Unraveling A Hijabi

I actually first heard about this drama after picking up on 宮锁心玉 (Palace: Jade Lock Heart), which was a given, as both were 清朝穿越 (aka: Qing Dynasty time-traveling) genre dramas. I wasn’t particularly partial to it, because it appeared to be more of a 4th Prince - Main Female Lead ship than the 宮锁心玉 promoted 8th - MFL ship. Furthermore, I wasn’t exactly enamored with the ride 宮锁心玉 offered.

A bit overly comical and jokey, I found a lot of time spent criticizing the musical choice, the obvious re-dubbing and a problem with the actors chosen for the main leads. Of course, I thought Yang Mi was gorgeous, which was why I picked the drama in the first place. 

That said, I recently saw a post from one of friends and noted that she was watching 步步惊心. The English direct translation has been labeled as “Startling step by step” but is a bit lacking in translation from context. It actually is more equivocally translated as “taking each step with caution and care”, which relates to the entire mindset of the main heroine throughout the entire drama.

Having gone through a bit of a dreary week and gone drama-frenetic from lack of good ones recently, I decided it wouldn’t hurt to try out a new one. 

To offer a bit of background, I’ve always been extremely partial to Qing Dynasty based dramas (like the rest of Mainland China), perhaps in large part due to 还珠格格/Princess Returning Pearl. Furthermore, I was thoroughly disappointed with the plot holes and tragically bad explanations offered in 宮锁心玉 regarding time travel and the explanation of political intrigue of that time period and was searching for something that could better carry it through. 

It was a horrible idea to start.

Not because of it lacking the properties of a good drama, by any means, but because it ate away at my life and my own emotions. I was incredibly taken with the gorgeous scenery and the intense amount of story poured out into the entire drama. The script-writing was so much tighter than that of 宫’s, and I was addicted like a lovesick puppy.

Liu Shishi 刘诗诗 had amazing ability to show her feelings and emotions throughout the entire drama, and the interviews post-drama often talked about how she had trouble stopping her tears after a crying scene. In particular, the last scene with her and the emperor, where Yongzheng struggles to accept the past she had with 8th tells her he no longer wants to see her, the pain and emotions ripping through her soul show in her uncontrolled crying. It’s an amazing scene that completely captures the essence of the drama. 

However, this drama would be nothing without all its supporting cast. I completely loved Lin Gengxin 林更新 in his role as the 14th Prince and Kevin Cheng as the 8th Prince as well as the various eunuchs and palace maids that act as lower-level confidantes for the princes and princesses in the drama.

One of the greatest strengths of the story of 步步惊心 is that it really is able to reveal a deeper personality in its various characters, minor and major alike. Unlike most Mainland dramas, which I feel fail horrifically in their attempt to “explain” actions that their main characters undertake, or even depict any level of “development” in personality, 步步 was able to leave me extremely satisfied in its portrayal of many relationships and actions. 

To be honest, one of my favorite story tangents is the explanation of the 8th Prince’s character. In 宫, he is an absolutely comical idiot in many respects. He has a very open type of personality and although supposedly “harsh” in the beginning, he develops into a very happy-go-lucky type alongside the heroine. Which is fine I suppose, but I don’t particularly approve of it given his background with a nameless mother and a bad position and relationship with his own Imperial Father. 步步 makes up for this by actually using historical inferences on each prince, leaving the 8th Prince with his “virtuous” title (八贤王), depicting him as a person who “重感情“ and always takes care of those he loves. His own political ambitions are his undoing, having been the reason for his falling out with Ruoxi, and coming out of his lowly birth background. 

He is one of my favorite second male leads in history for the first half of the story. In large part because of the good explanation of his past and his very tragic relationships with his wives. Married to the first wife via politics, and joyfully married to the second only to discover how much she detests him and finally to find mutual love with Ruoxi only to be left behind once more was a plotline that really left me feeling quite partial to his plight. Furthermore, his end is beautifully depicted as being in large part due to his tendency to protect those whom he loves, despite being wrecked himself in part thanks to the political ambitions he held early on. This particular character was so well written. His sorrow and pain in having to “divorce” his second wife (because of her wanting to be released from marriage in the afterlife and being with her true love); his realization at the intense love and devotion his first wife has given him from day one, only to lose it when he most needs it through her suicide; and finally, the rejection he receives from the only mutually fulfilled love he has had in Ruoxi.

14th Prince is also one of the secret ingredients to the success of this story. He is historically tied to being one of 8th’s supporters in the fight for the throne during Kangxi’s reign, and is doggedly loyal to his 8th brother, fully supporting the romance between Ruoxi and the 8th. However, he himself is actually quite in love with Ruoxi and is actually depicted as the heavily favored prince during Kangxi’s final moments (which also leads me to one of my favorite aspects of this drama).  Eventually, he marries her, but she is already in her final moments, and though dying in his arms, has never accepted him in a romantic way. Their friendship and relationship is incredibly strong and was one of my favorite second-lead portrayals in drama watching history.

This of course, leads to my final reflection on the character of the 4th Prince. In 宫, I couldn’t stand him as a politically aggressive character, and seeing as how he was the main antagonist, I wasn’t supposed to anyway. In 步步, although I began detesting him (and not liking how his nose was so long and that his lower face was so tiny and close to his chin) throughout the first third (which is, by the way, a long time be developing a dislike for a first lead), he grew on me bit by bit and finally solidified my support of the main OTP through the last third of the drama, when politics escalate like mad.

Perhaps most interestingly, he is not depicted as a perfection of humanity (which is a huuuuge fault in main character developments throughout Mainland drama history) or even a victim of circumstance, but is actually seen taking very extreme measures in punishment and love. For example, his order to steam Ruoxi’s best friend (palace maid) to death is extraordinarily sick and completely anti-hero in move. Yet, there is an acceptable explanation to his choice towards doing so (although it doesn’t make the order any more acceptable), and as an emperor, he still has various aspects in which he makes harsh commands and becomes schizo from fear of being usurped. But at the very end, it is still extraordinarily tragic in that his entire life story has been being rejected by those he loves most: his mother, his father, his brother. The only two whom he loves and love him back are the 13th Prince and Ruoxi, both of whom suffer horribly in part because of their attempts to protect and remain with him. As such, his ambitions to become emperor are two-fold: one, to prove his abilities to his own father, mother and blood brother and two, to protect his only loved ones through the attained power. And yet, this happiness is completely destroyed when he actually steals the throne through despicable measures, finds his two loved ones wrecked from weariness through the political process and ends up having to live through both of their deaths, ending up dying from loneliness not 13 years after his ascension to the throne. 

One of my final loves of the drama was in regards to the explanation of history in 步步. As I mentioned previously, 宫 entirely skimped out on this issue and the disappearance or appearance of the heroine in history did not affect the time-space continuum in any way. No explanation whatsoever. In 步步, though, Zhang Xiao actually realizes that the entire thread of history that she had been fighting to avoid the whole time (8th’s political ambitions, eventual destruction and death; 4th’s aggressiveness to attain the throne and destroy others in his path) actually were each individually quite heavily influenced by her very attempt to prevent it. Furthermore, when she wakes up from her several-week coma in the modern period, she questions her entire “life” in the past as Maertai Ruoxi as possibly having been a dream. And yet, all throughout the drama, some of this is explained throughout very acceptable reasons (example: her exemption into the Imperial Records as a concubine to 14th was refused because of the 4th’s jealous possessiveness). However, there is a small possibility she had lived the truth when she discovers a portrait of the princes and Kangxi where she is serving tea (and is actually a scene in the drama) with distinctive marks. 

Opening Theme Song: 一念执着 by 胡歌 and 阿兰 - OST

Finally, in regards to music, the OST was beautiful. Completely gorgeous. One thing that really irritated me with 宫 was its plagiarism and almost inappropriate usage of Zelda: Wind Waker music in the OST. I couldn’t take it seriously, and the drama ended up seeming like a joke to me. I couldn’t enjoy it because I was constantly hung up on laughing and picking fun at various aspects. The OST in 步步 was seamless on the other hand, and seeing as how I’ve always been a practically hopelessly devoted fan to classical Chinese instrumental music, it worked wonders as a complement to the story. Each song very aptly described various emotions throughout the entire drama.

The drama itself is incredibly well written, and tragic (although possibly hopeful in ending by selective imagination). And although I really am not a fan of tragedy, this has made the list to one of my all-time favorite dramas. In large part because of its incredible ability to portray a very complex and humanely ambiguous topic such as that of the destruction of relationships, family, loyalties and love through the fight for political ambition. The poignancy of the acting, the depiction of the very fine line between right and wrong, the very contradictory limits of leadership and the exception of certain scenarios was particularly sensitive to me and I completely fell in love with the drama. Of course, I would have opted for a hopeful, optimistic ending, possibly inferring a happy ending for the modern-day Zhang Xiao in her modern incarnation. But I was able to accept it all, because of the excellent script. I remain heavily affected by the story.

In a word: exceptional.