Critique: Empresses in the Palace

This series was phenomenal. I cannot emphasise how clever and funny the script was: serious matters were always dealt with appropriately but there was room for fun throughout. Not only that but the series is informative on Chinese culture and proverbs throughout.

The main character, Zhen Huan, is a concubine that rises through ranks of the Chinese emperor’s harem. She’s very clever, makes tactical decisions and inspires loyalty in maids and eunuchs alike.

Visuals were beautiful. The clothing and jewellery was gorgeous, so much so that I paused the programme just to admire the sites on the screen. (Finger guards were a new discovery for me and I love them.) Then the sets, for the architecture to furniture and the gardens, were simply stunning yet elaborate in detail.

Also it’s refreshing to watch a period drama without sex scenes.

Compared: Short and Long Versions

I fell in love with the shorter version as shown on Netflix (six episodes of ninety minutes each) but then I was blown away by the longer version (seventy-six episodes of sixty minutes each).

When I discovered that there even was a longer version, I was in awe because the short version felt full and complete: imagining there was more to be watched was exciting. The long version fleshed out a show to satisfy any lingering curiosity.

For example, Buddhism was much more relevant and prevalent in the longer version, rather than just a side note as it was in the shorter version. Oh, and Huan’s pet parrot and most of the gardens are completely missing from the short version.

In the short version we saw Zhen Huan playing the Chinese zither. In the longer version, we get to see more of this and see how important the instrument was for Huan to create a bond with the emperor. It’s an instrument with a captivating sound and I’m glad to have finally heard it.

Another striking difference was seeing the art of calligraphy. In the short version, the empress did on a regular basis with exacting standards to fit her talent. In the longer version, we get to see why and how calligraphy is considered an art form. The characters discuss it and the principles behind it which was an eye-opener.

***SPOILERS***

Harem

Zhen Huan is very close to fellow concubines An Lingrong and Shen Meizhang, the latter being Huan’s closest friend. Their bond is loving and perfect in the short version but the long version explored their ups and downs.

Huan is also close with the empress dowager (the emperor’s mother) but we completely miss out on this in the shorter version. It was beneficial to the story, shedding some light on Huan’s decisions, actions and accomplishments. The dowager is a great, graceful and intellectual character who had great relations with many characters.

The main antagonist is Consort Hua, the emperor’s preferred concubine who’s never managed to conceive. She was truly awful to Huan and her friends (even causing miscarriages). But there was little anyone could do because Consort Hua’s brother led the army. So there had to be a massive database of incidences before the emperor had no choice but to have Consort Hua disposed. Huan visited Hua to convince Hua to comply with the imperial command to commit suicide. Huan reveals that Hua couldn’t conceive because of actions the emperor took and this drives Hua over the edge (in a jarring manner).

In the long version, you see the empress and An Lingrong conspiring since the beginning. In the short version, their deviancy was only revealed after Consort Hua had died so it seemed like their scheming came out of nowhere. (Well, not entirely, considering it’s a harem.)

In the short one, An Lingrong seemed bitter and jealous that she wasn’t as highly regarded as her friends were, leading to her unpleasant actions. In the longer version, the audience saw that she was doing her best to survive.

Huan works hard to erode the power and influence of the empress. However, since she disposed Consort Hua, her confidence improved which provided quicker results. It first turns in her favour when she’s the one that adopts the Fourth Prince, rather than the empress (which is the convention when a prince’s mother dies). In the short version, this was the point that you met the Fourth Prince; in the long version, the audience had met and interacted with him for a while so the Fourth Prince doesn’t feel misplaced.

Yunli

Yunli is Prince Guo, the emperor’s younger sibling. He and Huan have a relationship behind everyone’s backs. In the short version, it looks like a careless fling. In the long version, it’s a full relationship which the audience sees develop and mature in a natural manner.

            The emperor ends up suspecting Yunli and Huan of an affair. In the short, this came out of nowhere and it didn’t make sense. If it were paranoia, we would have seen suspicions pop up beforehand. (When I thought the short version was the only version, this was the one thing that screamed ‘plot hole’ at me).

In the longer version, the emperor was far more methodical in his approach, watching Huan and Yunli interact. The thing that confirmed it was Yunli asking after Huan in each letter he wrote to his brother (military reports mostly rather than personal chattering). It was clear in these letters that Yunli wasn’t asking about Huan because she was the emperor’s favourite concubine but instead he was asking from a place of personal affection.

When the emperor finally decided to act, it was heart breaking. He wanted Huan to kill Yunli to demonstrate she didn’t love him. Knowing that the safety of her twins (as fathered by Yunli) would be compromised if Yunli didn’t die, Huan set it up but then Yunli killed himself. This didn’t convince the emperor that Huan was innocent of infidelity.

Huan took radical action to save her children: she kills the emperor and makes the Fourth Prince the new emperor and, as his adopted mother, Huan becomes the new empress dowager. Then she decides that Yunli’s line shouldn’t be allowed to go extinct so she declares that Yunli adopted her children. This was touching and meant Yunli would always be important and a ‘father’ to his twins, even if they never knew the truth.

In the short version, this was a bit dramatic and seemed like an unnecessary precaution. In the long version, the audience sees early on that Huan dislikes the emperor. Indeed, the relationship on her side deteriorated into hatred long before she kills the emperor.

Concluding Notes

I cannot express how much I enjoyed ‘Empresses in the Palace’. It has a wealth of entertainment: politics, intrigue, revenge, disaster, humour, emotion, investigation… there many elements enjoyable for many. The subtitles can be distracting (and takes time away from admiring the aesthetics) so ‘Empresses in the Palace’ won’t be for everyone.

The show is set during the Yongzheng Emperor’s the reign and, purportedly, the dress, behaviour, speech, architecture, etc. etc. was not the appropriate choice for that designated time period. But then again, interactions between concubines were never recorded in real life so this programme is completely fictional. Exact replication of reality wasn’t a top priority. (If it has been a programme about actual events then I would expect everything to reflect reality.)

I think people watching seventy-six episodes of something entirely in subtitles would’ve been annoying then make people give up on the show. This requires concentration, when people often watch tv when they’re too tired to concentrate properly. Putting the short version together was simply genius in making this show accessible to western audiences.

Definitely on my list of recommended programmes!