Cdrama: The Glory of Tang Dynasty Episodes

Chusen cast Package Deal Round 2! Heee!

English Title: The Glory of Tang Dynasty
ChinesTitle: 大唐荣耀
Cast: Jing Tian, Allen Ren, Mao Zi Jun, Qin Jun Jie
# of Episodes: 60
Airing Days: Right now, it seems like 2 every day? One on Sunday?
Broadcasting Station: Anhui, Beijing TV
Synopsis: The story follows Consort Shen (played by Jing Tian) who was known as “the wise and true empress” during the Tang Dynasty (and only honored as Empress Dowager after her supposed death), wife to Emperor Daizong of Tang (Li Chu) and mother of Emperor Dezong (Li Kuo). After being captured by rebels during the Anshi Rebellion in 759, she disappeared and was announced as deceased in 805, despite multiple attempts to locate her. During those years, many women came and pretended to be the missing Consort and were all declared as fakes. [Credit: Wiki]

Note: Video files are encoded by me in 540p resolution. File Size = ~400MB
Subbing Group: Unconfirmed (please inform if you know of any team)

♦ Episode 1
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RECAP

Episode 2
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♦ Episode 3
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RECAP Ep. 2 & 3

Episode 4
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♦ Episode 5
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Episode 6
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♦ Episode 7
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Episode 8
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♦ Episode 9
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Episode 10
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♦ Episode 11
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Episode 12
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♦ Episode 13
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Episode 14
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♦ Episode 15
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Episode 16
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♦ Episode 17
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Episode 18
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♦ Episode 19
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Episode 20
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♦ Episode 21
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Episode 22
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♦ Episode 23
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Episode 24
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♦ Episode 25
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Episode 26
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♦ Episode 27
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Episode 28
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♦ Episode 29
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Episode 30
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♦ Episode 31
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Episode 32
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♦ Episode 33
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Episode 34
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♦ Episode 35
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Episode 36
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♦ Episode 37
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Episode 38
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♦ Episode 39
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Episode 40
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♦ Episode 41
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Episode 42
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Episode 44
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Episode 46
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♦ Episode 47
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Episode 48
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♦ Episode 49
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Episode 50
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♦ Episode 51
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Episode 52
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♦ Episode 53
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Episode 54
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♦ Episode 55
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Episode 56
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♦ Episode 57
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Episode 58
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♦ Episode 59
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Episode 60 FINALE
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***183rd COMPLETED PROJECT!!***

>>>REVIEW PAGE FOR THE DRAMA HERE<<<

Kappy: It’s here! I’m clocking overtime this week at work so hopefully, I’ll get to watch it past 10 minutes. Lol.

Opening Themesong.

Our Seashell’s First Impression Rating Chart (added entertainment value b/c something can be bad but entertaining!)
– Story:
– Chemistry:
– Acting:
– Directing:
– Entertainment Value:

Use this star symbol ✪✪✪✪✪. Half a star = ½

  1. 42 thoughts on “Cdrama: The Glory of Tang Dynasty Episodes

    I managed to watch all 6 episodes in one day. Now I have to wait for tomorrow’s episodes. I have a few things to nitpick on but overall it’s pretty watchable so far.

    • 42 thoughts on “Cdrama: The Glory of Tang Dynasty Episodes

      Did you like the moment when he caught her and there was the back lighting and the blowing hair and the slo-mo?? 😀 It was funny in 太子妃 but I feel like it’s so overused now.

      I think I like this show more when it’s palace and politics and less shoujo manga “finding my first love” romp. I haven’t really warmed up to Ren Jia Lun yet but Shu Chang is so sweet. I think she’s going to break my heart.

      • 42 thoughts on “Cdrama: The Glory of Tang Dynasty Episodes

        I had to laugh at that moment because everything had been OK up until then. The wind was blowing in the wrong direction for her hair, hahaha! Good thing that moment was short.

        Shu Chang’s character is so sweet but I feel like the sweeter she is, the more torture she’ll get later on.

    • 42 thoughts on “Cdrama: The Glory of Tang Dynasty Episodes

      Right right right!!! I wasn’t actually expecting to like this, but I really do! I like that Jing Tian is still her plucky intelligent female self (her typical role) but with a different, more reserved and quiet strength. She can be unconventional in her own way, but isn’t unnecessarily and annoyingly naive or reckless and constantly “making trouble” like most heroines of this type usually are. So far so good. Surprisingly, Allen’s pretty ok so far. I can see the OTP and they have some decent chemistry (still too early for love, but mutual interest is believable?).

      Shu Chang does seem super sweet, and I have a feeling her and Qin Jun Jie are totally gonna steal my OTP love. But from what I’ve seen of the promos and stuff…her story seems to be pretty tragic? Not looking forward to that.

      Because of the general mediocrity of the recent 2017 dramas, I’ve been so productive and working so hard on other real life stuff. But then this came along and I gave into the temptation to try ep 1…and then I totally fell into the pit hole and watched all 6 eps in 3 and 1/2 hours. (admittedly did use some fast forward thru the long politics part of old-man-Yang and the parts with Cui’s mom aka 2014 older-Huang-Rong and recent Li Zhen’s annoying princess-mom).

      • 42 thoughts on “Cdrama: The Glory of Tang Dynasty Episodes

        Shen Zhenzhu is a likable character so far. I really can’t pick anything about her that I don’t like yet.

        Ren Jia Lun is OK. He delivers the expected expressions with his lines in a natural way. Nothing out of place but nothing above average yet.

        Hope we can continue watching this and not drop it! Lol

  2. 42 thoughts on “Cdrama: The Glory of Tang Dynasty Episodes

    Feel this drama is confused whether it is a serious historical drama, or a idol drama, or a palace drama. I’ll wait until more episodes come on line, then watch it.

  3. 42 thoughts on “Cdrama: The Glory of Tang Dynasty Episodes

    this series are so entertaining.. Jing Tian smart character, and bubbly big eyes are so cute and amazing.. never bored and always wait for the next episode.. thanks to you for create thread for this series.. appreciate so much.

  4. 42 thoughts on “Cdrama: The Glory of Tang Dynasty Episodes

    So far it’s okay. I’m enjoying it for the most part. I do like the chemistry between the two leads. The only thing I’m going to complain about is Allen’s swordsmanship skill. I don’t know, most of the time if not ALL the time, it looks like the sword is too heavy for him and he can’t even balance it. The way he holds the sword is so awkward, and they want me to believe he has great skills, I don’t think I can because I caught myself laughing at his facial expression and weak, imbalance ability to handle the sword in his hand every time. Other than that, the show is actually pretty good. I know it’s such a pity thing to complain about lol but I can’t get over how bad he handle his sword and fighting scenes. I mean he’s nice to look at and I like his smile. He’s a cutie and acting wise he’s doing a decent job.

    Jing Tian is really pretty. I love her big eyes and her acting is so far so good. Her character is the typical heroine, but I don’t find her annoying, but quite likable actually.

  5. 42 thoughts on “Cdrama: The Glory of Tang Dynasty Episodes

    This drama is in the “Ok to enjoyable” range for me. I’m guessing it’s aiming to be Fan Bingbing and Ruby Lin type of “historical drama”. Several pretty good supporting actors. I’m just having problems with the actress for Consort Cui, Tang Jing Mei. TJM reminds me of Hsin Ai Lee’s acting. I didn’t think TJM was quite this bad in Chusen. idk how experienced TJM is. I didn’t find Ren Jia Lun very hard to watch. I didn’t pay much attention to his swordsmanship. I had a much harder time trying to watch the much more experienced Huang Xiaoming in Cruel Romance. Eventually decided I didn’t have to watch CR at all after skimming through a few episodes. 🙂 I typically see a lot of wobbly swords in drama BTS. Even for 3 kingdoms. It takes a lot of editing, repeat takes, director observation and practice. This drama’s dubbers sound pretty good, but do not always match the visual images well. Not too bad though.

    This era has a lot of political unrest issues to resolve. So it’s not going to be a smooth-sailing OTP plot.

  6. 42 thoughts on “Cdrama: The Glory of Tang Dynasty Episodes

    *** SPOILERS UP UNTIL EP 8***

    – Story: ✪✪✪✪

    I’m not a big fan of Tang Dynasty history mainly because of the chaotic and confusing events, but the story so far is very easy to follow. They laid out the groundwork smoothly and set up the different camps (Yang, Prince and An) so we know who’s in this battle for power. So far everything makes sense—all the political moves, the scenes with the OTP and supporting characters. It’s just like many palace dramas out there and nothing seems to be above average so far, but there’s nothing in particular to nitpick on.

    Oh, but unlike other Tang dramas like Wu Zetian, not much cleavage is being shown. Which is probably a good thing because those were such an exaggeration.

    Also have to applaud them for getting Zeng Li to play Consort Yang. She is very beautiful and it’s been years since I’ve seen her.

    – Chemistry: ✪✪✪

    The chemistry is slowly budding between the two leads albeit it’s an awkward sweetness and not the sizzling kind. But it’s there, and I want to see it develop some more so I’ll give them two stars for now.

    I also like the chemistry between Jing Tian and Shu Chang so one star for these ladies. What a great pair of friends but they don’t have many scenes together so far. I’m also glad it’s not another one of those series where the two fight for the same guy. Shu Chang has Qin Jun Jie doting on her like a lovesick puppy. This pairing is very cute but I know my heart is going to ache for them later on when the angst comes.

    – Acting: ✪✪✪

    The veterans like Wang Jing Song are wonderful as always.

    I am surprised about Allen Ren Jia Lun. So I heard he was in Chusen but I’ve never watched that so this is my first exposure to his acting. Like I said in earlier comments, he’s decent. Like, nothing above average but he’s not terrible either. It’s a good balance for me so far. We’ll have to see how he does later in the series when all the heavy scenes come forth. I do have to say I rather like his character Li Chu/ Prince Guangping. Sure, he’s totally in love right now but he also has his priorities straight. Work is work, he doesn’t have time to fool around. That’s one thing I didn’t like about Tuoba Jun in Weiyoung — the OTP scenes were sweet but good grief did he has no other purpose in life?

    As with Ren Jia Lun, Jing Tian is watchable here. I’ve read comments about how her acting is a step down from Legend of Banshu but that’s another one I haven’t watched so I don’t know how poorly she’s doing. To me, she’s able to make Shen Zhen Zhu a likeable character. SZZ is a Mary Sue for sure but she’s not annoying.

    There aren’t many scenes of QJJ and Shu Chang so it’s hard to comment on their acting.

    Mao Zi Jun is very wooden here, though I think this has to do with his character being abused by his father (played by the always HK actor Lam Shuet) and he’s forced to suppress his anger and feelings.

    The actress playing Cui Cai Ping really embodies the image of a young spoiled brat with the facial expressions to prove it. I’m not liking her makeup, especially her lip color, but she does make me want to roll my eyes at her immaturity. If she wasn’t from the powerful Yang family, with her lack of intelligence, she would not last very long in the palace with that temper of hers.

    I’ve heard good things about Wan Qian but she has yet to appear. Maybe she’ll shake things up when it’s finally her turn.

    – Directing: ✪✪✪

    Some scenes are way too bright for no reason. At least the color palette in general is beautiful. They still wear grand outfits and whatnot but I’m glad the overall tone of the palace isn’t overly done.

    And yes some of the dubbing like anon mentioned does not match.

    – Entertainment Value: ✪✪✪✪

    So far so good. I’ll keep watching until the angst gets to me.

  7. 42 thoughts on “Cdrama: The Glory of Tang Dynasty Episodes

    I’m liking it so far, am up to epi 11 and can’t wait for the 2’s budding romance to blossom. ((:

    Though I’m dreading the later episodes which seem to be devastating. ):

  8. 42 thoughts on “Cdrama: The Glory of Tang Dynasty Episodes

    ** This is an appreciation post for Allen Ren Jia Lun **

    I had no idea he was a former table tennis player. Didn’t know that he is also a singer/dancer as well or the fact that he trained in Korea. Of course I’m starting to learn about him as I’m impressed by his performance in Glory. He’s pretty good for a newbie. Not wooden or expressionless like many of the lead actors these days. He still has loads to improve on but overall not too bad. Looks like he also has the seal of approval from veteran Wang Jingsong (his father in Glory) as well.

    I also watched the behind the scenes 30-minute special and got to hear his real voice. It’s a nice one, a little too weak for his role (but too deep for a baby face haha) but he definitely knows how to enunciate his lines.

    He is currently filming a drama with Yang Zi. Is he part of the famous Chusen package deal? LOL.

    Here is his song from the OST, titled “Glory”.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rph8E6vL0e8

    • 42 thoughts on “Cdrama: The Glory of Tang Dynasty Episodes

      I remember googling his background when I saw his dancing at Glory Press Conference! XD

      Yep, package deal from Chusen. Head-to-head with Mao Zi Jun once again in New Madam White Snake with Yang Zi. Lol.

      • 42 thoughts on “Cdrama: The Glory of Tang Dynasty Episodes

        I didn’t watch any trailers or press conferences until I actually started this series. XD

        Can’t they just let Mao Zi Jun get the girl for once? LOL

  9. 42 thoughts on “Cdrama: The Glory of Tang Dynasty Episodes

    I have so far “watched” it up till Ep. 15, and to be honest, I might actually drop it. I began watching partially for Jing Tian, as I did like her in Ban Shu Legend, but mostly for Mao Zi Jun. Sadly, we can add this to the multitude of dramas in which he never gets a love interest of his own. 🙁 In fact, according to the trailer, he goes all murder crazy and psychotic…
    again..

    *sigh* When will he ever be the lead?

    **YOU CAN STOP HERE. INTENSE SALT AND ANGER ISSUES APPROACHING**

    WHY DOESN’T HE GET THE LEAD ROLE?
    WHY??
    HE’S SO CUTE AND HE ALWAYS STARTS OFF SO NICE AND WHEN HE BECOMES THE VILLAIN I’M ALWAYS SO SAD EVEN THOUGH HE’S THE VILLAIN BECAUSE HE MADE ME FALL IN LOVE WITH HIS CHARACTER AGAIN WHY WHY WHY LEGIT WHY DOESN’T HE EVER HAVE HIS OWN LOVE INTEREST IF YOU THINK IT WON’T SELL I WILL PAY YOU MY 20$ OF LIFE SAVINGS PLEASE JUST GIVE HIM A LOVE INTEREST PLEASE HE NEVER DESERVED THIS LIFE THIS IS WHY I ONLY WATCH THE FOUR BECAUSE HE’S ACTUALLY SEMI HAPPY BUT HE HAS NO LINES WHY IS HE NEVER THE MAIN PLEASE JUST MAKE HIM THE MAIN I AM ON MY KNEES JUST PLEASE

    • 42 thoughts on “Cdrama: The Glory of Tang Dynasty Episodes

      I feel the same way about Mao Zi Jun. He has had plenty of love interests but never end up with any of them. In Ruby’s Chang Ge Xing they really should have just let Hu Po live so she could end up happily with him. I was livid that they killed her off. Good thing there was Gui Gui in The Four. I think he also ended up with Wei Zi Fu in Mei Ren Xin Ji as well. I remember him playing Ruby’s son the young Liu Che.

      And his next drama to air is with Yang Zi. He doesn’t get her either, but he has Shu Chang madly in love with him.
      I’m starting to wonder if he just prefers these types of roles himself.

    • 42 thoughts on “Cdrama: The Glory of Tang Dynasty Episodes

      Anon, dear, MZJ did have his own love interest in Painted Skin. Hawick Lau and Bai Bing drama version. His gf was a bird demon or something. MZJ was not the lead in PS either. In 碧血书香梦, Wu Qian was pining for MZJ desperately and chased him everywhere, but MZJ ignored Wu Qian. MZJ pined for Zhang Meng instead, who was already married. HL in PS wasn’t great. There was one memorable line where he got lectured by hairpin saleslady for buying the same style of hairpin for 2 girls, “Having 2 umbrellas may seem like a great idea, but in practice, it doesn’t really work on rainy days. You end up worse off than just having a single umbrella”

      I much prefer this palace drama to AB’s General and Tang Yan’s Wei Young. Like chasingpolaris, I found Luo Jin spent way too much of his time being an idol. Much too little time on his princely duties. He’s more of a modern idol who time-traveled back and met a princess. Rather than a prince who lived in that time period.

      I like Ren Jia Lun ok in this drama, but I wish someone had lectured his character on the 2-umbrella problem. He sure could use it. I jest. I know. I know. He has his predicaments and grandpa’s orders etc. Asymmetrical love lives never end well though. Don’t you think? The ladies end up fighting w each other while waiting for the hubby to finish work. 😀 Also, I wonder if the real life Li Chu favored Consort Dugu bc she came with immense army power and was most useful to LC’s fight for supremacy. I have mixed feelings over people dispensing affection to their spouse and kids directly proportional to the amount of financial and other contributions that each kid or spouse gives. A bit too well-calculated and portioned. I still see it a lot in modern families.

      Well, at least they give MZJ’s character some story. Consort Cui’s character is much more 1-dimensional.

      FYI there’s a 15-min trailer for this drama. Early part of the press conference YT vid for this drama mentioned the outcome for non-Li Chu characters.

  10. 42 thoughts on “Cdrama: The Glory of Tang Dynasty Episodes

    This thread is too quiet. I guess everyone else is either watching General or 3 Lives. Since I’m only watching Glory, I will keep this thread alive. Haha.

    LONG RANT AND SPOILERS AHEAD

    Zhenzhu and Li Chu

    Zhenzhu thinks she’s finally figured out who killed her family and all the evidence points to her husband, Li Chu. Then she embarks on a frustrating journey of trying to kill him. At this point I suspect the audience members are growing extremely agitated at this woman who is described as intelligent. One has to wonder where her intelligence went. Well, it’s still there. She’s just temporarily blinded by revenge. I mean, who can blame her, really? She gave him one last chance to reveal what he knows but he opted, again and again, to cover up the fact that he did indeed meet her father and gave him that jade whistle. So, as always, it takes two to tango and clearly Li Chu is also at fault here. If he had just told her right from the beginning that he was there before her family was killed, then perhaps Zhenzhu wouldn’t be in such turmoil. But hey, there would be no drama if he had done that.

    I suppose it doesn’t help that Li Chu is heads over heels in love with Zhenzhu. He risked his life by chasing her after she was abducted, climbed a mountain to find her, protected her from being stabbed by Ah Qi Na, etc. The audience will naturally feel sorry for him because of this and direct all of their anger on Zhenzhu. But she is also suffering because she wants to believe that he loves her for her and not anything else (which he does and very much so), but, sigh, all the facts she currently has doesn’t put him in a good position. I wouldn’t go as far as trying to get him killed, but I can certainly see myself feeling the same way if I were in her shoes.

    Let’s just say I want these two to reconcile ASAP. There are other hurdles they must overcome in the forthcoming episodes. Oh, and they will have a baby! Let’s make that happen, yeah?

    ~

    Murong Linzhi and Li Tan

    Poor Linzhi. She is one of my favorite characters in the drama and should be handed an award for being awesome BFF to Zhenzhu, but fate is not so kind to her. After she was abducted, she was sold to a brothel. I cried when they stamped that horrid seal onto her back, cried again when Li Tan finally found her and brought her home. More crying ensued when Li Tan told her to “wash herself”, an indication that he finds her “dirty” now since she was in a brothel, regardless of the fact that her body remained untouched by other men. Cried again when she obsessively washed herself and said, “He said he’ll come see me after I’ve washed up. I’ve washed up but why isn’t he here?” T________T

    At that moment I really wanted to strangle Li Tan, but I can understand where he is coming from. He is already miserable and having lost Linzhi for that long of a time must have driven him insane. But that doesn’t excuse him from being such an asshole, especially from what I saw in the previews for this week’s episodes.

    Basically the carefree Li Tan we saw from before is now dead. T_____T

    • 42 thoughts on “Cdrama: The Glory of Tang Dynasty Episodes

      I’m still watching this drama too. But I fast fwd thru some sad or very evil stuff.

      I’m not too fond of the Zhenzhu character, though I don’t hate her. Just thankful she is not the Detective Dee of the Tang court from this era. Certainly one shouldn’t entrust her with complicated murder investigations. Jing Tian is fine for the role. I just have lukewarm enjoyment of ZZ as lead character since she was married. The character has accumulated so much baggage. Her own personal quality shows very little now. Her personality is not my favorite cup of tea to begin with. But I like watching the bits of city streetside, silk road culture.

      • 42 thoughts on “Cdrama: The Glory of Tang Dynasty Episodes

        I agree with you on Zhenzhu, but I think it is also a needed development in her character. It wouldn’t make sense for her to stay the same way after her family’s tragedy, so I expected the change. Then after being blinded by revenge, we saw how heartless she can be with Li Chu. Zhenzhu is getting a lot of criticism from netizens for this but all of it is dramatic irony. I wish they would see that.

    • 42 thoughts on “Cdrama: The Glory of Tang Dynasty Episodes

      Lol yeah. Personally I’ve been mostly watching only Three Lives Three Worlds. In general, I prefer the genre more and I do like the original novels (well, mixed feelings cuz the writing was mediocre and the stuff totally plagiarized but I can’t can’t help but really love the stolen plot and characters).

      I did like Tang for the first 7 eps. As of now, I’m still stuck at the part where he finally finds out it’s her on their wedding night. Tbh I did fast forward thru some of the further eps, but I definitely do feel like Zhen Zhu’s lost a lot of her personality due to grief and palace life. Admittedly, it’s realistic and can’t be helped with the situation she’s in and what’s happened since the before-her. But honestly the dimming of that spark of hers really feels very bitter sweet. And honestly. I hate He-something-something too much to continue (that god**** female-secretary person that’s such a manipulative b****). Maybe I’ll continue at some point, but as of now I’m basking in the “mostly” happy atmosphere of 3L3W. It’s not fantastic or ground-breaking by any means, but for me it’s very watchable and entertaining.

      • 42 thoughts on “Cdrama: The Glory of Tang Dynasty Episodes

        People often have blind jealousy of the well-off folks. Ah, all my problems will be solved if only I have money and power. In reality, there’s often a lot of baggage, a lot time devoted to fending off enemies, perform various tasks, family duties, in being an aristocrat. When the potential reward is high, with the throne being the prize, even family members can resort to murder to take what you have. It’s a pretty scary and lonely life. Though the men can have teams of consorts for “amusement”. But the amusement comes with hidden daggers. So, wear the armors.

        Good that you’re enjoying 3l3w Juli. I have only watched (bad) Chusen and Hua Qian Gu (truly horrible ending) in Xianxia. I hope ppl will compare 3l3w to the other Xianxia dramas. 😉 Did plagiarizing help make the plot seem better than other Xianxia? I tend to not like Yang Mi in costume drama. I only found Black & White ok; the old Taiwanese drama with Mark Chao. But I like Mark Chao ok in the movie Caught in the Web, though Gao Yuanyuan’s role was much more interesting.

        • 42 thoughts on “Cdrama: The Glory of Tang Dynasty Episodes

          It’s hard to describe, for me. It’s not that the fact that 3l3w is plagiarized makes it any better, but it’s just the content and setup. Compared to the other xianxia productions, the setting and world and just culture/folktales/myth aspect is so much stronger and holds together really well. It’s very detailed in the descriptions of the xian world and actually really ties in with all the real life myths and stories of chinese culture so it just feels the most like we’re really stepping into and getting a piece of the Xianxia world. Plus the feel of the characters very much fits in with the Xian atmosphere and it’s just a good vibe. Tbh I can’t say I admire this from Tang Qi cuz a lot of that setting and world-building isn’t even really her own brain child. And I really regret the fact that the original author (can find more on the whole situation in depth on Hamster’s blog: https://hamster428.wordpress.com/2015/07/09/plagiarism-allegations-against-tqgz/ )’s work isn’t more popular cuz I’d want to check it out except it’s not translated (the audiobook would take too much time and energy).

          Tbh I didn’t expect much from 3l3w, but Yang Mi’s MUCH better than I expected (best as Bai Qian, decent and likable as Si Yin…and I just sort of ignore Su Su even tho the OTP scenes are cute). Mark Zhao’s fantastic. Frekaing fantastic. I saw him in Black and White, but tbh liked Vic Zhou more. Didn’t think he fit the image for Ye Hua, but tbh now I can’t see anyone else as Ye Hua, incl Yang Yang. Anyways. Enough of that…lol wrong chat for 3l3w.

        • 42 thoughts on “Cdrama: The Glory of Tang Dynasty Episodes

          Thank you for your detailed description Juli. Novel readers often commented that the original novelist is Taiwanese and it’s original context is BL, which is more or less banned in Mainland, so the original novel’s chance at popularity is very low.

          One novelist starts from scratch. T7 started from another person’s work. Logically, T7 has the potential of improving the novel and craft it into something better. Similar to how it should be easier to make a spectacular looking cake if you don’t need to make the whole cake from scratch. Researching, searching, and procuring every single quality ingredient yourself. You can spend more effort ad time on the decoration part. Unfortunately, this also leads to a lot of people plagiarizing and cheating in the world out there!!

          It’s hard to discuss this too much in 3l3w without raining on the 3l3w fans’ parade.

          I can see how readers who like fantasy genre are likely going to enjoy the 3l drama. Thanks! I have to weigh how much I can take Vengo Gao. Also, this sort of xianxia may be prone to overwrought love plots? I do like some intellectual or logical content.

      • 42 thoughts on “Cdrama: The Glory of Tang Dynasty Episodes

        I feel you on 3 Lives. Haven’t watched it yet. I know it’s plagiarized but I liked TangQi’s book and the characters too. Maybe this is what they call a guilty pleasure?

        I didn’t mention this in my above reply to anon partly because I was distracted but Zhenzhu’s personality change reminds me of Ruoxi from Bu Bu Jing Xin. They are both stubborn characters that started off being carefree and were too smart for their own good. Both had dreams—Ruoxi wanted to avoid marriage and Zhenzhu wanted to find her first love. The two then had to give up their dreams and give into whatever was thrown their way, thus shifting their personalities and forcing them to grow up. Such is life, right? Well, this is where the angst starts, I guess.

        The acting here is phenomenal though. Shu Chang and Qin Jun Jie, especially. The recent episodes focused on their story and I was blown away by how well both of them did in their scenes. I hope their characters become their breakthrough roles.

        Ren Jia Lun too—I really like how he is able to use his eyes to act. He said that he often asked for tips from the veterans in the drama. He’s very lucky.

        • 42 thoughts on “Cdrama: The Glory of Tang Dynasty Episodes

          It should qualify as a guilty pleasure. I’m hoping Re Xue Chang An will be ok and watchable so I don’t have to try out 3l3w. I never read any versions of the novel. I’m too lazy to learn all the characters and stuff. Xianxia has a lot of unique xianxia logic. It takes a lot of time investment. And I find wuxia logic is stronger than xianxia’s.

          With c drama, half the time I am more mesmerized by the veterans’ acting than the young leads’ acting. I also like the veteran actor who is playing Yang Guo Zhong in this drama. I saw him previously doing a contemporary lighthearted romcom with no evil streak at all. It’s like the Nirvana actors for Xia Jiang and the son of Marquis Yan. Both showed very different sides to them in Ode to Joy as Qu Xiaoxiao’s dad and sibling.

          SC and QJJ are both very good. Their scenes are so heartwrenching I skipped some scenes to avoid heartbreak. I end up seeing QJJ in a lot of roles where he starts off impetuous or spoiled-ish. The kind that likes to flirt a lot during the first half of the drama. They do seem to like to typecast. SC has been medicine woman at least a couple of times.

          Not only that. Not just Ruoxi and ZZ. A good marriage in some, or in a lot of ways, is about compromise. An OPT will never be identical. You have to compromise for harmony. Not insisting on doing everything your way for each person. After you compromise for a while, before you know it, you’re not your old self anymore. Sometimes it’s for the better, sometimes not. C culture results in something even more extreme since the whole house of inlaws could be involved in the center of your life. Jobs and family relatives also do that sort of thing to people.

    • 42 thoughts on “Cdrama: The Glory of Tang Dynasty Episodes

      Still watching Glory here too and while I also wanted Zhenzhu and Li Chu to reconcile during the misunderstanding, I can kinda understand where Zhenzhu is coming from. I actually find it refreshing that the female lead is sticking to her guns in terms of finding the murderer for her family’s slaughter and not immediately swayed by the male lead / romance (ehem..Wei Young). Clearly she is not an intuitive detective and interpreted data in a very prima favor way based on evidence but then again, she is meant to be 19 years old and although a smart girl, her intelligence seems to be more in terms of literature and academia – not really real world skills; she traipsed all the way to Hui He to look for her dream dude! Sure it’s super unfortunate for Li Chu but it does show that communication is key – he too has his reasons for not disclosing everything to her but constantly denying he was there didn’t help the entire process. What I found not quite believable (and have to attribute to drama logic) is the reason for He Ling Yi to frame him – initially I thought it was because she wanted to ruin their relationship but it seems like she is working for Yang Guo Chong which seems to be a bolt out of the blue!

      I am up to date and am pleased to report that once the misunderstanding is resolved, Zhenzhu and Li Chu make a great team – wish they could do more of that and solve issues together but alas the An Lushan rebellion has started …. 🙁

  11. 42 thoughts on “Cdrama: The Glory of Tang Dynasty Episodes

    SPOILERS AHEAD (more of a rant with spoilers)

    Wan Qian’s Dugu Jingyao has finally appeared and I just can’t bring myself to like this character. It has nothing to do with her trying to tear apart the OTP but more so because her personality is so twisted. HUGE disappointment for someone who was expecting a kickass righteous female general. If you strip away her title, she’s just like all the other petty palace women.

    For one, she drugged Zhenzhu into marrying An Qingxu. Just because she didn’t want to marry the man herself, she thought it would be a good idea to drug someone to take her place. Her reasoning was that An likes Zhenzhu anyway so she thought she was doing him a favor by forcing the girl into that damn palanquin. The consequence of her running away? An Qingxu kills her family on the spot. Then she comes galloping back to “rescue” Zhenzhu like she’s the hero and all. Excuse me? Who put her in that spot in the first place? *cue eye roll*

    Not to mention, she is well aware that Zhenzhu loves Li Chu. But being the selfish heartless wrench that she is, she decides that Zhenzhu’s wishes aren’t as important as hers. It is so ironic that she later questions (from the documentaries and trailers) Li Chu if he has ever spared a thought for her feelings. *cue another eye roll* Yeah OK only your feelings matter.

    She thinks she will eventually be more important to Li Chu than Zhenzhu is to him just because she’s got the army to back him up and she dodged that arrow for him. (That damn arrow.) Little does she know that Li Chu and Zhenzhu’s love and bond is deeper than that. That’s a hard lesson for her to learn but she has to accept that fact.

    • 42 thoughts on “Cdrama: The Glory of Tang Dynasty Episodes

      You and me both ! I was at ep53 yesterday and just couldn’t forgo my sleep (watching it from midnight my time) to watch ep54!! I am not sure if it’s because Li Chu, being a prince, is expected to marry more than one wife, hence her behavior is not seen to be absolutely classless but I just detest her. It irks me how she thinks that she “tried her best” to avoid Li Chu but it’s Zhenzhu who “forces” them together when Zhenzhu okayed her working closely with her husband. Once they start working together, she is literally making eyes at Li Chu when he is just being a fair boss (when defending her as a female subordinate against some disbelieving men). I thought the part where Li Chu was hesitant to accept her gifts (the missives and letters) when she hinted she will want something else from him was well played (love Allen Ren) – how do you deal with a woman who seems to be flirting with you , although not as overt as Concubine Cui who uses her feminine wiles, but instead seems to be trading it for military favors? I think that’s why I dislike Dugu Jingyao so much – she is literally the only career woman in this show and she is giving all of us a bad name! LOL

  12. 42 thoughts on “Cdrama: The Glory of Tang Dynasty Episodes

    from today episode (Zhang “Huang Ho” cases) it seems the plot is still far away to be ended … from the preview, for tomorrow episode 59-60 (last episode ??) , somehow i curious why i feel it’s gonna be extended … not feel like tomorrow is the last episode.. not sure either .. Dugu Jingyao .. aiyaa… i just hate her, she’s not like Cui but she’s more evil using her clan’s power to help Lichu , that make Zhenzhu can’t do nothing and helpless.. since Lichu & Zhenzhu reunion from “Nun” forcement, seems Jing Tian use so many body double and green screen for her part … and combined with her normal scene with Lingzhi, or walking together with Lichu & King to see that sick kid …

  13. 42 thoughts on “Cdrama: The Glory of Tang Dynasty Episodes

    Right? I am so disappointed with this character development. Her first appearance left a strong and positive impression and it is so sad that it spiraled downward from there. I really thought she would be that type who would just move on once she figured out Li Chu only loves Zhenzhu. To think she already knew about their love story beforehand too! So sad she turned out to be a general with a twisted personality, nothing like what I had imagined.

    Regarding that conversation between Linzhi and Li Chu about his relationship with Dugu, I can see how the latter will use this to her advantage later on. I fear that her marriage to Li Chu is purely based on the fact that she knows Zhenzhu take pity on her for not being able to bear children, and not really because she was drugged by Li Xi or that Li Chu saved her from that fiasco. I’m probably getting ahead of myself here though.

    • 42 thoughts on “Cdrama: The Glory of Tang Dynasty Episodes

      This reply is for you, Lizzie! Sorry I didn’t hit the reply button!

      • 42 thoughts on “Cdrama: The Glory of Tang Dynasty Episodes

        That’s too bad general Dugu is not a pleasant character. You guys are so much faster at watching this. I can’t catch up. Even w the fast-fwd button. lol In the opening credit and theme, which character was the guy on the floor who got punished w stick beating? Around the 1 minute mark, near the time when they showed the names for art director, photography director.

        tbh, given how deeply in love the 2 leads are and both w quite high moral values. The probability that Dugu will be a strong and likeable character, with Dugu’s screen time finally increasing at ep 50+. With ~10 ep left, and not being a lead. That probability is v low. Unless you have v creative writers. If you make Dugu v likeable, it will make Li Chu appear like a player. Don’t you think? How do you make the new 3rd wheel likeable and have Li Chu be a 100% devoted hubby? I don’t have an answer.

        imho, making your leads to take moral high ground a lot of the time in a drama can make your character developments for many characters quite limited. This drama length is maxed out at 60. It has to work similar to a zero sum game at times. If 2 leads have high moral values, then a number of other characters have behave badly. You have to provide a setting to show the leads acting magnanimously. Often, the better the 2 leads are, the worse the rest have to be. In GOTD, Li Chu, SZZ, Li Tan, Linzhi, a few of their supporters are the “good” ones. To me, this is a major drawback have having MS lead. The lead pair will dominate too much, stealing the thunder, and limit the general story-telling a lot.

        At ep 50, it’s similar to a chess game that has 20% of game time left. There are limited options on your moves given the leftover pieces and moves. When you put the first 3 stalks of flower in the vase, they can fit almost anywhere. Whereas the very last 3 have to fit in the leftover spaces. The early bird gets the worm. The reason why there are lots of fights to be the first to discover and invent this and that. Also, if one is a v high-achieving woman, it’s hard to find a qualified man. No, I’m not endorsing 3rd wheels. lol. Just explaining why probability of a good Dugu is low.

        You don’t think so?

        I’d love to hear final impressions from all of you about GOTD if you still have the energy to type then. Do you think this is good script writing, beyond having a v likeable Li Chu character? idk when i’d have time to finish watching GOTD.

        Enjoy the finale!!!

        • 42 thoughts on “Cdrama: The Glory of Tang Dynasty Episodes

          Li Chu was the one who got beat up. His father ordered the beating because Li Chu was pleading on behalf of Li Tan. I think we will see that in tonight’s episodes.

          They extended the drama to an additional 32 episodes so we’re going to have 92 in total. Lol. There will be plenty of time for Dugu to keep showing us her selfish streak, unfortunately.

        • 42 thoughts on “Cdrama: The Glory of Tang Dynasty Episodes

          Thank you for the identification, chasingpolaris.

          Oh no. 92 eps! I will need another FF button. Yikes. With a shrew, Dugu, to boot. sigh.
          Emperor Suzong’s drama character and his Empress Zhang do test viewer’s patience.

          Hope the ending will be enjoyable to all of you who are still watching.

    • 42 thoughts on “Cdrama: The Glory of Tang Dynasty Episodes

      Hi @chasingpolaris! No problems – I got that 🙂 I dislike Jingyao tremendously because unlike Concubine Cui who overtly declares war with Zhenzhu, she is coating it with a guise of military alliance , infertility , save-her-honor etc but essentially she and the former are just the same – I would say that at least Cocubine Cui is honest and not taking the moral high road.

      What I find realistic is that Li Chu is not completely immune to her (and she knows it that wench!) unlike him towards Concubine Cui or He Ling Yi. He admires her and she piques him – which is very normal in the current context when men and women work closely together and bond over shared experiences. That makes him a man – where he is a good man is that he recognizes the vibe, distances himself emotionally from it, reassures his wife and stay faithful. If he was like An Qingxu who only ever loved and loves Zhenzhu and could not even cast a glance at Li Ruo despite her saving his life and not unattractive , that would make him someone with an unhealthy obsessive streak.

      And may I just say how much I detest the Crown Prince ? Even from the beginning and now where he is proving to be exactly the man he can never hope to be by being self serving , petty and insecure.

      • 42 thoughts on “Cdrama: The Glory of Tang Dynasty Episodes

        The Crown Prince grates on my nerves too, but thanks to his shortcomings we have a character like Li Chu who is so likable. Someone has to look out for the whole family and Crown Prince is obviously not good at it. Poor Li Chu though. He has so much on his shoulders.

        Have you watched the scene where Dugu dumps the bottle of pills? I was infuriated because it was such a waste of Linzhi’s efforts, and also because it clearly shows that Dugu is going to ruin her own health just because Li Chu doesn’t reciprocate the same feelings. I think she will be using infertility as a bargaining tool in the near future.

        • 42 thoughts on “Cdrama: The Glory of Tang Dynasty Episodes

          @Lizzie, Your comments on Consorts Cui and Dugu gave me this fleeting thought.
          Dugu heard Cui being Cui’s true self and now sees that Cui is in v unstable mental state now. So Dugu is now taking a different approach than Cui. LOL. Forgive my bad sense of humor.

          Questions on Tang culture: Were “respectable” men expected to have primarily non-writing jobs in Tang era? I think the majority of people favored court positions for the prestige throughout many dynasties. Among the 4 greatest C classics, all of them were 14th century or later. None are from Tang era. Tang had Li Bai, Du Fu, Bai Juyi. Famous Tang poets are more known for their poetry, not prose, right? Su Dongpo of Song was a pretty good writer, but his early primary posts were at the court before he got exiled multiple times. Did Tang poems have melodies associated with them like some of the Song era ones? Song era example with modernized melody: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shuidiao_Getou I heard Tang era’s spoken Chinese was a lot more like contemporary Cantonese dialect rather than modern Mandarin. Interestingly, bc there were a lot of visiting international scholars during Tang, some old terms from Tang era are still very similar to their corresponding Japanese terms. J term, Saiyuki, for Journey to the West, for example. It’s similar to Cantonese. So some J terms end up very similar to their Canto counterparts. This is true for some older Chinese dialects like Minnan too. J phrases like Shimbun, Shinsekai, gyu, are more similar to Minnan than contemporary Mandarin. Though there are also J phrases that are similar to Mandarin like pipa, sanxian.

          Apparently, famous poet Bai Juyi’s brother was a short story writer. Bai Juyi was born during Li Chu’s reign as Emperor Daizong. Per wiki.

          I’m just v interested and curious of the period culture. In reality, Li Chu had other lower ranked consorts like 才人张红红? https://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E5%94%90%E4%BB%A3%E5%AE%97

        • 42 thoughts on “Cdrama: The Glory of Tang Dynasty Episodes

          Hi! I haven’t – stopped at 54 so gonna marathon the balance this weekend 🙂 can’t believe so many episodes have passed by! I know there are some comments that it’s draggy but I actually quite like how the show slowly unfolds. My concern now is that I hope there is some plausible reason as to why Empress Zhang slaughtered the entire Shen family as at that time, she had no need for military power as she wasn’t even pregnant yet. Doesn’t quite seem like she is in cahoots with Shi Siming so hopefully that won’t be a gigantic logic gap. My Mandarin is passable at best so I could have misunderstood some of the conversations on this matter!

  14. 42 thoughts on “Cdrama: The Glory of Tang Dynasty Episodes

    Hi Kappy…

    Thanks for the Review/Finale Discussion

    Patiently waiting for your ep 16 to upload!

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