Exploring the Lives of the Imperial Consorts and Empresses in Qianlong’s Court Through the Story of Yanxi Palace
- UNCP Author/Contributor (non-UNCP co-authors, if there are any, appear on document)
- Peace Ajirotutu (Creator)
- Institution
- The University of North Carolina at Pembroke (UNCP )
- Web Site: http://www.uncp.edu/academics/library
Abstract: "The most googled show on earth in 2018 was a 70-episode Chinese drama titled Story of Yanxi Palace. This statistic is a feat since Google is banned in China. Even though Yanxi was a mega success internationally and reached over half a billion views in China, it was censored in China shortly after airing. This begs the question; why would China censor its most popular television show in 2018? According to Geng Song, a scholar of gender and identity in Chinese popular culture, Yanxi is a drama that falls into the subgenre category of “palace intrigue dramas” (gongdou ju). These particular palace dramas are usually set in the Qing dynasty. They feature intriguing secretive, complex, and backstabbing plots from imperial consorts who fight to win the emperor’s favor and vie for power in the court. The show creators use fictional stories with authentic historical events to produce a show that provides viewers with enough drama to keep their interest and accurate historical information to keep them educated on Qing history and culture. Song believes the main reason for the banning is that censorship authorities “found the drama’s unexpected overseas popularity embarrassing because it conveyed an unwanted image of China.” This paper seeks to address whether this “unwanted image” implies that Yanxi is so inaccurate that it portrays a fake image of China’s history to the rest of the world. Or is Yanxi so authentic that it illustrates a version of Chinese history that the Chinese Communist Party does not want to be highlighted? The speculation for why Yanxi could have been censored led to this paper's central research questions: How accurate is the portrayal of Qianlong’s empresses and imperial consorts in Story of Yanxi Palace? Furthermore, should historical accuracy be mandatory for historical fiction television shows? When approaching these questions, one must applaud the Yanxi writers for pulling viewers into the critical aspects of imperial consorts’ lives while recognizing, not condemning, the embellishments interjected throughout the story. Through Yanxi, executive producer Yu Zheng and screenplay writer Zhou Mo created a captivating television series depicting the main events in a woman’s lifetime while in the Forbidden City. This paper uses primary and secondary sources about imperial consorts of the Qing dynasty to describe the historical and cultural points viewers can learn about Qianlong’s reign through Yanxi. After watching all 70 episodes, viewers will understand that a consort’s life begins when entering the Forbidden City, for which death is the only way out. Furthermore, as viewers watch the women deal with the highs and lows of the ranking system, they will become familiar with the internal complexities of the Forbidden City."
Exploring the Lives of the Imperial Consorts and Empresses in Qianlong’s Court Through the Story of Yanxi Palace
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Created on 4/6/2023
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Additional Information
- Publication
- Honors Project
- Language: English
- Date: 2023