Period drama returns to TV, but with less on show
Print Edition
A PERIOD drama about China’s first empress has sparked controversy following the cropping of scenes involving women in revealing costumes.
“The Empress of China,” also known as the “Saga of Wu Zetian,” is about the life of China’s only known empress.
It was abruptly pulled just days after its premiere on December 21. When it returned to screens on January 1 only the actresses’ heads were visible and their bosoms had been cropped out.
Satellite station Hunan TV said on its Weibo account it had pulled the drama because of “technical” reasons, while some Chinese media said it had been forced to ditch the show as it had exceeded its annual quota for period dramas.
Fans, however, speculated that the revealing costumes had irked television regulators, who have yet to respond.
People joked online that the fate of China’s legendary empress “changed” on January 1, and that the drama should have been titled “Saga of Big Head Wu.”
Wu Zetian was a concubine to Emperor Taizong during the Tang Dynasty. When he died, Wu married his successor Emperor Gaozong and later ruled the country in her own right after Gaozong suffered a stroke.
“Why are people in the 21st century less open than those a millennium ago?” scriptwriter Li Yaling wrote on her Weibo account.
“I feel sad that the plot and aesthetic value have been affected,” said Zhang Jie, an office worker in Shanghai.
Others, however, defended the show’s new look.
“Women in the Tang Dynasty were full-figured, open-minded and fashionable. But the plunging necklines and tightly squeezed bosoms of the female characters were just for the viewers’ pleasure,” said Zhao Haijun from Lanzhou.
Tuo Chaoqun, who teaches at Lanzhou University, took a broader view, saying that a lack of innovation in TV drama was a greater worry than the cropped images of women’s chests.
TV companies are frequently charged with choosing quantity over quality, especially when it comes to anti-Japanese war dramas.
“Television chiefs should more innovative scripts,” said Peking University Professor Zhang Yiwu.
“As long as the shows are good, the public will accept and appreciate them,” he said.
President Xi Jinping said that artists should be innovative, but put the social benefits of their work first.
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