#Advisors alliance

[nemainofthewater]

Best character surnamed: Xia

Come and vote for the best characters with the same surname!*

What does best mean? It's up to you! Whether you love them, are intrigued by their characters, love to hate them, or they're your '2 second blorbos whose personality you made up wholesale', these are all reasons for you to vote for your favs!

*note, the surnames are not exactly the same in all the cases, as often there will be a different character. I am, however, grouping them all together otherwise things got more complicated.

Propaganda is very welcome! If I’ve forgotten anyone, let me know in the notes.

This is part of a larger series of ‘best character with X surname’ polls’. The overview with ongoing polls, winners, and future polls can be found here

[kakmem]

i need to make content of this drama before i explode

[grand-theft-carbohydrates]

i'm finally watching AA! this is definitely one of the strongest interpretations of sima yi in media. he's played with this genuine charm and warmth without being naive and i really look forward to seeing where they take his character. the show takes a lot of notes from the 2010 version, like how Team Wei is portrayed in a much more heroic light. cao cao's actor was actually 2010 liu bei, and you can see that he's having way more fun in this role, he's got this maverick energy and he takes delight in being the smartest guy in the room. this against-type casting lends a lot of depth to his portrayal. he's still got some of that liu bei-nevolance with his big, puppy eyes, but is able to turn vicious in a heartbeat. fans of 2010 cao cao will really get a kick out of it. cao pi's character arc is set up really well, and I like the subtle ways he keeps getting shafted by his father for cao zhi and zhang. my only criticism so far is that it is once again, the overall tone of the show is too "modern" for my liking, from the overly-tailored clothes, to the gratuitous fight scenes. modern chinese tv is still kind of stuck in the early aughts in terms of taste and sensibility. like they don't trust the audience to sit through a suspenseful drama without loud! background! music! and slowmo wire-work kung fu.

i actually consider the strongest action scene to be the opening sequence where hua tuo is about to perform a c-section on zhang chunhua. the way he slowly and methodically washes his hands, boils his surgical instruments, ties a robe around his neck and arms to keep his hands steady, and pretends to ask chunhua a question to make sure she's really unconscious. these details ground the show in reality and raises the stakes. this woman is about to undergo extremely dangerous, painful, and primitive surgery, one which she may not survive. this suspenseful tone is immediately broken 2 eps later, when she and her handmaid do horseback parkour, apropos to nothing. it shows a lack of trust in the audience to understand that she is a Strong Female Character without an overwrought action sequence. this was already done in ep 1 and 2 (and better too!) we already saw the way she showed bravery by demanding the doctor perform surgery on her to save her child, directly overriding her husband's wishes. and later on, when she weaponises her perceived weakness as a woman (and social propriety) to force Cao Cao's men to stop searching her house (while she's still recovering from childbirth!). she is using her strength and intelligence within the confines of the role society has put her in! it shows her struggle and what she's up against!

[joys-ramblings]

I'm actually blown away by the portrayal of women in Advisors Alliance. I had such low expectations and they did something actually interesting out of it. I still have peeves, but on the whole, they neither put the issue of oppression aside or pretended that multiple wives weren't a thing, but leaned in to it hard. Yes, give me wives who support each other against their *cough* less than ideal bastard *cough* husband. Give me wives who are fully aware that monogamy is an unrealistic ideal and still fight for their rights in their own, quiet (and loud) ways. Give we wives who say 'women don't interfere with politics' and interfere with politics in one breath.

I'm crying. It's beautiful.

[lamalamam]

AA ep 1-5

ep2 "否則 我殺人啦" <-why does cao cao sound like a disciplinary teacher

can't stand liu xie's portrayal. the show is painting him as a 無能君主 but still i have a soft spot for him...!

why does every c-drama has a slow-mo meet-cute moment for their romance arc

ep 3 yang xiu's actor is so expressive with his body language. Nodding his head, touching his chin, etc., these gestures would be excessive on any other character but they suit him so well

the screaming??? that is some weird directing

ep 4 雖然令君口口聲聲說司空對他極爲信任 但一路看來曹也多次向他施壓試探

感覺其實他們的關係也是暗流涌動, definitely not as solid as cao & feng xiao's relationship

這個局也設得太假了吧 can't believe yang xiu didn't see through their scheme

cc is ruthless towards cao pi. 他對子桓 一點也不客氣 雖説是荀和兒子暗地裏反對自己 但就只拿子桓撒氣 對荀則是各種旁敲側擊

smy 演出十分用力

"這兩個老廢物生出的兒子倒各有高招啊" <-曹孟德日常覬覦別人家兒子

the (failed) prison break adds nothing to the plot

yang xiu's speech in the prison!!

cc and his stick-and-carrot approach 把令君哄得死死的

奉孝進來時那狡黠又聰慧的小表情好可愛

i know the show's supposed to be centre around sima yi & yang xiu's kingmaking rivalry but the cc-xun yu-guo jia trio absolutely steals the show

speaking of, yu hewei gives one of the best cc portrayals ever, he's not as thespian as 94' 央三 but still has more flair than 2010s 新三 cc. i love that u can tell he enjoys his role a lot.

[dangermousie]

If someone were to ask what my favorite historical cdrama is (ie not fantasy, real historical place etc) - the answer would be The Advisors' Alliance, a two-season masterpiece that follows the rise of Sima Yi as he and eventually his sons navigate through the rule of Cao Cao, Cao Pi, Cao Rui and Cao Fang and eventually establish the Sima Dynasty.

The first season covers only up until Cao Pi's ascension and the second season the rest.

This drama is smart and beautifully filmed and incredibly acted. There are politics and fights and interpersonal relationships that are very very complex. Romance is deeply tertiary (though Cao Pi x Guo Nuwang are one of my all time fave secondary OTPs of all time) and this really is not the drama to watch for traditional eye candy. Cao Pi is my jam to a ridic degree but he's vvvv much an adult warlord, not a pretty young dude; even those you normally think of in terms of idol looks, like Tan Jianci, look suitably historical and non-idoly:

And oh, this drama would never ever ever in a million years pass censorship nowadays even if they changed their names to fictional ones. There are no good guys here - there are different flavor of monsters, monsters than can love and compose poetry and joke but monsters nonetheless (because they are feudal warlords and their women) and yet from the safe confines of the screen you end up loving some of them a lot - it really is pick which monster team are you.

It feels realistic about the uniform horribleness of those in power and their motivations the way no cdrama past 2019 is allowed to truly be (Eternal Brotherhood and JoL2 are about the only exception and I think it's because in further parts they will walk some of it back or just sidestep it, leaving it implied - it does not confront it head on the way TAA does.) And yet and yet and YET God, I loved some of those characters so so so much!

I mean, my favorite scene in the entire first season is Cao Cao's last sword dance. The aging warlord is a monster - murderous to seize power, terrible father, terrible friend etc etc and yet I love him. He is so magnetic, so smart, so larger than life that you believe this is a man who could establish his rule and bring down a dynasty. I watch his last sword dance and shiver because this is a relic of a bygone era - a man who outlived all his rivals and friends and he's on top of the world but he mourns his lost world and his lost youth - all his achievements legendary but behind him, him about to join the past with all the people he loved and hated the soldiers watching him not even born when he did all his feats. This scene conveys the end of an era very few things do.

[lyselkatzfandomluvs]

Liú Tao 劉濤

For the variety show 王牌對王牌

Bringing back my Nirvana in Fire 瑯琊榜 FEELS! Mù NíHuáng 穆霓凰 !!!

(Which reminds me that her character in the Advisors' Alliance is the mother of both Xiao ShùnYáo and Tán JìanCì's characters!)

[the-wintry-mizzenmast]

肖顺尧 Xiao Shunyao as Sima Shi 司馬師 in The Advisor's Alliance (大軍師司馬懿之軍師聯盟 / 虎嘯龍吟)

This was the first role I saw him in way back in 2017, and I'd forgotten about him entirely until Mysterious Lotus Casebook, and I looked him and a lightbulb went off in my brain. "Oh, he was the hot son," I thought. (Sorry, TJC fans.)

I have always been of the thought that Yaoyao needs to grow out his beard, he does look quite good with a goatee.

[kingsandbastardz]

Xiao Shunyao containing multitudes.

Even if he's technically using similar facial expressions, the vibe is different - and not just because of the costuming. Actors have to be malleable, I guess, so they can believably disappear.

[yao-yaos]

@userdramas event 09 icon: Xiao Shunyao

As Lin Haoqing (The Blue Whisper, 2022)

As Tantai Minglang (Till the End of the Moon, 2023)

As Di Fei Sheng (Mysterious Lotus Casebook, 2023)

#He and his pretty eyelashes deserve more good main roles pls jsdnjhsd

[nemainofthewater]

Best character surnamed: Zhen

Come and vote for the best characters with the same surname!*

What does best mean? It's up to you! Whether you love them, are intrigued by their characters, love to hate them, or they're your '2 second blorbos whose personality you made up wholesale', these are all reasons for you to vote for your favs!

*note, the surnames are not exactly the same in all the cases, as often there will be a different character. I am, however, grouping them all together otherwise things got more complicated.

Propaganda is very welcome! If I’ve forgotten anyone, let me know in the notes.

This is part of a larger series of ‘best character with X surname’ polls’. The overview with ongoing polls, winners, and future polls can be found here

[moononmyfloor]

A Compilation of Chinese Period drama OSTs that are inspired by Classical Poetry- Part 3

Part 1, Part 2

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More in Confirmed List

8. The Long River

"Life Passes Like a Dream (浮生若梦)" (Ending theme) by Li Bai, performed by Wang Zhenhua

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9. Oh My General (2017)

Yang Lin [杨蔺] - Pride of the Fishermen [渔家傲] by Fan Zhongyan

I couldn't find a way to share an mp3, but you can find it here and listen from there.

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10. Dream of the Red Chambers (1987)

Source

Source

Sadly I couldn't find any other songs he composed based on the original poems for the drama, except the one below. If you know more, please do share! 🥺 🙏

Burial of Flowers

A famous cover by Tong Liya

I highly recommend listening to this chilling cover done for the kiddie drama version of Red Chambers as well.

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11. Romance of the Three Kingdoms (1994)

滚滚长江东逝水 Gǔngǔn Chángjiāng Dōngshì Shuǐ (The Billowing Yangtze River Flows East) by Ming Dynasty poet Yang Shen, performed by Yang Hongji

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短歌行 Duǎngē Xíng (A Short Song) by Cao Cao; performed by Yang Hongji

Extra: Rendition of the same scene in Three Kingdoms (2010) with Eng translation and in Advisors Alliance (2017)

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子夜四时歌 Zǐyè Sìshí Gē (The Midnight Song) Lyrics adapted from a Southern Dynasties era poem; performed in a Wu accent. Played during Liu Bei and Sun Shangxiang's wedding scene in episode 43. Source

A translated fanvid

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七步诗 Qībù Shī (The Seven Steps Poem) by Cao Zhi; performed by Liu Huan

(Aka the Bean Poem. Here's a nice comparison of the same scene in different dramas by another Tumblr user!)

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丈夫歌 Zhàngfū Gē (A Song for Men) by Luo Guanzhong; performed by Lü Jianhong

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There are more but this is all I was able to find :(

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12. The Advisors Alliance (2017)

In the same spirit (their version of Duan Ge Xing is already shared above),

十五从军征 At Fifteen I Joined the Army on Expedition by unknown Han dynasty poet, performed by Jin Yushan (金语衫) (not sure, Wikipedia says Jin Yubin) Here's a cartoon version as well.

The thumbnail of the vid is incorrect for some reason btw. It's from AA not 3K.

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怨歌行Yuan Ge Xing (Song of Regret) by Ban Jieyu, performed by Yeung Tung & Lu Moyi

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13. My Fair Princess (1998)

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14. Shaolin Wendao (2016)

Not a poem, but the ost is made out of the Mahayana Buddhist Sutra Da Bei Zhou/Great Compassion Mantra/Nilakantha Dharani.

This was one of the first songs I have listened on YouTube, even before I started watching Cdramas etc. It has always brought me great sense of calm and peace. Only recently, more than like 5 years later I finally found out where it is from.

Da Bei Zhou (大悲咒) by Jing Shan Yuan (敬善媛)

The scene from drama

Full ost:

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15. Journey to the West (2011)

Similarly, the opening ost was taken from the mantra of the Mahayana Buddhist scripture Heart Sutra.

Xin Jing (心经) performed by Yang Xiaolin

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My other posts

[grand-theft-carbohydrates]

come watch my director's cut of Advisor's Alliance where i am painfully faithful to the historical record. season 1 will consist entirely of 40 minute episodes where sima yi spends all day in bed pretending to be paralysed. every few months, cao cao half-heartedly sends a spy over to check if he's still faking. it's basically just a formality at this point, he's lowkey getting a kick out of reading sima yi's increasingly improbably list of illnesses. this goes on for 10 years.

[joys-ramblings]

Advisors Alliance

[beehunni62]

The Advisors Alliance Translation Post 2: “Husband, don’t cross the river. Husband, nonetheless, crossed the river.”

The Advisors Alliance 大军师司马懿之军师联盟 is a 2017 two-part Chinese TV series depicting the life of Sima Yi, a government official and military strategist who lived during the late Eastern Han Dynasty 东汉 (25 CE - 220 CE) and the Three Kingdoms Period 三国時代 (220 CE - 280 CE). [Wikipedia of the show’s first season]

The second part is titled Growling Tiger Hidden Dragon 虎啸龙吟 and keeps following Sima Yi’s life as he matures and becomes wiser [Link to the show’s second season’s MyDramaList page].

The Weibo account [Link] of the show made a series of posts in the style of small encyclopedias explaining different historical and cultural facts that where included in the series. The user @moononmyfloor compiled the 50 posts and asked me to translate them. This will be an ongoing series where I will do just that.

The posts are not in order of the episodes but I will provide the episode and season number to avoid confusion. If there are any mistakes in translation, do let me know in the comments or privately message me and I will do my best to fix them. Although I tried to stay as close as possible to the original text, I had to take some liberties in some posts to get the meaning across better. On the side, I have included extra information from personal research that explains certain things better.

If it is difficult to read the letters, tap or click on the image to expand it. Without more preamble, here you go.

Extra information:

Yuefu (乐府), literally Music Bureau, are a genre of ancient Chinese folk songs that, either imitate the style of, or are from the Imperial Music Bureau. The latter was an institution in charge of collecting and writing lyrics to folk songs. Yuefu are known for having strict syllabic rules that change from dynasty to dynasty.

《公无渡河》 is also known as Kong Hou Yin (箜篌引). Konghou is an ancient Chinese stringed instrument similar to a harp. A Yin (引), in this context, is another type of ancient music poetry that has a freer syllabic structure and is characterized by long syllables that go well with the melody of the konghou. Below is a picture of the instrument:

Vertical konghou 箜篌 in exhibit at the Gansu Provincial Museum, Lanzhou, China. Taken on May 10, 2013 by Gary Todd [image source].

Allow me to clarify something. The folk song 《公无渡河》 was recorded by Cui Bao in "Notes on Ancient and Modern Times" to be of Gojoseon origin. As such, Koreans consider it to be their oldest surviving folk song.

The Chinese consider it a Chinese Han Dynasty song on account of the tale being set and song created in the Lelang Commandery [108 B.C.E. - 313 C.E.] which is one of the four regions Gojoseon was split into while under Han rule. Koreans consider the residents of Lelang, and the other commandaries, to be Gojosen Koreans who retained a separate culture to the Han Chinese. If you wish to conduct further research into the song, don’t get surprised if you read different names for the characters that appear in the story.

Koreans call the song "Gongmudohaga (공무도하가)” and the ferryman Gwaklijago (곽리자고). The Korean folk tale differs from the Chinese retelling in that the Korean name of Gwaklijago wife, who is credited with creating the actual song, according to certain Chinese and Korean retellings, is Yeo-ok (여옥) rather than Li Yu (丽玉). In Cao Yong and Cui Bao’s retellings, the wife of the drowned drunk man created the song while, in the Korean version, it was the wife of the ferryman who, upon learning about what had transpired from her husband once he came home, created the song on her harp, called in Korean gonghu (공후).

Many Chinese poets have retold the story in their own ways and added, omitted, or reinterpreted content. Some of said poets are Li Bai and Chen Shou of Shu Han. On top is Li Bai's version which lacks strict syllabic structure, a signature of his style and, on the bottom, Chen Shou's more structured one:

This expression 《公无渡河, 公竟渡河》 is often used as an allegory to satirize someone who is heading into clear danger but is too stubborn or obsessed to listen. If this person doesn't listen, then they are sure to run into trouble.

Catalogue (find the rest of the posts):

[dangermousie]

Cao Pi's death scene in Growling Tiger Rising Dragon - I loved that on the verge of death he makes that callback to how he wrote on her hand when they were young...

and his heir, Cao Rui, who has a relationship with his father as messed up as Cao Pi himself had with Cao Cao watches, his loathing for the woman who supplanted his mother, about to burst:

Cao Rui is someone no censor today would let pass - a cross between Caligula and Yeonsangun - who executes painters by the dozens for not capturing the likeness of his dead mother (until he poses for them in women's clothes as her) and who yearns for the love of the father who never liked him and would have killed him if it wasn't for the father's second empress who he loathes for replacing his mother.

The contrast between The Advisors Alliance (both s1 and GTHD) and nowadays is SO stark though this was made less than a decade ago. This drama allowed Cao Pi to be both good (he's genuinely brave, he genuinely loves his second empress, he yearns for his father's love, he's a hell of a ruler/warrior, he tries to save people he cares for) and terrible (he killed his first wife and almost killed his son, he did get rid of his brother, he did a ton of ruthless bad stuff) but that is what makes him feel like a real person and a real period noble and a real period ruler - and the new idiotic restrictions don't get that all the bad stuff he did doesn't make him any less competent or worthy to be king, it just makes him more believable.

PS In general, the level of realism in period cdramas went down drastically. The scene where Tan Jianci talks about the horror of his first kill and his terror of his own own mortality to his sister in law? Brilliant and I cannot imagine in today's drama.