New Legend of Chu Liu Xiang (楚留香新传）2011

[wkeej]

Second mystery ended. It is good. I am hoping for a big fight, but then ...
The secret is not revealed = the relationship between Bat Prince and the old lady.

[wkeej]

Mystery 3 is not exciting at all. Now onto the last story.

[wkeej]

Finished. While the series ended on a cliff-hanger, it is overall an interesting series.

[shangster]

I actually liked the first three cases over the final one. The last story was a little confusing for me. Overall, I thought it was a good series as it followed the novel pretty close. I wish they had done the first three stories -- the Stone Abbot, Dessert, and Water Matriarch. I saw the adaptation starring Ken Chu; it was terrible.

[wkeej]

Always wanted to ask this question. It is the mystery of the brow/arrow and the killer. Basically, how do the two men riding horses on the beach die?

[Ian Liew]

I'm currently watching this now. Am really enjoying it, actually - Ken Chang looks like a cross between Raymond Lam, Michael Tse and Adam Cheng, and fits the role really well most of the time, although he occasionally looks bored. I've finished the first two stories, and have just started the third (Bat Prince). Having not read the novel, I was really worried that the second story (Jieshi Huanhun) would end the way TVB's version did, with a Shakespearean tragedy, but thankfully it ended well, although I would really have loved to see the real closure with Chu Liuxiang breaking the news to Zuo Qinghou and convincing him that his daughter was really possessed. It would be so unfair to the old man, but it would have been nice to see Zuo Mingzhu show some tender kindness and acceptance to her father and reconcile (even if it was merely as the father of her "host") - it felt unfinished, but at least all the loose ends were tied. Liu Dekai was, as usual, awesome.

I have a question about the first story, though (Xinyue Chuanqi). Chu Liuxiang opens the box in Yin Ji's room, finds Yujian lying in the box. She's unconscious, and he recognises the moon birthmark on her arm. He then carries the box (with the still unconscious Yujian) in it, and hands it over to his poor Courier company friends. They get slaughtered, and Yujian is presumably returned safely to her mother by the killers who worked for her mother - as far as I can tell, Yujian never saw Chu Liuxiang. Chu Liuxiang then visits her mother's mansion, and when they meet she oddly treats him like a friend who she has met, and of course later on, she gives herself to him when they meet as she's being escorted en route to her wedding. There's this supposed romance between the two of them which I can't figure out how it existed. Chu's only interest in her was because of her father, and she, on the other hand, never met him. Why was the mood so poignant when he met her in the mansion and she declared that it was her decision to marry Shitianhuang, and why did she fall in love with him enough to give herself to him in that little pavilion? Was there some scene which the producers cut?

[Ian Liew]

Always wanted to ask this question. It is the mystery of the brow/arrow and the killer. Basically, how do the two men riding horses on the beach die?

According to Episode 24, Chu Liuxiang explains that it was Ding Feng's men who killed them. They were killed using Wu Weiyang's signature arrow skill in order to hide the fact that they had already killed Wu Weiyang (the master of one of the clans which controls traffic on the Yangtze). Subsequently, when they meet Wu Weiyang at the dinner, it is actually an impostor. Yun Conglong, a great friend of Wu Weiyang, and the master of the other clan which operates on the Yangtze, is the only one who realises it, leaves a few hints for Chu Liuxiang (he cannot speak out because Ding Feng is at the table, and Ding Feng has some kind of hold over all the sect leaders along the rivers and seas), and then dies at the fake Wu Weiyang's hands as he challenges him to a fight. Yun Conglong leaves behind a will which entrusts his entire clan to Wu Weiyang, (as he had made the will not knowing that Wu Weiyang was dead, and Wu was the only person he trusted). Ding Feng, who controls the fake Wu Weiyang, hence now controls both clans who operate on the Yangtze, and has free access along the river. All this starts with the murder of Wu Weiyang, and the killing of the two horsemen to try and convince everyone that Wu Weiyang is still alive.

[wkeej]

According to Episode 24, Chu Liuxiang explains that it was Ding Feng's men who killed them. They were killed using Wu Weiyang's signature arrow skill in order to hide the fact that they had already killed Wu Weiyang (the master of one of the clans which controls traffic on the Yangtze). Subsequently, when they meet Wu Weiyang at the dinner, it is actually an impostor. Yun Conglong, a great friend of Wu Weiyang, and the master of the other clan which operates on the Yangtze, is the only one who realises it, leaves a few hints for Chu Liuxiang (he cannot speak out because Ding Feng is at the table, and Ding Feng has some kind of hold over all the sect leaders along the rivers and seas), and then dies at the fake Wu Weiyang's hands as he challenges him to a fight. Yun Conglong leaves behind a will which entrusts his entire clan to Wu Weiyang, (as he had made the will not knowing that Wu Weiyang was dead, and Wu was the only person he trusted). Ding Feng, who controls the fake Wu Weiyang, hence now controls both clans who operate on the Yangtze, and has free access along the river. All this starts with the murder of Wu Weiyang, and the killing of the two horsemen to try and convince everyone that Wu Weiyang is still alive.

Thanks, Ian. Though, to admit, I cannot remember much of this series.

[Ian Liew]

Thanks, Ian. Though, to admit, I cannot remember much of this series.

Heh - it was more than three years ago for you! I'm just *very* belatedly catching this...

[wkeej]

Heh - it was more than three years ago for you! I'm just *very* belatedly catching this...

Nevertheless, when you reach the second story, can you check out this for me:
"The secret is not revealed = the relationship between Bat Prince and the old lady.".
Thanking in advance.

[creidesca]

Nevertheless, when you reach the second story, can you check out this for me:
"The secret is not revealed = the relationship between Bat Prince and the old lady.".
Thanking in advance.

It's not explained...even in the novel (I really wanted to know the answer to this mystery).

But at least I finally understood the part where the the men fought/killed each other right before that when a certain date was mentioned. It's actually referring to the case of the missing daughter w/ the tattoo. The Taiwan aired version of the drama had the cases in different order than another aired version.

[Ian Liew]

It's not explained...even in the novel (I really wanted to know the answer to this mystery).

But at least I finally understood the part where the the men fought/killed each other right before that when a certain date was mentioned. It's actually referring to the case of the missing daughter w/ the tattoo. The Taiwan aired version of the drama had the cases in different order than another aired version.

I didn't understand that part either. I got that the individuals were all picked to attend together because although none knew each other personally, they all had grudges against each other through either reputation or history. I had no idea of the significance of that date mentioned - how does it tie in with XinYueChuanQi? I don't recall that date being mentioned during XinYue, and what prompted them to fight each other blindly (other than Gao Yanan deliberately manipulating them into infighting)?

I just finished the third story with the bat, and it was quite sad at the end when so many people didn't make it out alive.It was also telling that so far, Chu Liuxiang hasn't managed to secure a long-term girlfriend. Compared with the Michael Miu version, where he ends with up the entire harem, in this version they either leave or (possibly) get killed. Even Adam Cheng's version ended up with him getting Shen Weilin, so hopefully things get better.

Some thoughts:-

click to show/hide spoilers

What happened to Dong Sanniang? I really hoped that she would make it out alive, but it seems she was left for dead. There wasn't even any closure, with Chu Liuxiang cradling her corpse sadly or something - last we saw Gao Yanan immobilised her as she was kneeling by a rock, and for all we know she's probably still there!

Zhang San was.. hilarious. I feel that he and Jin Lingzhi stole the show when they were around. I'm glad she survived (since she didn't in TVB's version), and with Zhang San faithfully (and now happily) following her as a servant (and presumably trusted friend) she'll always retain a connection to Chu Liuxiang and Hu Tiehua, and who knows? Maybe someday she and Hu Tiehua can reconcile, assuming she wasn't playing with his emotions and really felt something.

It was quite touching that Gou Zichang and Ying Wanli kind of reconciled before they died, and both passed holding each others' hands - the mass murderer and the detective who was tracking him. Reminds me of Ouyang Feng and Hong Qigong in ROCH. I did feel sad, though, and did hope that Gou Zichang would survive. For a villain, he was remarkably likeable, and we actually don't get to see anything villanous about him - everything bad he did was off-screen.

I can't understand why the Bat Prince would kill Ding Feng, though. He was immobilised out there with everyone when they were slaughtered (I can't imagine how Zhang San survived too, actually), so if anyone was going to kill Ding Feng it must have been the Bat Prince or the old nun, but they were all on the same side. Maybe he had outlived his usefulness, but he was a most capable and loyal servant of the Bat Prince, and it makes no sense to kill him off like that. Maybe I just feel shortchanged that I don't get to see him get killed by the heroes, for unlike Gou Zichang, Ding Feng just oozed villainy in every scene.

If Kumei didn't really die earlier, then does that mean that those four girls were never revived, and were just murdered in their sleep? Or were they already dead - since it was Jin Lingzhi alone (she was the only girl around and could place her hands on their chests without shame) who claimed that they were alive with a weak heartbeat, and as she must have recognised the Bat Prince by then (assuming she ever saw his face), was probably already an accomplice. Following from that, if Kumei really wanted to get Hua Zhenzhen removed so desperately, surely she could have had her killed at the same time and blame it on the four dead girls?

Hua Zhenzhen was awesome, and I really don't recall Mimi Kung having such a big plot role in the Michael Miu version. I really need to rewatch that in a new light now.

It's weird that Chu Liuxiang seems to have never heard of the Bat Prince, when in the previous story, when Xue Yiren first meets him, he agrees with Xue Yiren's conclusion that he was unlikely to be the Bat Prince, and couldn't compare with him. That scene is word for word taken from the novel, though, and the novel does follow that Borrowed Corpse Returning Spirit arc with the Bat Prince arc too, so it's probably an error on Gu Long's part anyway.

Princess Yujian is presumably killed after she assassinates Shi Tianhuang, Shi Xiuyun leaves because she doesn't belong in Chu Liuxiang's world, Dong Sanniang is also presumably killed by either Gao Yanan or Kumei, although we don't see it, while Hua Zhenzhen is obligated to take on the role of the head of Huashan. It's all so depressing for the man who was surrounded by girls in pretty much every mental image I've had of him.....

On to the last story.....

[creidesca]

I didn't understand that part either. I got that the individuals were all picked to attend together because although none knew each other personally, they all had grudges against each other through either reputation or history. I had no idea of the significance of that date mentioned - how does it tie in with XinYueChuanQi? I don't recall that date being mentioned during XinYue, and what prompted them to fight each other blindly (other than Gao Yanan deliberately manipulating them into infighting)?

The significance of the date is in the opening sequence of XinYueChuanQi--it's the chosen date they are to meet at that noodle shop to "compete" to join the secret mission.

Thank goodness I saw the TW aired version that was vietdubbed as opposed as to the original Viet aired dubbed version. The order of the cases actually matter.

[wkeej]

I didn't understand that part either. I got that the individuals were all picked to attend together because although none knew each other personally, they all had grudges against each other through either reputation or history. I had no idea of the significance of that date mentioned - how does it tie in with XinYueChuanQi? I don't recall that date being mentioned during XinYue, and what prompted them to fight each other blindly (other than Gao Yanan deliberately manipulating them into infighting)?

I just finished the third story with the bat, and it was quite sad at the end when so many people didn't make it out alive.It was also telling that so far, Chu Liuxiang hasn't managed to secure a long-term girlfriend. Compared with the Michael Miu version, where he ends with up the entire harem, in this version they either leave or (possibly) get killed. Even Adam Cheng's version ended up with him getting Shen Weilin, so hopefully things get better.

Some thoughts:-

click to show/hide spoilers

What happened to Dong Sanniang? I really hoped that she would make it out alive, but it seems she was left for dead. There wasn't even any closure, with Chu Liuxiang cradling her corpse sadly or something - last we saw Gao Yanan immobilised her as she was kneeling by a rock, and for all we know she's probably still there!

Zhang San was.. hilarious. I feel that he and Jin Lingzhi stole the show when they were around. I'm glad she survived (since she didn't in TVB's version), and with Zhang San faithfully (and now happily) following her as a servant (and presumably trusted friend) she'll always retain a connection to Chu Liuxiang and Hu Tiehua, and who knows? Maybe someday she and Hu Tiehua can reconcile, assuming she wasn't playing with his emotions and really felt something.

It was quite touching that Gou Zichang and Ying Wanli kind of reconciled before they died, and both passed holding each others' hands - the mass murderer and the detective who was tracking him. Reminds me of Ouyang Feng and Hong Qigong in ROCH. I did feel sad, though, and did hope that Gou Zichang would survive. For a villain, he was remarkably likeable, and we actually don't get to see anything villanous about him - everything bad he did was off-screen.

I can't understand why the Bat Prince would kill Ding Feng, though. He was immobilised out there with everyone when they were slaughtered (I can't imagine how Zhang San survived too, actually), so if anyone was going to kill Ding Feng it must have been the Bat Prince or the old nun, but they were all on the same side. Maybe he had outlived his usefulness, but he was a most capable and loyal servant of the Bat Prince, and it makes no sense to kill him off like that. Maybe I just feel shortchanged that I don't get to see him get killed by the heroes, for unlike Gou Zichang, Ding Feng just oozed villainy in every scene.

If Kumei didn't really die earlier, then does that mean that those four girls were never revived, and were just murdered in their sleep? Or were they already dead - since it was Jin Lingzhi alone (she was the only girl around and could place her hands on their chests without shame) who claimed that they were alive with a weak heartbeat, and as she must have recognised the Bat Prince by then (assuming she ever saw his face), was probably already an accomplice. Following from that, if Kumei really wanted to get Hua Zhenzhen removed so desperately, surely she could have had her killed at the same time and blame it on the four dead girls?

Hua Zhenzhen was awesome, and I really don't recall Mimi Kung having such a big plot role in the Michael Miu version. I really need to rewatch that in a new light now.

It's weird that Chu Liuxiang seems to have never heard of the Bat Prince, when in the previous story, when Xue Yiren first meets him, he agrees with Xue Yiren's conclusion that he was unlikely to be the Bat Prince, and couldn't compare with him. That scene is word for word taken from the novel, though, and the novel does follow that Borrowed Corpse Returning Spirit arc with the Bat Prince arc too, so it's probably an error on Gu Long's part anyway.

Princess Yujian is presumably killed after she assassinates Shi Tianhuang, Shi Xiuyun leaves because she doesn't belong in Chu Liuxiang's world, Dong Sanniang is also presumably killed by either Gao Yanan or Kumei, although we don't see it, while Hua Zhenzhen is obligated to take on the role of the head of Huashan. It's all so depressing for the man who was surrounded by girls in pretty much every mental image I've had of him.....

On to the last story.....

I also thought that the individuals have to kill one another so that their bad reputation will not be known to others.
Can't remember a single thing of what you say in the spoiler. :-)

[wkeej]

The significance of the date is in the opening sequence of XinYueChuanQi--it's the chosen date they are to meet at that noodle shop to "compete" to join the secret mission.

Thank goodness I saw the TW aired version that was vietdubbed as opposed as to the original Viet aired dubbed version. The order of the cases actually matter.

Do not know there is a such date.

[Ian Liew]

The significance of the date is in the opening sequence of XinYueChuanQi--it's the chosen date they are to meet at that noodle shop to "compete" to join the secret mission.

Thank goodness I saw the TW aired version that was vietdubbed as opposed as to the original Viet aired dubbed version. The order of the cases actually matter.

Thanks! So XinYue actually comes after Pianfu, then. I only have XinYue, Taohua and Jieshi in novel form, and from the ending notes it says that Jieshi is supposed to flow into Pianfu, and XinYue flows into WuyeLanhua. Taohua doesn't indicate any further novel, so that must be the last one. It'd make sense that Pianfu will flow into Xinyue (and Wuye probably flows into Taohua) to complete the chain. Chu Liuxiang wasn't on the surface when Master Wang called out that date, though, so either Zhang San or Gao Yanan must have told him, and he was left to search for clues. I thought that only assassins were interested in that contract, so it's surprising that all those people who were supposed to really rich all, without exception, had such a vicious part-time job.

[wkeej]

Ian, since you are onto the last story, can you check this out for me? Thanking in advance.
1) If I remember correctly, Zhang Jiejie's family became "recluse" because they are presecuted. Can you refresh me who are the persecutors?
2) What happened to Zhang Jiejie's father?

[Ian Liew]

Ian, since you are onto the last story, can you check this out for me? Thanking in advance.
1) If I remember correctly, Zhang Jiejie's family became "recluse" because they are presecuted. Can you refresh me who are the persecutors?
2) What happened to Zhang Jiejie's father?

1) It was the normal people of the Central Plains who had prejudice against their ancestors. The ancestors couldn't stand the discrimination and cut themselves off from the normal world, creating the entire society and religion within the caves. Zhang Jiejie's main reason for staying behind is that she wants to educate the younger generation to overcome their prejudice of the outside world. The entire older generations have all passed away, but the younger generations need to slowly accept that the people on the surface aren't as bad as their ancestors were, and that they will be able to integrate with a bit of effort and courage.

2) He escaped with the help of his wife, but upon returning to the surface ran into Shi Guanyin and fell for her charms. Eventually she tired of him and killed him, which is why Zhang Jiejie's mother was so pleased with Chu Liuxiang for killing her.

[wkeej]

1) It was the normal people of the Central Plains who had prejudice against their ancestors. The ancestors couldn't stand the discrimination and cut themselves off from the normal world, creating the entire society and religion within the caves. Zhang Jiejie's main reason for staying behind is that she wants to educate the younger generation to overcome their prejudice of the outside world. The entire older generations have all passed away, but the younger generations need to slowly accept that the people on the surface aren't as bad as their ancestors were, and that they will be able to integrate with a bit of effort and courage.

2) He escaped with the help of his wife, but upon returning to the surface ran into Shi Guanyin and fell for her charms. Eventually she tired of him and killed him, which is why Zhang Jiejie's mother was so pleased with Chu Liuxiang for killing her.

Thanks, Ian. Now I remembered the (2).

[Ian Liew]

Just finished the series. The 4th story arc, TaohuaChuanqi, was different, without a real villain to speak of. The ending was quite abrupt, and I needed to check the novel to see if that's how it really ended - it was. A little "the end" or something would have been nice, because it felt like just another end-of-episode cliffhanger, although there weren't any loose ends left to be tied. They actually added a bit to the scene too - mainly the bits with Ai Hong. In the novel the part where she goes to test the stairs for Chu Liuxiang and Zhang Jiejie, as well as the final farewell to Chu Liuxiang where he asks her to look after Zhang Jiejie for him, don't actually take place. They were nice, though, as there's quite a bit of sympathy for her character. The only part I don't really understand is why Zhang Jiejie's mother said that she didn't cut off Ai Hong's arm - Ai Qing did. Ai Qing did it physically, but from the flashback it seemed that it was under her instruction. Ai Hong also wasn't the only one who failed in her mission - Ai Qing did (and in her case it was worse because she actually ended up warning Chu Liuxiang about her earrings, having lost the will to fight him, whereas Ai Hong really tried her best), so I don't really understand why only Ai Hong got punished, and why Zhang Jiejie's mother would blame Ai Qing for the loss of Ai Hong's hand. The parting between Zhang Jiejie and Chu Liuxiang was also unnecessarily dramatic - surely the cave dwellers were allowed to go to the surface on missions and for other reasons? Zhang Jiejie, Ai Hong, Ai Qing, Zhang Jiejie's mother, that elderly couple who fought Chu Liuxiang in the restaurant - surely if you were the boss in the cave, you could easily allow yourself to visit the surface whenever you wanted. At worst, Zhang Jiejie could send Ai Qing and Ai Hong on messenger duty, and maintain regular contact with Chu Liuxiang, so I don't see why it had to feel like they'd never hear from each other for a long time.

On the overall, I really loved this serial. The casting was solid, even if I didn't recognise most of the people other than Chu Liuxiang, Liu Dekai, Louis Fan, Michael Tong, and possibly the leader of the four girls who were trying to kidnap Hu Tiehua in Xinyue. Hua Zhenzhen looked a bit sleepy, but when she changes hairstyle and costume she suddenly looked really cool. Jin Linzhi was much prettier than she looked, because she spent most of her airtime initially trying to look smug and aloof, but just ended up looking constipated. Once she warmed up to Hu Tiehua she suddenly became infinitely prettier. Liu Dekai's Xue Yiren was scary, and as expected Liu's aura just dominated every scene he was in. Louis Fan's acting has improved a lot since his earlier TVB days, and he really oozed some rough charisma here.

It was a most enjoyable journey through four of the five XinChuan novels, and the script, like TVB's Lu Xiaofeng in the 1970s, was very faithful to the novel, almost word for word. The ending was really unexpected, though, and is likely to leave you searching for Episode 39. The novel carries forward into XinYue, which is actually the first case in this serial, so we do expect that Chu Liuxiang chose the right staircase, I guess. There's no reason why the novels have to be in chronological order, though, and there's no real time reference between XinYue and TaoHua, save that both take place after PianFu.

One final praise for the serial - the themesong. Ken Chang sings it, and it's one of those really memorable daxia themesongs which sadly I cannot find on CD anywhere. If anyone knows where the song can be purchased in full I'd be grateful. The closing song is also really nice, and I'd to add them to my collection!

For those who have yet to give this series a try, the entire 38-episode serial is on Youtube, and you can start with XinYue here.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e3GwBc5y9wo

The first episode is a bit slow, to be honest, but it gets better. Taohua can get a bit boring after the gripping mysteries of PianFu and JieShi, but by then you're so invested in Ken Chang's Chu Liuxiang it doesn't really matter.