The troubled reign of 'The Empress of China'
- By Li Jingrong
0 Comment(s)
Print
E-mail China.org.cn, January 22, 2015
 |
|
The popular palace-themed TV drama "The Empress of China" uses male actors to play nuns. [Photo/people.com.cn] |
In the following weeks, viewers posted various kinds of "before and after" shots on Sina Weibo, complaining about or making fun of the apparent official interference.
"Can revealing cleavage really be considered pornographic? Isn't this feudalism?" one post inquired. Some netizens said they could no longer enjoy the drama since it had abandoned its aesthetic values.
Tian Jin, vice director of the State Administration of Press, Publication, Radio, Film and Television, responded to the uproar at a press conference in Beijing on Wednesday, explaining that the administration had received complaints from quite a lot of viewers since the drama first aired.
"In addition, some of the shots were not conducive to the healthy development of minors," he said
"We have noticed the comments from the media and especially from the Internet since the show was modified and returned to the screen. The comments involve various points of view. The revised version has actually been welcomed by a large number of viewers," Tian added.
"Our literary and art works, films and TV dramas should promote the core values of China, should promote the truthful, the good and the beautiful, and should promote positive energy," he said.
Wu Zetian was a favorite concubine to two successive emperors of the Tang Dynasty before their deaths brought her to the peak of power. Some historians have painted her as a ruthless autocrat willing to do anything to cling to power, while others have treated her as a woman doing a "man's job" and doing it very effectively.
Go to Forum >>0 Comment(s)