Xiao Zhuang Mi Shi

[bellelim]

hi,
does anybody have a detailed description or any information of the story?

thanks

[Yon]

I believe this series starring Ma Jing Dao and Nin Jing.
Sad love story.. indeed.

[charbydis]

Originally posted by bellelim
hi,
does anybody have a detailed description or any information of the story?

thanks

SPOILERS:::::::::::::::::: (BEWARE)::::::::::::::::::

















It is about the life of the Empress Xiao Zhuang (Emperor Kang Xi's grandmother) of the Qing Dynasty. It spans from her teenage years to her middle-aged period in which she has to battle her loyalty to her husband and her country, her love for her son, and also her passion for her lover.

Xiao Zhuang's real name was Da Yu Er and was born in a powerful Mongolian tribe. She met and fell mutually in love with Manchurian Prince Duo Er Guan, but a fortune teller's comment on her being destined to be the matriach of the nation, and several misunderstandings involving the battle between the princes, cause her to be married to the crown prince, and now Emperor Huang Tai Ji, who is coincidentally Duo Er Guan elder brother and rival (since the throne was meant for Duo Er Guan and their mother was forced to kill herself to protect Duo Er Guan).

Even though the Emperor loves and cherishes Da Yu Er for her beauty and intelligence (and of course, the prophecy), she retains her feelings for Duo Er Guan. Meanwhile, Duo Er Guan becomes forced into a political marriage with Xiao Yu Er (a cousin of Da Yu Er) who finds it hard to return the love his jealous wife gives him, and resorts to womanizing women who remind him of Da Yu Er.

The Emperor being striken with Da Yu Er's elder sister Hai Nan Zhu's beauty when recently widowed, she comes to visit her sister; he marries her and being his favourite, he spends less and less time with Da Yu Er while she has to face the harsh words of Xiao Yu Er and other imperial concubines. Duo Er Guan is naturally mad at how the love of hsi life is being mistreated but his hatred for his brother is controlled by Da Yu Er's kind nature.

Both sisters become pregnant at the same time, but possessive Hai Nan Zhu, worried that her own sister would steal the Emperor away, creates difficulties for Da Yue Er at the time of her labour which nearly killed both mother and baby, but was luckily prevented with the help of Duo Er Guan.

Witnessing her own son die while Da Yu Er's son, Fu Lin, is strong and healthy, Hai Nan Zhu's hatred for her sister increases until finally, she realises her mistakes and asks for forgiveness on her deathbed. The Emperor is striken with grief for her death and mistreats Da Yu Er, and he too, eventually died after Da Yu Er helps the nation persuade the remaining of the court of the previous Ming Dynasty into surrendering.

The death of the Emperor creates havoc amongst the court as the princes battle for the throne, with the main contenders being the Eldest son of the Emperor, and of course, Duo Er Guan, resulting in possibilities of extreme casulaties if the two armies face ecah other on the battlefield. For his love for Da Yu Er, Duo Er Guan sacrifices his long-wished ambition of finally becoming Emperor and insteads, supports Fu Lin as the new Emperor, Shun Zhi.

Being drawn into politics, Da Yu Er uses her wit to help her son rule the newly established country, while trying her best to control Duo Er Guan ambition for both the throne and herself.

As Fu Lin grows older, rumours spread by jealous concubines of the previous Emperor and the bitter eldest son of the previous Emperor, slander that Fu Lin is in fact the son of Da Yu Er and Duo Er Guan! Being humiliated, Fu Lin develops hatred and resentment to his uncle and tries to creates difficulties for Duo Er Guan, which breaks Da Yu Er's heart.

As Fu Lin meets and develops feeling for Wan Ru (aka Dong Xiao Wan), Duo Er Guan makes a deal with Da Yu Er and the court that he will give up his ambition to be the Emperor, only if Da Yu Er merries him! But sadly, both couples end up in tragedy and are separated between life and death. But Da Yu Er's contribution to her nation has not yet ended for she still has to guide her young grandson to be a good Emperor, and that young boy turned out to be one of the greatest Emperors in Chinese history, Emperor Kang Xi.

Bellelim,

Is that detailed enough or do you want more spoilers?

[bellelim]

thanks so much charbydis
pls go on with the story and spoilers!

[mSsHoRtCaKe]

is this the same as xiao zhuang epic?

[Trinie]

This sounds like the story of the Rise and Fall of Qing dynasty. That series was made in the early 90s by ATV. But it talked about how the Qing dynasty gained power and also mentioned Zhuang Fei and her love story.

[bellelim]

Originally posted by mSsHoRtCaKe
is this the same as xiao zhuang epic?

yes this is
have you watched it?
i missed the last few chapters, pls share if you have info

thanks

[mSsHoRtCaKe]

oh no i haven't. i didn't know what it was about so i wasn't sure if i should rent it or not.

[mSsHoRtCaKe]

i just read the summary, so what happened at the end? did da yu er end up with her lover? and is her son's father her lover or the emperor who died? this is kinda a sad story. is it true or just made up?

[charbydis]

SPOILERS --------------BEWARE







(Continuing from before):

=====I forgot to add that Duo Er Guan's wife, Xiao Yu Er, hangs herself after confronting her husband and finding out that he will always treat her as a little sister but would always love Da Yu Er.=====

Da Yu Er agrees to marry Duo Er Guan, but Fu Lin opposes the idea totally. Meanwhile, Fu Lin is totally in love with Dong Wan Ru, the half-Han daughter of a Manchu official. For Da Yu Er, Duo Er Guan makes paths for Dong Wan Ru and Fu Lin to meet, but unfortunately, upon first sight, Fu Lin's younger brother has also fallen for Dong Wan Ru and asked for her hand.

On the wedding night, Duo Er Guan is estactic that his wish is finally coming true, but is enraged that Fu Lin starts attacking him verbally for being a "despicable traitor" all throughout the ceremony, but contains his anger when he sees Da Yu Er's comforting smile.

But all the celebrations halt when one of the ministers runs in with a poem, implying that the Han population thinks of them marrying is disgusting and unacceptable. Fu Lin is very much relieved when his helper has come.

Duo Er Guan argues that this is rubbish because according to their Manchurian ancestral rules, a man is allowed to marry his widowed sister-in-law, and that he doesn't give a damn about what the Han people think.

But Da Yu Er is afraid that if this wedding goes on, the Han people will think of the Manchurians as vulgar and full of incest and would eventuallly cause an uprising against her son. Duo Er Guan protests as Da Yu Er announces the cancellation of the wedding, and Da Yu Er tells if he really wants to be with her, he shoudl meet her in her garden later on.

When he gets there, she makes him choose between letting everything stay as it is, or run away with her and leave the palace forever so they would never be restricted by political and family ties again.

Duo Er Guan hesistates and chooses the latter, but Da Yu Er points out that he has changed. If it had been twenty years ago, he would have immediately grabbed her hand and eloped with her without any hesitation. It is the corruption of power in him that has made this an ending for them. Duo Er Guan sadly leaves and Da Yu Er cries silently in her room.

Confessing his love for Dong Wan Ru in the heavy outside her house, Dong Wan Ru finally accepts him and Fu Lin gives his brother an honourary title in exchange for his fiancee. The borther refuses at first, but when he realises that Dong Wan Ru only loves Fu Lin, he gives up despite being jeered at. And the brotherly ties are broken as the lovers get married. But trouble arises when Fu Lin's jealous queen tries to rid the palace of Dong Wan Ru.

Duo Er Guan starts womanizing again, this time, with a maid that has similar eyes to Da Yu Er, after being refused and develops an illness with his alcoholic behaviour. His hatred for the people deepens as he half-heartedly again plans to overthrow Fu Lin, and have Da Yu Er as his Empress. Yet, he volunteers for the front when a war is waged on the borders, partly not to arouse suspicion, and partly because his heart is broken.

To Duo Er Guan's surprise, Da Yu Er wants to meet him where they first met. Sweet words of love, dreams of the past and the bitterness of reality all come together in this meeting, their very last meeting. She gives him a embroidered money-bag, which took twenty years to sew. Half she sewn when they first met and she had hid the unfinished money bag after she got married. She finished the remaining half when she got the news he was going to war. They finally part with mutual understanding Da Yu Er would always love him, but her country more. And nothing came back to Da Yu Er, except a blood-stained embroidered money-bag which she cried on again and again.

The maid Duo Er Guan was sleeping with goes to Fu Lin's eldest brother and shows him a trunk containing her master's things, which turned out to be the yellow dragon robe he had made after the uprising. She laughs and then kills herself and the eldest brother goes to Fu Lin with proof of Duo Er Guan's betrayal.

Fu Lin gloats at the trunk and orders all Duo Er Guan's titles to be taken back and be known as a traitor. All his property is confiscated yet Da Yu Er contains her opposition for if her love for Duo Er Guan is revealed, it would only cause more problems for her son.

Fu Lin loves Dong Wan Ru so much that he wants to abolish the Empress and replace her with Don Wan Ru. The Empress is bitter and angry, first that Fu Lin has never even spent a night with her since she entered the palace, and secondly that she was insulted by being abolished.

The Empress contacts her father, who is also Da Yu Er's elder brother, and convinces the Mongolians tribes toarise and threaten war for this insult if she is abolished. So Fu Lin angrily gives up, but is comforted by Dong Wan Ru who has given birth to a son, who Fu lin wants to declare the Crown Prince.

The Empress is enraged at this and poisons the baby. Heartbroken, Dong Wan Ru develops severe illness and dies in Fu Lin's arms. Fu Lin ignores Mongolia's threats and abolishes the Empress, while he himself, quietly leaves the Palace for Mt. Wu Tai.

Da Yu Er quickly chases after her son, and catches him just as he is about to be shaved and become a monk. She persuades him to not only think of himself, but of his country. Their nation is new and other tribes are eyeing their land with greed and there is no longer any Duo Er Guan to assist and guide them to stability.

But Fu Lin stubbornly ignores everything and when he is not allowed to become a monk, he laughs and says "No one can part me from Wan Ru!" And he falls to the ground and dies from the illness he developed after Dong Wan Ru's death.

Back in the palace, Da Yu Er is comforted by the eight-year-old Emperor, who comes in dressed for his coronation. He says he will never leave her and she is moved to tears. She removes a jade on the young Emperor, which was the property of Fu Lin, and looks longingly at it.

Not many people know this, but this jade was given to Fu Lin by Duo Er Guan when Fu Lin first became Emperor. A dragon was engraved on it. She hangs it back on her grandson with relief that she has finally fulfilled Duo Er Guan's wish of being on the throne, and she reflects back on the three most important men in her life:
- Huang Tai Ji, her husband and Emperor;
- Fu Lin, her son;
- and Duo Er Guan, the love of her life.




To mSsHoRtCaKe:

In the novel and this series, Fu Lin was the son of the Emperor Huang Tai Ji. Da Yu Er never slept with Duo Er Guan.

But in other adaptions, you have Fu Lin being a result of Da Yu Er's and Duo Er Guan's adultery and Duo Er Guan being poisoned/killed by Fu Lin.

Yes, it is a sad story. It is partly made up, but based on loose evidence.

There was never any strong evidence that a wedding between Da Yu Er and Duo Er Guan ever existed, but there have been hints in the history records kept that it did. I think the wedding itself was one of the three mysteries of the Qing Dynasty.

Dong Wan Ru was based on the legendary character Dong Xiao Wan, who was believed to be a Han courtesan introduced to Duo Er Guan to kill him for the Han people, and by chance, she was noticed by the Emperor and became his concubine. I know of one series by TVB on this by Lei Si Kei as Dong Xiao Wan, Ng Wai Kok as Fu Lin, and Wong Wai as Duo Er Guan. There is also a Mandarin adaption as a movie which is very very old yet very very touching.

Another suspicion is that Da Yu Er after she died, was not buried in the Imperial Graveyard with her husband, but outside the city of Beijing. Some say that she was refused entry into the Imperial Graveyard because she was the wife of another, implying Duo Er Guan.

There's really no solid proof that the two were in love.

[bellelim]

thanks again for a great review

shortcake: i recommend you watch it, it's very good

[cal_guy]

Actually I believe Dong Wan Ru was a real person. Actually if you listen carefully her surname is really Dong-ngo and not Dong. She really was the widow of his half-brother and became a consort at the age of 17 and died at the age of 21. She was a daughter of a low-ranking official and was a member of the Plain White Border Banner so she probably was Manchurian and not a Han.

[shfx]

yes watch it. ning jing acted very well in that show

[charbydis]

Originally posted by shfx
yes watch it. ning jing acted very well in that show

I was also impressed that Steve Ma was no longer expressing rage with spitting and pounding his chest (as when doing Qiong Yao serials) . His acting has certainly improved.

[simba]

i loved this series.

even though it's kinda corny, yet I still thought it was great.

can anybody tell me where I can find the mp3 for this song? l've been dying to download it!

even better, can somebody tell me where i can download the whole series?

Ning Jing was so beautiful! Ma Jing Tao was surprisingly hot!

[bellelim]

yes, i always wanted the theme song too =)
pls let us know where we can download

thanks

[earth4477]

I purchased this series and its a big disappointment.

I dislike the leading actress who played as the empress (steve ma's love interest).

She has been praised for her beauty but in my opinion she's not pretty at all, she does have big eyes but she does not have a pretty face, her eyes looks like a goldfish like its unnatural.

some actresses with big eyes are really pretty but her big eyes seem like a goldfish.

I wish the producer would casted other pretty actress for the leading role in this series such as that unknown actress who played as her younger sister who married steve ma.

does anyone know her name?

The storyline is quite boring & draggy.
I saw 2 other ancient drama with the same Qing Dynasty background theme story with some variations with the same story characters and they were better than this drama series with steve ma.

The first one I saw with the similiar storyline and same characters but with variations wes ATV's 1980's version "the rise & Fall of Qing Dynasty I' and the second series was a taiwan's production called something like "The Dynasty Queen named Dai Yu Yee".

Comparing the 2 productions--atv's & taiwan's earlier production, this mainland china production its worse among them.

[Lady Zhuge]

I'm currently watching this series and just have a few comments to make about it. I'm pretty disappointed by Ning Jing. I thought she was really pretty as Zhao Ji in Luan Shi Ying Xiong Lu Bu Wei, but definitely not in this series as Da Yu 'er and even less so in Da Han Tian Zi II as Wei Zifu. She's one of those girls that looks better with as little makeup as possible. Xiao Yu 'er is supposed to have received that nickname because she looks like Da Yu 'er, but the two actresses couldn't look less like each other. I agree with earth that the Xiao Yu 'er actress is more beautiful. Acting-wise, Ning Jing always seems to take on the same type of roles: the very peaceful girl who has to endure a lot of inner strife. I also think the actress who played Da Yu 'er's older sister Hai Lan is really pretty. Her name is He Sai Fei. She can also be seen in Da Zai Men.

I like Steve Ma's acting in this series, as well as Liu De Kai's role(as Huang Tai Ji). I wonder if he is related to Andy Lau, since their names are almost the same.

What I thought was cool is that Si Qing Gao Wa (I can never get the pin yin right with her name) had a small role in this series and she was the one who played Xiao Zhuang in Kang Xi Di Guo.
The actor who played Huang Tai Ji also co-directed this series.

The story does get draggy and boring at times, especially with the "romantic" encounters and talks(I'm just not a big fan of that kind of stuff. ). Will it pick up somewhat?

Last thing for now. Wow, does this series have one of the longest opening songs or what? Good thing it's easy on the ears, though(as is the ending song).

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From: Sina.com

[Lady Zhuge]

Originally posted by earth4477

I wish the producer would casted other pretty actress for the leading role in this series such as that unknown actress who played as her younger sister who married steve ma.

does anyone know her name?

Her name is Bai Qing Lin.

[Lady Zhuge]

Originally posted by bellelim
yes, i always wanted the theme song too =)
pls let us know where we can download

thanks

You can try downloading them here, but the links there didn't work when I tried them for some reason. Maybe your luck will be better than mine.
Here's a link to another song in the series, but it's not the one anyone was asking about... http://www.qinsen.com/music/dat/36434419.html
Still quite nice, though.

Actors out-of-costume pics!

Steve Ma, Ning Jing, Liu De Kai:
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Bai Qing Lin:
$this->handle_bbcode_img_match('http://www.hnetv.com/zhuanti/yzms/images/interview/8.jpg')
Ning Jing:
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Hu Jing:
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All taken from: http://www.hnetv.com/zhuanti/yzms/