Fifteen BILLION view between 19th July and 1 September, and half a billion on one day alone (August 12th). Phenomenal viewing figures by any standard for The Story of Yanxi Palace (延禧攻略). Viewing figures like that should be major news, since they reflect a mass market untapped by current media marketing models. Yet in the west, barely a mention. Which says plenty about the global market for the arts, and about current west-centric business and political assumptions. It's compulsive viewing. I've watched all 70 episodes (45 minutes each) and want to start all over again to catch more detail. And I don't usually like these kind of sagas and rarely watch TV at all.
The Story of Yanxi Palace is an extravagant historical saga set in the Forbidden City in Beijing during the reign of the Qianlong Emperor, a period that out-baroques the baroque and makes even Louis XIV look modest in comparison. It tells the story of a girl who enters imperial service as a maid and works her way up to becoming de facto Empress. A rags to riches story without precedent, particularly cogent since it's based more or less on a true story. Moreover, the heroine, Wei Yinglou (Jinyan Wu), is a ferociously strong personality despite her demure appearance. So much for the idea that Asian women are meek. There always were lots of strong women in Chinese history, despite patriarchal values. Although the Emperor is kingpin in the Forbidden City where no other men can remain at night, the drama predicates around the women in the palace, most of them feisty characters in their own ways, competing to survive. Like the women in the palace, you have to keep alert at all times : the plot moves so fast, with so many sub plots that you're mesmerized. Every episode ends on a cliff hanger.
You're also riveted by the sheer visual richness of the set - elaborate reconstructions of the imperial palace, every inch covered with antiques (or rather very good replicas). Even the slop buckets are cloisonné, and the porcelain in the cha wan (tea cups) is so fine that light shines through them. Best of all the embroidery, created in the workshops that supply the ongoing maintenance needs of the imperial palaces. Please watch part of the making of documentary here Since the plot predicates on embroiderers, this is no minor detail, but a metaphor for dedication, patience and attention to detail. Politics, like embroidery, involves skill. The Qianlong Emperor's father had numerous sons, but chose him to succeed in recognition of his mental discipline and courage. A country the size of China isn't easy to rule. The Emperor's younger brother fools around, "entitled" by privilege”: his weaknesses get him in the end. Yinglou falls in love with Fuca Fuheng, kid brother of the Fuca Empress, the Emperor's first wife, and he with her, but they can't marry. He's aristocratic, she's low level Bannerman family. In any case, duty comes before love. He leads the Emperor's armies in the south and eventually dies in service of the country (while also sacrificing himself to save Yinglou, by then an Imperial Concubine and untouchable). Yinglou's rise to power stems from much the same reason ; not deviousness so much as being more altruistic than the other concubines. She thinks oif oithers than herself, saving the Fuca Empress's portrait from a fire, and sacricing her own health trying to save the Step Empress's son. Always a moral, even in made for TV entertainment. Mental exercise for viewers, too. TV need not be mindless.
The dialogue is in Mandarin, though it's not impossible to follow if you understand Cantonese. Considering that 19% of the world's population lives in China, and that many millions around the world can follow it too, the issue of translation is moot. With an internal market that size, the series doesn't depend on English language audiences. It has been dubbed in Cantonese, Malay, and Indian sub continent languages, but Mandarin speakers say that it's quite literary, so some translations might not convey the full effect. In any case some knowledge of Chinese culture and history does make a difference. Tiny details, for example, like the toddler running round the palace, whose carers can't keep up with him "Fifteenth son !" they call. Just any wilful kid? The Emperor's fifteenth son was Yinglou's child, who would one day become the Jiajing Emperor though they don't tell you that in the story. English subtitles do exist but they're not very helpful. But The Story of Yangzi Palace is such an event in itself that it's sure to be rebroadcast and issued on DVD, presumably with translations and context explained. Hopefully, media marketers, economists and politicians will wake up and smell the coffee. Or rather, the scent of tea.
No comments:
Post a Comment