Legend of the Military Seal (虎符傳奇)- Yang Mi, Feng Shaofeng, Tang Yifei

[xiaolong]

Not sure if you know this yet, but there are some ugly little history secrets/rumors that say Han Wudi was bisexual. Some of his famous lover boys included Wei Qing and Huo Qubing.

OMG! And I'm halfway listening to Da Mo Yao audiobook which depicts Huo Qubing as this hot alpha male!

[mango_cake]

I do remember watching one of my Mom's old 1980s ATV videos called "The Rise Of The Great Wall" where Damian Lau starred as the famous assassin Jing Ke renowned for his failed assassination of Qin Shi Huang. They told of the same back story of Qin Shi Huang not being the real son of his father king, but of the prime minister. Reason is that the king coveted the prime minister's wife who was already pregnant, but the prime minister avoided telling the king about the pregnancy and let him marry his wife. The pregnancy lasted for 12 months, so the king didn't suspect Qin Shi Huang wasn't his.

This is a story that could have been part of popular folklore. Anyway, just to add, it got me absorbed in the 2004 TV series Assassinator Jing Ke which made Liu Ye famous. Chen Kaige's The Emperor and the Assassin was based on the Jing Ke folklore.


That what makes Chinese history so complicated and a lifetime of reading/studying would not cover everything. The longest Chinese dynasties last 300 years (thereabouts), and the country more often than not breaks out into warring states in-between dynasties. China does not have a uniform culture - the country comprises of 56 different ethnicities. And even within the Han Chinese, we have our different factions. In fact, in the early days of Nanyang Chinese settlement, the different dialects groups (Hokkien, Hakka, Cantonese, Teochew) actually viewed themselves as (kinda) different races from each other!

Lol yup that is exactly the story that happened in HFCQ that made me go...seriously?! Is the writer pulling a Yu Zheng (who loves altering history with the whole illegitimate/secret identity thing)? So I was looking into it and shocked that this is the version that is actually recorded in the Shi Ji! But most likely it was just a rumour spread by all the people who hated Qin Shihuang (similar to all the Yongzheng stealing the throne rumours). Actually before you mentioned it JoleCole, I was really starting to suspect the author of "Shi Ji" just hated Qin so decided to incorporate as many salacious rumours about them as he could! Anyways, really the only difference was that according to Shi Ji, Qin Shihuang was actually born in Handan in Zhao, while being held captive there; meanwhile in HFCQ, they changed it so that the prime minister's concubine discovers she is pregnant, and quickly they rescue the Qin prince out of there so Qin Shihuang is born after they return safely back to Qin. (Actually I'd say that the shortening of time periods is a major thing that happens throughout HFCQ...well, and other historical dramas I guess! It kinda makes sense to condense events that happened over decades into a smaller time frame, since you don't have to bother aging the actors that much and it is also more exciting/fast-paced.)

Anyways the Jing Ke thing reminds me of that skit in the Chinese New Year gala this year where they totally poked fun at time-travel dramas using a hypothetical "time-travel to Qin and change history by getting Qin Shihuang assassinated" series...rofl.

On the other hand, the average Korean dynasty lasted 800 years, and in Japan, the royal family has been around for 2000 years (if I'm not mistaken).

I didn't realize Korea and Japan had such long-lasting dynasties! ...But it makes sense, since they are smaller peninsula/island countries. It must be a LOT harder to keep China united with the much larger land area + population, and lots more potential for revolts as well.

Not sure if you know this yet, but there were some ugly little history secrets/rumors that say Han Wudi was bisexual. Some of his famous lover boys included Wei Qing and Huo Qubing.

Yup, I was actually reading into more of Han history back when I watched Mei Ren Xin Ji, and apparently a lot of Han emperors were notorious for supposedly having a lot of male lovers! (Including the king that Sammul portrayed in MRXJ.) I think I heard somewhere before that during early Chinese history, people were much more liberal about these things than later on (i.e. post-1000 A.D-ish). Seems like they were not only more accepting of bisexuality, but it was also very common for women to re-marry, even guys much younger than them (e.g. Wei Qing and Princess Pingyang) and the rich ladies even had their own little harem of hot young guys. Not to mention how much more revealing the female clothing were during Tang and how many powerful women participated in politics back then. Seems like later on the culture in China got much more closed-up and conservative.

[mango_cake]

Up to ep 28 now--well, the first 22-ish episodes were definitely the best. After the plot builds and culminates with the "Hu Fu" incident and subsequent Handan battle + victory over Qin, the remaining episodes are so-so. (Actually I thought the Handan battle could've been done better as well, considering it is such a crucial event in the series.) Basically, now the situation is sort of locked in a "stalemate" after Qin is forced to retreat, so not much is going on and it is more or less "status quo". So not as intriguing and suspenseful as before...in comparison to the "entire kingdoms at stake" feeling in the first half, the recent few episodes feel a lot less exciting when the plot revolves around much more trivial matters. I almost feel like, perhaps they should've ended the drama on a high note after the "Hu Fu" incident--that really felt like the climax of the story since everything was building up to it; then everything afterwards feels rather anticlimactic. And maybe they could've expanded on the earlier events more since they were absolutely fascinating.

(Also that way maybe they can just have Ru Ji and Wu Ji reunite right after the battle instead of dragging this out needlessly for 10+ years... ) I am getting very tired and impatient of it now--in fact this is one of the few times where I think a plot point feels contrived in this drama--because why exactly can't they just find each other again?? The basic premise is, Wu Ji is stuck outside of Wei in Zhao, while Ru Ji is stuck inside Wei...but after all those years they can't find some way to get her out of there? Really?? At one point Ru Ji nearly made it into Chu (probably could've), so I don't see why she can't go through Chu, then Qi, and loop back into Zhao or something...the excuse of why she couldn't go to Chu was lame.

Also speaking of lame...

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Omg....wtf...nooooooo....not Lu Zhonglian....!!! So mad. Especially because his death scene was super lame, he got killed by a nobody with pretty lame motives. Grrr. And doubly mad because I think historically he actually had a good ending (well, nobody knows what happened to him...which, basically I take to mean a good ending because hey, at least no one recorded his gruesome or depressing death like with other people).

So mad, and that was the second plot point I felt was contrived in this drama. Plus Lu Zhonglian was awesome, all his scenes are hilarious. Also he is the sweetest guy ever...I was *this* close to changing my mind and shipping him + Ru Ji (despite my Ru Ji + Wu Ji/FengMi love). (Doesn't help that they don't bother aging LZL--or Ru Ji/Nian Nu for that matter--so he is still as hot as 10 years ago...meanwhile they decided to "age" poor FSF using a mustache, ROFL. )

Also doesn't help that Wu Ji just got a lot more pathetic after the Hu Fu incident and Handan battle. *facepalm* He was a great character before that, but now I just want to yell at Xinling Jun to get himself together instead of drinking and wallowing in misery all the time. Well, actually, I guess they are being somewhat historically accurate since apparently Xinling Jun did spend his latter days in depression, drinking away his pains, and died in despair...yeah pretty depressing stuff. (Although, of course, in reality it was likely due to the fact that he was pretty much exiled to Zhao for 10 years after the Hu Fu incident, unable to return to Wei and participate in military campaigns for his country...rather than because he was distraught over being separated from Ru Ji. LOL.) But seriously, get a grip on yourself man! Poor Ru Ji is still trapped in Wei alone and on the run, and she is still a ton more optimistic than Xinling Jun... Although, then again, Ru Ji at least knows that Xinling Jun is alive and well (more-or-less) in Zhao; whereas poor Wu Ji has absolutely no idea what happened to Ru Ji and keeps getting bombarded with (fake) reports that Ru Ji is dead. T_T Alright, I guess that could drive a man crazy, perhaps I will go a bit easier on him... >_<

(Still, this one scene where Xinling Jun thinks Ru Ji is dead and then proceeds to go on a melodramatic "I have nothing to live for anymore let me suicide by wasting away and refusing to eat" spiral...was a tad much. You know, just a slight bit of an overkill, IMO. Might help a bit if FSF did some more subtle acting--can someone tell him that when the script itself is already so melodramatic, there is no need to overact it?? ) Also, can Ru Ji and Wu Ji stop with the sudden, "I feel/hear the other person" moments? It was rather "awww"-inducing the first few times, but yeah, getting a bit tired now. BASICALLY, what I am saying it, they should've stopped dragging it on for this long already! I stand by my previous opinion that they should've ended the drama right after the Hu Fu thing--and then reunited Ru Ji/Wu Ji right away (or after a short period of separation). I might even prefer a well-done dramatic tragedy version where Ru Ji is captured/executed and then Xinling Jun's spiral into depression would actually make sense/feel poignant. (Wait, I take that back--I would still rather Ru Ji live for their eventual reunion! )

Well overall still a great drama and even the "suckier" parts are still decent (not like MRXJ where, after absolutely loving the first half I absolutely despised the second half--at least I am still mostly enjoying HFCQ even though I'm not as caught up in it as the first 22 eps). And I still have 2.5 eps to go so maybe it will end with a bang?

[mango_cake]

(Although, just to add, Xinling Jun is certainly not the only guy to be so overdramatic...the stuff Lu Zhonglian and Chunshen Jun, for example, say to the ladies they love is pretty melodramatic as well. I guess it is just one of the script's (very few) shortcomings that they tend to make all the romances "super epic love at first sight"--which, not really my cup of tea...But on the other hand, somehow fitting for a story that takes place in such a dramatic and surreal, life-or-death era as the Warring States anyways. So, on second thought, perhaps I might as well just eat up all the cheesiness with a spoon and enjoy it, heheh. Alright, just pile it on then!! ^_^)

I still love what Xinling Jun said to Ru Ji way back (pretty much sums up their storyline I guess): " 如姬, 我们生在乱世界, 生不由己..." Somehow gets me every time...

(Also, Ru Ji's son is cute as a button! )

[mango_cake]

Alright, finally things are getting underway again--done with the melodrama and onto exciting stuff...like Qin about to make their attack on Zhao/Wei once again!

Also, I take back what I said before and apologize profusely to the scriptwriter for criticizing them about how they wrote the kings in this series (back when I mistakenly thought the first king of Qin we saw was the eventual Qin Shihuang, very silly of me!)

I'm loving the way they portray even the child Qin Shihuang as being so clever and intelligent (although the kid actor is a bit stiff, but can't blame the kids too much! XD) Definitely promises to be way more competent than the other kings of Qin, his father and great-grandfather! You can see how he managed to eventually be the one to unite China. Loved the scene where the little boy comes in and swiftly one-ups Lu Buwei just like that in front of all the court officials, even though his father, the king, can only sit by helplessly...too funny. And you can see the signs of ruthlessless as well as powerful authority coming through too...in such a little kid! O_o (Very nicely done sequence--it's scenes like this in HFCQ that I absolutely adore--makes me feel like even if it didn't happen in history, I don't care because it feels like it would fit right in! ^_^)

[mango_cake]

Just finished the series...and a few seconds of reunion at the very end is all we get?!! Ok, I know before I said they should've just ended the story after the "Hu Fu" incident, but now I wish they continued it a bit more because I want to see Ru Ji/Wu Ji actually happy together after they reunite. Seriously, we got all those sweet husband-and-wife moments from Pingyuan Jun/Lady Pingyuan, I can't believe they didn't give us any happy moments of Ru Ji and Wu Ji! And Wu Ji didn't even get to meet his son?! T_T Not nearly enough payoff for all the angst!!! Actually let's be real here, if it weren't for the contrived "need to keep them apart thing", IMO it would've made a LOT more sense for them to be reunited much sooner. >_< Like maybe around ep 26 when things got a bit boring. ^_^

Oh well, this is still way better than the supposed ending--in one synopsis, supposedly Ru Ji's son mistakens Wu Ji for a a bad guy or something and goes to kill him, only to end up killing Ru Ji instead when she moves to save Wu Ji. I wonder if they cut that part out--if so, I never want to see it. Lol. XD (I know I mentioned before that I thought a tragic ending would be more suitable, and I would like to see both endings...however now I think that would really just be WAY too cruel after all this, so forget it! I want my happy ending, even if it is way too brief! )

Anyways, I thought they rushed the last episode--I would've liked to actually see more details of Xinling Jun returning to Wei after 13 years in Zhao in order to save Wei from Qin invasion (by uniting the forces of 5 kingdoms to defeat the Qin army), but the whole thing was summarized super fast in a few minutes. Maybe the scriptwriters felt like it would be too much of a repeat of the previous two battles (Changping and Handan)...or they were just too lazy to write about it, haha. I guess it's nice that they ended the series off on a semi-high note, after Xinling Jun finally returns home and leads Wei to victory...but also kind of bittersweet, because apparently, soon after the victory king of Wei once again turned on him--in part due to the scheming from Qin to weaken Wei. Which led to a pretty bleak end for him after he gets all disheartened and gets kind of corrupted, then dies a mere 4 years after the last events in HFCQ. It all sounds really interesting but would be pretty depressing to watch, I guess.

So, how about I just ignore history and pretend that Ru Ji/Xinling Jun live on happily ever after away from the Wei court!

(Still bitter over Lu Zhonglian's ending. Just sayin'... That was SO unnecessary! And I am kinda curious what happened to Chunshen Jun in the end--they sort of just left his "dead-or-alive" status up in the air! ) Hey you know what would be a nice wrap-up? Since Mengchang Jun died earlier on, and Pingyuan Jun dies in the last episode, and Chunshen Jun *possibly* dies in the last episode...they should've just tied up the ends neatly by ending with Xinling Jun's death too so there goes the story of the Four Lords of the Warring States! (Haha, just kidding, that would definitely be altogether too depressing and I don't actually want to see that. Oh wait--I just went to look it up and sounds like Lord Chunshen actually died last out of the four, outliving Lord Xinling (the youngest of lords I believe), so going by that, I assume he did survive his wound in the last episode!)

Well anyways, it is definitely a testimony to how impressive the four Lords were though--in that, while they were alive, despite the repeated efforts of Qin to conquer the other states they couldn't manage much headway against even one...but after their deaths, it was only a matter of time before the kingdoms collapsed one by one to the relentless Qin army in relatively quick succession.

Now I think I might go off in a search for other Warring States era dramas, hehe. I'll say it one last time, I think it's a real pity that this time period doesn't get more focus!