] however, it was reported that the actual argue for this pause was because the dresses were ‘too exposing ‘, specially in the chest region and the broadcast medium authorities demanded the broadcaster edit the television drama and then submit again for censoring. [ 12 ] [ 13 ] [ 14 ] The show returned to screens on January 1, 2015, but with edit scenes that removed a lot of the shots of cleavage area. [ 15 ] Wide shots and close-ups were heavily employed to minimize the come of cleavage. [ 16 ] chinese Internet users responded by complaining about the censoring on Weibo. several complained that they would not be able to see the hundreds of costume changes by Fan Bingbing. [ 17 ] Some reports noted that the Tang Dynasty was one of the greatest dynasties in ancient China, and women were known to wear uncover attire. [ 14 ] alike, any scenes showing familiarity or affection between the protagonists were wholly cut ( like the bath tub or kissing scenes ), which makes following the drama ‘s storyline difficult at times. [ citation needed ]

Taiwan [edit ]

Taiwan began airing the drama March 30, 2015 on cable impart CTi television and free-to-air channel CTV. Both stations aired the series in its entirety, un-cut and un-censored. [ citation needed ]

Hong Kong [edit ]

Hong Kong free-to-air channel TVB Jade began broadcast of the drama on April 26, 2015. [ 18 ] due to the length of the series, the play was reduced by ten episodes and TVB besides changed their broadcast schedule to have the play air throughout the integral workweek Sunday to Saturday. [ 19 ] In orderliness to avoid the cleavage exposing controversy without zooming-in scenes like the version aired in mainland China, TVB hired CGI experts to add an consequence invest to cover up the cleavage. [ 20 ] TVB besides aired original audio and a yue dubbed translation on their Jade groove .

reception [edit ]

The Empress of China was a commercial achiever. The show ‘s first sequence broke rat records. [ 11 ] Despite the re-edits to please SARFT, the viewership ratings of The Empress of China remained at an all-time high. [ 16 ] Its concluding episode achieved a evaluation of 4 %, making it the highest denounce drama of the year.

Despite its success, the drama received interracial to negative reviews. The audiences praised the beautiful costume, but complained the dense narrative rhythm method of birth control [ 21 ] and said the plat turns dramatically without foreshadowing, as it ‘s broken and not linked well at all. Some reports noted that the protagonist was overpowered, [ 22 ] [ 23 ] and was not a factually accurate history of history. Wu Zetian had respective battles with her adversary Zhangsun Wuji in history, but in the play, Wu Zetian was shaped into an innocent womanhood. [ 24 ]

Mainland China

 Mainland China Hunan TV premiere ratings
Episode
Date
CSM50
CSM national network
Rating
Share
Ranking
Rating
Share
Ranking

1-3
December 21, 2014
2.280
6.050
1
2.14
6.13
2

4-6
December 22, 2014
2.396
6.681
1
2.45
7.23
1

7-9
December 23, 2014
2.714
7.774
1
2.65
7.98
1

10-12
December 24, 2014
2.469
6.936
1
2.66
7.69
1

13-15
December 25, 2014
2.678
7.378
1
2.77
8.09
1

16
December 26, 2014
2.429
6.513
1
2.54
6.56
1

17
December 27, 2014
2.546
6.748
1

18-20
January 1, 2015
2.579
6.944
1
2.65
7.27
1

21
January 2, 2015
2.533
6.838
1

22
January 3, 2015
2.400
6.274
1

23-25
January 4, 2015
2.697
7.401
1
2.52
7.33
1

26-28
January 5, 2015
2.722
7.304
1
2.46
7.06
1

29-31
January 6, 2015
2.857
7.712
1
2.57
7.25
1

32-34
January 7, 2015
2.716
7.209
1
2.58
7.26
1

35-37
January 8, 2015
2.849
7.721
1
2.59
7.48
1

38
January 9, 2015
2.443
6.472
1
2.66
7.23
1

39
January 10, 2015
2.830
7.390
1

40-42
January 11, 2015
2.773
7.409
1

43-45
January 12, 2015
2.648
7.235
1
2.67
7.61
1

46-48
January 13, 2015
3.121
8.363
1
2.95
8.28
1

49-51
January 14, 2015
2.780
7.389
1
3.09
8.68
1

52-54
January 15, 2015
2.982
8.070
1
3.15
8.73
1

55
January 16, 2015
2.417
6.424
1
3.14
8.45
1

56
January 17, 2015
3.067
7.952
1

57-59
January 18, 2015
2.983
7.938
1

60-62
January 19, 2015
3.034
8.235
1
3.28
9.20
1

63-65
January 20, 2015
3.062
8.243
1
3.40
9.41
1

66-68
January 21, 2015
3.088
8.282
1
3.33
9.21
1

69-71
January 22, 2015
3.411
8.855
1
3.96
10.69
1

72
January 23, 2015
2.634
6.981
1
3.46
9.36
1

73
January 24, 2015
2.711
7.277
1

74-76
January 25, 2015
3.264
8.420
1

77-79
January 26, 2015
3.378
8.898
1
3.52
9.81
1

80-82
January 27, 2015
3.551
9.273
1
4.00
10.91
1

83-85
January 28, 2015
3.737
9.623
1
4.35
11.85
1

86-88
January 29, 2015
3.515
9.108
1
4.10
11.16
1

89
January 30, 2015
2.657
6.992
1
3.71
9.99
1

90
January 31, 2015
2.434
6.407
1

91-92
February 1, 2015
3.313
8.763
1

93-94
February 2, 2015
4.102
10.901
1
4.64
12.80
1

95-96
February 3, 2015
4.234
11.171
1
5.08
13.68
1

Total average
2.959
7.926
1 in 2014
3.17
8.81
1 in 2014

  1. The data determined by CSM.
  2. Ratings ranked above not including CCTV.
  3. Information source:Kimi_冲、克顿传媒数据中心、卫视这些事儿、卫视小露电、青春剧透社
Taiwan

 Taiwan CTV Main Channel premiere ratings (AC Nielsen)
Episode
Week
Date
Rating
Ranking

1-5
1
March 30, 2015 – April 3, 2015
1.21
4

6-10
2
April 6, 2015 – April 10, 2015
1.50
4

11-15
3
April 13, 2015 – April 17, 2015
1.64
4

16-20
4
April 20, 2015 – April 24, 2015
1.90
3

21-25
5
April 27, 2015 – May 1, 2015
1.80
3

26-30
6
May 4, 2015 – May 8, 2015
1.91
3

31-35
7
May 11, 2015 – May 15, 2015
1.90
3

36-40
8
May 18, 2015 – May 22, 2015
2.21
3

41-45
9
May 25, 2015 – May 29, 2015
2.27
3

46-50
10
June 1, 2015 – June 5, 2015
2.37
3

51-55
11
June 8, 2015 – June 12, 2015
2.49
3

56-60
12
June 15, 2015 – June 19, 2015
2.38
3

61-65
13
June 22, 2015 – June 26, 2015
2.75
3

66-70
14
June 29, 2015 – July 3, 2015
2.76
3

71-75
15
July 6, 2015 – July 10, 2015
3.16
3

76-80
16
July 13, 2015 – July 17, 2015
2.72
3

81-84
17
July 20, 2015 – July 23, 2015
3.06
3

  1. The data determined by AGB.
  2. Information source:中時娛樂、凱絡媒體週報
Hong Kong

 Hong Kong TVB Jade ratings

#

Timeslot (HKT)

Week

Episode(s)

Average points

Peaking points

1

Sun – Sat 21:30

26 April 2015

1

24

26

2

27 April-3 May 2015

2-8

25

28

3

04-10 May 2015

9-15

26

29

4

11-17 May 2015

16-22

27

28

5

18-22 May 2015

23-28

26

27

6

25-31 May 2015

29-34

26

28

7

01-7 June 2015

35-41

26

29

8

08-14 June 2015

42-48

25

28

9

15-21 June 2015

49-55

26

30

10

22-28 June 2015

56-61

27

32

11

29 June-5 July 2015

62-67

28

32

12

06-12 July 2015

68-75

29

37

Total average
26
30

Awards and nominations [edit ]

Year
Award
Category
Nominee
Result

2015
Huading Awards
Best Actress
Fan Bingbing
Nominated

Best Actor (Ancient)
Aarif Lee
Won

Best Supporting Actress
Zhang Ting
Nominated

Best Producer
Fan Bingbing
Nominated

Top 10 Dramas

Won

China TV Drama Awards
Top 10 Television Series

Won

Best Actress
Fan Bingbing
Won

International air [edit ]

References [edit ]