#Tian Zhong

[kdram-chjh]

Cdrama: Novoland Pearl Eclipse (2021)

😭 Which father is doing like that with her doughter ⚡ I can't believe ✨ #status #cdrama

Watch this video on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vhFCqfmIX60

[numerodixe]

Zeng Shun Xi and Tian Xiwei, Li Qin and Zhang Tianai, Song Jia and Zhong Chuxi, Wang Anyu and Hu Xianxu, Jin Chen and Sun Yang, Zhang Jingyi and Hu Yitian, Tong Yao and Zhang Xincheng, Chen Duling, Sun Yihan & Wang Zixuan, Li Yitong & Wang Yang, Tian Jia Rui and Gulinazha for GQ Creative Gala

[coglionapocoetero]

Our General Xuan Zhen flirting with General Ju Nan Yang

[chineseredcarpet]

GQ China shares pics from Creative Gala of Song Yanfei & Cheng Xiao, He Yu & Xin Yunlai, Xu Kai & Liu Xueyi, and Zhang Jingyi & Wen Qi, as well as Zhong Chuxi, Tian Xiwei & more

[yibennianyaji]

Jing Tian in costume as Nan Yan from Si Hai Zhong Ming

[ausana]

My Little Happiness - Episode 2

[voca-song-a-day]

Today's featured song is: "Foreign Records Criminal Detective" by Zu Gu Dashi, Adam_K, and Xi Zhong Ren feat. Yuezheng Ling! (cw: violence, and video contains epileptic content)

[sealedsanctuary]

霹靂封靈島 Pili: Sealed Spirits Island · 2002 - Jian Zhong Qiu & Tian Ji

[scorbleeo]

Drama Gossip: 19th Floor (19层)

Source: Google Images

Unconscious after a car accident, university student Chun Yu and her best friend Qing You mysteriously find themselves inside the dangerous world of a VR game. Several other people have also unwittingly ended up here, and they soon discover they were all involved in the accident - except for substitute teacher Gao Xuan, who claims to have simply fallen asleep. Seeing no other option than to play the game, they eventually beat the level and wake up … only to immediately return the next night.

Faced with deadly monsters, puzzles, and mind games, the players have to learn to cooperate despite being unsure if they can trust each other. The pressure increases when it turns out that people who die in the game fall into a coma in real life. And then several more students are dragged into the game! The group spends their nights trying to survive the next level and their days investigating who is doing this to them and why. As they grow closer, friendships and budding romances are repeatedly put to the test by the stress of the situation and the evil machinations of the people behind the game…

Source: MyDramaList (2024)

Actually Interesting

This drama was all over my Douyin FYP when it was showing. Imagine seeing people in modern-day clothes, in a slightly olden-day setting running from what seemed like zombies. Tell me that wouldn't pique your interest. Okay, maybe it wouldn't but it piqued mine. However, apart from that snippet, I went into this drama not knowing anything. Hell, I didn't even know who were the actors.

Anyhow. The premise of 19th Floor is not a new concept. It's the classic 'real life people entering a game with high stakes' plot. What was new was that them entering the game was not obvious initially. The how they entered was a mystery until quite a few episodes in too. Additionally, the games were different. Each time they entered it, the game, the rules and even the stakes were different.

Initially, this was an extremely fascinating drama. I was hooked and went through episodes like I had no other responsibilities. However, as the cast went on and began discovering the secrets and motives, the drama honestly, got predictable. In my opinion, 19th Floor could have had a darker tone to it. Keep the storyline but make things darker, bring in the 'unreliable narrator' trope, make the high stakes actually high stakes as in, more deaths or consequences that cannot be undone. You see, the beginning of this drama was action-filled but the end, not so much.

Don't get me wrong, 19th Floor is still interesting but it could have been way more interesting, considering the actual story from where this drama was adapted from? Yeah, 19th Floor could have done more.

Rating: ★★★☆☆

More productions from China here: The Romance of Tiger and Rose (传闻中的陈芊芊) | Under the Skin (猎罪图鉴)

[novelswithariana]

Episode 5, 6, 7 & 8

Lady Yin Lian, your husband is standing right there. Please don't look at Huaiying like he is eye candy! Also, I am curious about the Bingzhou ditty. Why does Ren Jie keep hearing it everywhere?

Mummy, Lai Er is scary. Is she also mad?

I feel like Ma Rong and Ba Zong would make a good pair. It would be good if he could work under Ren Jie.

Ma Rong, please don't interrupt Ren Jie and Cao An. I am wholly invested in their romance. I knew it! There was something wrong with Teng Kan. He was acting a little suspicious.

God! Find yourself a man who writes and carves poetry for you.

[kdram-chjh]

Cdrama: Love’s Rebellion (2024)

so funny 😅#zhanglinghe #darrenchen #lovesrebellion #funnyvideo #trendingshorts #fy

Watch this video on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/Aq6P5Ypssfg

[asianwhumpgalore]

Secret of Three Kingdoms (三国机密) | Cdrama | Whump List

Genre: Historical, Romance, Drama, Political, War

Synopsis: The last hope of the crumbling Han Dynasty bears an unspeakable secret with the power to destroy the imperial rule it seeks to save during the turbulent Three Kingdoms era, tied to a cold case related to the unsolved murder of a young man from the countryside.

Length: 54 eps

Whump meter: ▲◭△△△  Whumpy Things: Bro whump, sensitive whumpee

✨ Absolutely fascinating drama with great lead couple, omg. There was unfortunately not as much whump as I would have liked but there's a substantial bit of emotional whump and plenty angst✨

⚠️Trigger Content: Violence, mild gore, s**cide (explicitly shown and talked about frequently by a lead character), usual historical cdrama CWs (most triggering eps at the bottom) ⚠️⚠️Some SPOILERS will be found, proceed with caution⚠️⚠️

Whumpee: Liu Xie / Liu Ping portrayed by Ma Tian Yu

Ep 1 | Concern for loved one, teary eyed, labored breathing | stepped on, winces x2 | In shock.

Ep 2 | In shock, crying | Caught in a fire, saved, weak, comforted, concern for him.

Ep 3 | None.

Ep 4 | [04:35] Struggling to hold someone back, bitten in the arm, in pain, teary eyed, bite mark visible on his arm | [16:17] Wound turned red, arm wrapped up.

Ep 5 | Scolded, concern for loved one, yelled at | [36:20] Concern for loved one, scolded, grabbed by his clothes and pushed against the wall, scolded, yelled at, crying, begging to save loved one.

Ep 6-8 | Distressed, crying, scolded. He cries a lot. (ep 8 - Angry)

Ep 9 | [07:25] Mourning death of loved one, on his knees, crying, angry | [18:55] Guilty, has a breakdown, crying | Slapped.

Ep 10 | None.

Ep 11 | Teary eyed | Yelled at.

Ep 12-20 | None.

Ep 21 | Fought. Restrained, sword held to his neck. Imprisoned.

Ep 22-23 | None.

Ep 24 | Arrested, bound to cross, hit with an arrow a bunch (semi-comedic), dragged away.

Ep 25-27 | None.

Ep 28 | Imprisoned, chained | Weak due to being starved, pale, wrists injured from the chains, struggling to walk | Made to kneel.

Ep 29 | Brief injury reveal, concern for him.

Ep 30-31 | None.

Ep 32 | Slapped x2, emotional.

Ep 33-37 | None.

Ep 38-40 | Emotional, crying.

Ep 41 | Fought in a war | Scolded, slapped, emotional, crying.

Ep 42-44 | None.

Ep 45 | [23:50] Teary eyed | Made to watch his brother be tortured unable to do anything to save him, tearing up.

Ep 46 | Emotional, tearing up.

Ep 47 | None.

Ep 48 | Witnesses loved one die, crying | Emotional, crying x2 | Crying, grabs sword by the blade, bleeding, blood covered hand.

Ep 49-51 | Emotional, crying. Witnesses the death of a loved one (Ep 50).

Ep 52-54 | None.

Whumpee: Sima Yi (Zhong Da) portrayed by Elvis Han

Ep 1 | Told loved one died, teary eyed.

Ep 2-10 | Threatened with a sword held to his neck a couple of times (ep 3, 5, 8).

Ep 11 | [26:26] Throws himself in front of someone to protect them from an attack, stabbed in the shoulder, on the ground, yelps, helped sit up, clutching wound, winces.

Ep 12 | No appearance.

Ep 13 | Recovering from injury, being fed medicine, heavy breathing, pale, moves but is stopped by a sudden pain, clutches chest, coughing, struggles to get up and dressed, labored breathing, winces, groans.

Ep 14 | Sudden pain from previous wound.

Ep 15 | [13:28] Knife thrown at him and stabs him in the leg (off-screen), screams, concern for him, clutching leg, in pain, knife suddenly pulled out, cries out, bandaged up, winces, helped to stand, winces again, helped to walk, limping, winces, labored breathing | Wakes up, winces.

Ep 16 | Using a crutch to walk, struggles to kneel, struggles to get back up | Threatened with a sword.

Ep 17 | Wound touched, cries out in pain, groaning | Helped to walk, limping | Kicked on his wounded leg, crying out in pain, helped to walk. In pain.

Ep 18 | No appearance.

Ep 19-20 | None.

Ep 21 | Restrained, arrested. Bound to cross. Arrested again.

Ep 22 | Imprisoned.

Ep 23-27 | None.

Ep 28 | Fought, kicked to the ground and falls unconscious.

Ep 29-30 | None.

Ep 31 | Emotional, concerned for loved one.

Ep 32-33| None.

Ep 34 | Fought, knocked down, saved.

Ep 35 | Stabbed in the abdomen, falls to the ground, concern for him, passes out | In bed, concern for him, weak | In a wheelchair (pretending) | Recieving acupuncture as a form of torture disguised as treatment, in pain.

Ep 36-41 | None.

Ep 42 | Arrested. In prison.

Ep 43-44 | None.

Ep 45 | [23:50] Arrested | Tied to cross, interrogated, hot iron tool pressed onto his chest, groaning in agony, screaming, sweating, iron removed to reveal burn, threatened with another, saved, wound pressed, groaning.

Ep 46 | Imprisoned, curled up on the floor, pale, weak, wound visible on his chest.

Ep 47 | None.

Ep 48 | Told loved one died, crying, mourning.

Ep 49-50 | None.

Ep 51 | Stabbed in the shoulder with the tip of a sword, winces, sweating, clutching wound.

Ep 52 | Punched, bloody lip, coughing.

Ep 53-54 | None.

Whumpee: Cao Pi portrayed by Tan Jian Ci

Ep 1-4 | No appearance.

Ep 5-7 | None.

Ep 8 | Fought | Labored breathing, sweating, blood on his face.

Ep 9 | None.

Ep 10 | Crying, angry | Made to kneel to receive punishment, beaten repeatedly with a rod, scolded, concern for him, saved.

Ep 11 | [14:00] Held hostage with a sword to his throat, sword pressed to his neck, bleeding, kicked onto the ground, slashed in the neck, falls to the ground, concern for him, bleeding a lot, spasming, wound treated hastily, unconscious, neck bandaged | Carried away, still unconscious.

Ep 12 | [41:15] Lying in bed, struggling to sit up, raspy voice and struggling to talk, weak, pale, blood staining the bandage around his neck, grunts, struggles to lie back down.

Ep 13 | Asleep in bed, weak, barely moving, raspy voice, struggles to sit up.

Ep 14-15 | No appearance.

Ep 16 | Still bed-ridden, weak, pale.

Ep 17-18 | No appearance.

Scar visible on his neck from this point onwards.

Ep 19-20 | None.

Ep 21 | Fought, kicked in the chest, kneed in the head, falls onto the ground, unconscious | Imprisoned, still unconscious. Stirs awake, coughing, clutching head, struggling to get up, weak, groaning.

Ep 22 | Arrested (off-screen). Bound, swords held to his neck, made to kneel, grabbed by the collar, shoved, saved.

Ep 23 | None.

Ep 24 | Punched, clutching jaw, bloody lip, restrained, arrested. Bound to cross.

Ep 25 | Still bound, lip bruised.

Ep 26 | None.

Ep 27 | Swords held to his neck, restrained, arrested. | Slapped x3, stumbles | Bruise visible on his cheek, bound to cross, whipped in the chest x3, groaning, labored breathing, knife held to his neck, teary eyed. | Saved, collapses onto saviour, weak, helped to walk.

Ep 28 | Fought.

Ep 29 | None.

Ep 30 | Bound, kicked in the back of the knee and falls onto his knees. In shock, emotional |Fought, defeated, on the ground, bruise on his cheek, sword held to his neck.

Ep 31 | Unconscious on the ground, stirring awake, clutching head, groaning.

Ep 32 | Emotional, crying, slapped.

Ep 33-34 | None.

Ep 35 | In pain after kneeling for very long.

Ep 36 | Sword held to his neck.

Ep 37 | Made himself bleed from the finger.

Ep 38 | Emotional, accidentally(?) cuts his hand with his blade.

Ep 39-46 | None.

Ep 47 | Fought, special move™ performed against his chest knocking him back, kicked on the shoulder, falls onto the floor, unconscious, concern for him.

Ep 48 | Recovering in bed, unconscious, pale, emotional, crying.

Ep 49 | Digs until his hands bleed.

Ep 50 | None

Ep 51 | Stops blade with hand, bleeding. Hand bandaged.

Ep 52-53 | None.

Ep 54 | Hit with an object. Bleeding from the mouth. Teary eyed | Emotional, crying, bleeding from the mouth again, spits blood.

── ⋅ ⋅ ── ⋅ ⋅ ── ⋅ ⋅ ── ⋅ ⋅ ── ⋅ ⋅ ── ⋅ ⋅ ── ⋅ ⋅ ── ⋅ ⋅ ── ⋅ ⋅ ── ⋅ ⋅ ── ⋅ ⋅ ──

Eps to watch out for violence, gore & s**cide:

Ep 1: Slight gore. Ep 17: Mild gore, s*icide (pretty graphic). Ep 28: Mild gore [33:12 - 33:30] Ep 38: Bloody death (beginning)

[thisonelikesaliens]

Hello my dear friend!

I'm late to the game, but I'm catching up on The On1y One... very exciting!

You mentioned here that three different dialects are co-existing in this one... I'm doing my best to hear things, and I can pick out that Sheng Wang's Chinese sounds different than his classmates (which is not bad for someone who really doesn't speak it 😅)

But! I am wholly unfamiliar with Hong Kong Chinese, and if you hadn't said anything, I wouldn't have known about Jiang Tian! I'm curious... do you think that's a choice the actor made for the character, or just because of the actor's real life background, or something else?

(Also, if you feel like it... anything specific giving him away? I'm very interested in this, and if you've been looking for an excuse to go off about it, I would welcome that!)

Much love and gratitude as ever 💜

Yay the on1y one brainrot is spreading!

So I think this really is just the way Benjamin speaks Mandarin. I've heard him speak in interviews and that's just his natural accent, most likely because he learned Cantonese first. I notice similar accents in other Hong Kong celebrities when they speak Mandarin also. I think the biggest difference is Mandarin has some consonant sounds that don't exist in Cantonese? The most noticeable ones are sh, ch, and zh in Mandarin and when he speaks words that start with those sounds the h is less pronounced than it should be.

This whole monologue in ep1 when he was calculating how much time Sheng Wang would need to correct those tests had so many of those sounds:

時間 (shi jian, time), 假設 (jia she, assume), 三十分鐘 (san shi fen zhong, 30 minutes) just to name a few. And it's not that he omits the h sound, it's there just...barely?

Hope this entirely-not-academic answer is at least a little helpful? 😅😅

[guoman]

Qiu Tian for Vogue+ Photography by Zhong Lin

[ausana]

My Little Happiness - Episode 3

[asksythe]

Hua Cheng’s Design

Source: 孤世中逢影 Gu Shi Zhong Feng Ying (weibo) on Hua Cheng’s design as based on Miao ethnic group culture - with snippets from a Chinese Documentary on Miao Ethnic People and an interview with Shi sifu, one of the last traditional Miao silversmiths - Sina TV.

 Translator: Sythe / NPD Khanh

Hua Cheng’s character design. As we all know, the image of Hua Cheng was established based on the Miao ethnic group, so let's see the specific origin of things on Hua Cheng’s person.

1. Red umbrella:

The red umbrella in Miao culture is one of the indispensable props at marriage and celebrations. The red umbrella symbolizes great auspiciousness as one’s desires, numerous children and grandchildren, sheltering from the wind and rain, exorcising evil spirits, and shielding people from disasters. All of these together are a perfect fit to represent the blessings of the heavens (Tian Guan Ci Fu, the name of the novel) with no taboos or misfortunes.

At the same time, in the opening episode of Tian Guan Ci Fu, Xie Lian mistook Hua Cheng for a bridegroom ghost. The situation fits perfectly like a miracle as a red umbrella is required for a wedding. 

2. Silver butterfly, maple leaves.

The Miao people have long had an ancient song, "Feng Mu Ge" (Song of the Maple Tree), to praise the beauty of life. The Miao people also consider butterflies as the ancestral mother, who can bless the village to be peaceful, the children to thrive, and the nation to flourish.

Maple leaves and butterflies represent rebirth, and reincarnation. These motifs can be seen in the culture of the Miao people everywhere, from clothes to jewelry to household decorations. The most famous is the Hong He area, located in an autonomous district of the Miao ethnic group in Yunnan. Whether it is nature or people, maple leaves and butterflies are popular, cherished symbols.

ps. The butterfly decoration that the author saw while traveling in Yunnan is also an inspiration.

"When I was traveling in Yunnan, there was a butterfly decoration in front of the hotel elevator,” Mo Xiang looked at it and thought. After a while, she said proudly, "He will raise a kaleidoscope of butterflies." (From MXTX Author’s Notes and Interview) 

3. Silver Jewelry

This goes without saying much, silverware is an important component of Miao culture, "the more beautiful, the better;” "Miao people’s iconic silver jewelry is used to pray for peace and as a token of love or a proposal of marriage.” Speaking of which, Hua Cheng’s character design is based on ethnic Miao people. Of course, the same jewelry is used. The inheritor of the art of Miao silversmithing, Shi sifu, also said, Hua Cheng is steeped in Miao Guang symbolism and aesthetics.

4. Other

If you read the novel, it’s not difficult to figure out:

Huacheng used a red umbrella because when he was young and weak and had nothing. Xie Lian gave him a red umbrella to shield him from the wind and rain.

Hua Cheng uses corral beads because this is one of Xie Lien's lost earrings. In Taoism, coral represents the heart. Taking this into account, Xie Lian in the book had two corral earrings. The implication of this symbolism then becomes quite enticing. 

Hua Cheng strung the red string of fated love because, during the Gentle Fragrance part of the book, Xie Lian gently cut a hair strand and gifted it to him. In our country's traditional culture, tying your hair together represents binding marriage. The red line represents your destined intertwined path.

From the beginning to the end, the author demonstrated the changes in Hua Cheng. "Become a better, stronger person because of him, for him". All of Hua Cheng’s character progressions developed according to the plot, gradually revealing layers of meaning, and not built by forced intention. Therefore, in successfully portraying such a character, the author moved the reader’s heart and created a miracle. 

A Love that is unchanged even in the face of death.