''Princess Der Ling'' ( zh, t=德齡公主, s=德龄公主, first=t, p=Délíng Gōngzhǔ), also known as ''Secret Files of the Qing Imperial Palace: Princess Der Ling'' ( zh, t=清宮秘檔之德齡公主, s=清宫秘档之德龄公主, first=t, p=Qīnggōng Mìdàng zhī Délíng Gōngzhǔ, labels=no), is a Chinese
period drama
A historical drama (also period drama, costume drama, and period piece) is a work set in a past time period, usually used in the context of film and television. Historical drama includes historical fiction and romance film, romances, adventure f ...
television series based on the historical novel of the same name written by Xu Xiaobin. The series premiered on
CCTV-8
CCTV-8 is the television drama channel of the CCTV
Closed-circuit television (CCTV), also known as video surveillance, is the use of video cameras to transmit a signal to a specific place, on a limited set of monitors. It differs from ...
on 30 August 2006, and had been broadcast on in
Taiwan
Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the nort ...
since 2009, with
Taiwanese Hokkien
Taiwanese Hokkien () (; Tâi-lô: ''Tâi-uân-uē''), also known as Taigi/Taigu (; Pe̍h-ōe-jī/Tâi-lô: ''Tâi-gí / Tâi-gú''), Taiwanese, Taiwanese Minnan, Hoklo and Holo, is a variety of the Hokkien language spoken natively by about 70% ...
dubbing. It is the first and only television dramatisation of
Der Ling
Lizzie Yu Der Ling ( zh, t=裕德齡, w=Yü Tê-ling, p=Yù Délíng; 8 June 188122 November 1944), better known as "Princess" Der Ling, and also known as Elisabeth Antoinette White after her marriage to Thaddeus C. White, was a Hanjun bannerwom ...
's life.
Synopsis
Upon their return to China from France,
Der Ling
Lizzie Yu Der Ling ( zh, t=裕德齡, w=Yü Tê-ling, p=Yù Délíng; 8 June 188122 November 1944), better known as "Princess" Der Ling, and also known as Elisabeth Antoinette White after her marriage to Thaddeus C. White, was a Hanjun bannerwom ...
(Zhang Jingjing) and
Roung Ling (Sun Yifei), daughters of the
Qing-dynasty
The Qing dynasty ( ), officially the Great Qing,, was a Manchu-led imperial dynasty of China and the last orthodox dynasty in Chinese history. It emerged from the Later Jin dynasty founded by the Jianzhou Jurchens, a Tungusic-speaki ...
diplomat (Liu Wenzhi), are installed as
court ladies
A lady-in-waiting or court lady is a female personal assistant at a court, attending on a royal woman or a high-ranking noblewoman. Historically, in Europe, a lady-in-waiting was often a noblewoman but of lower rank than the woman to whom sh ...
to the
Empress Dowager Cixi
Empress Dowager Cixi ( ; mnc, Tsysi taiheo; formerly Romanization of Chinese, romanised as Empress Dowager T'zu-hsi; 29 November 1835 – 15 November 1908), of the Manchu people, Manchu Nara (clan)#Yehe Nara, Yehe Nara clan, was a Chinese nob ...
(
Lü Zhong
Lü Zhong (born 17 December 1940) is a Chinese actress.
Selected filmography Film
Television series
Theatre
References
External links
*
1940 births
Living people
Chinese film actresses
Chinese television actresses
20th-c ...
). The Yu sisters, with the feeling of reforming an ancient empire, eventually realise its impossibility of change, and witness the dynasty's gradual demise. Der Ling's relationship with Kevin White (
Jonathan Kos-Read
Jonathan Kos-Read (born 1973), also known as Cao Cao (), is an American film and television actor who has worked mostly in China. While well known in China, his work is little-known in the United States. Kos-Read uses the stage name Cao Cao, which ...
; based on her real-life husband Thaddeus Cohu White) was highly romanticised in the series.
According to the Peking University professor Chen Xiaoming, in Xu Xiaobin's novel, as well in the series adaptation, "Der Ling and Roung Ling are symbols of Western civilisation". Despite being born in the Qing Empire, "they are the messengers of modern Western civilisation rather than daughters of ancient Eastern civilisation. They enter the ancient palace carrying within themselves a modern concept, a modern lifestyle and a modern aesthetic, bringing a free spirit to a society of rigid stratification, which is fresh and more humane."
Cast and characters
* Zhang Jingjing as
Princess Der Ling
Lizzie Yu Der Ling ( zh, t=裕德齡, w=Yü Tê-ling, p=Yù Délíng; 8 June 188122 November 1944), better known as "Princess" Der Ling, and also known as Elisabeth Antoinette White after her marriage to Thaddeus C. White, was a Hanjun bannerwom ...
* Sun Yifei as
Nellie Yu Roung Ling
Nellie Yu Roung Ling ( zh, t=裕容齡, w=Yü Jung-ling, p=Yù Rónglíng; 188216 January 1973), also spelt Nelly, was a Hanjun Plain White bannerwoman and dancer, who is considered "the first modern dancer of China". She was the younger daught ...
*
Lü Zhong
Lü Zhong (born 17 December 1940) is a Chinese actress.
Selected filmography Film
Television series
Theatre
References
External links
*
1940 births
Living people
Chinese film actresses
Chinese television actresses
20th-c ...
as
Empress Dowager Cixi
Empress Dowager Cixi ( ; mnc, Tsysi taiheo; formerly Romanization of Chinese, romanised as Empress Dowager T'zu-hsi; 29 November 1835 – 15 November 1908), of the Manchu people, Manchu Nara (clan)#Yehe Nara, Yehe Nara clan, was a Chinese nob ...
*
Jonathan Kos-Read
Jonathan Kos-Read (born 1973), also known as Cao Cao (), is an American film and television actor who has worked mostly in China. While well known in China, his work is little-known in the United States. Kos-Read uses the stage name Cao Cao, which ...
as Kevin White
* Pam as Amy White
* Sylvia as
Katharine Carl
Katharine Augusta Carl (February 12, 1865 – December 7, 1938) (sometimes spelled ''Katherine Carl'') was an American portrait painter and author. She made paintings of notable and royal people in the United States, Europe and Asia. She spen ...
* as
John Yu Shuinling
John Yu Shuinling ( zh, t=裕勛齡, w=Yü Hsün-ling, p=Yù Xūnlíng; 18741944), often referred to as John Shuinling (also spelt Shung-Ling), was a Hanjun Plain White bannerman who served as second secretary in the Qing-dynasty Embassy in Fr ...
* as
* as Lady Yu Keng (Louisa Pierson)
* Huang He as
Guangxu Emperor
The Guangxu Emperor (14 August 1871 – 14 November 1908), personal name Zaitian, was the tenth Emperor of the Qing dynasty, and the ninth Qing emperor to rule over China proper. His reign lasted from 1875 to 1908, but in practice he ruled, wi ...
* Yan Zi as
Empress consort of Guangxu
* Wang Zi as
Consort Jin Consort Jin may refer to:
Imperial consorts with the surname Jin
* Jin Yueguang ( 315) and Jin Yuehua ( 315–318), two of Liu Cong's later empresses
* Empress Jin (Yin) ( 318), wife of the Han Zhao emperor Liu Can
* Jin Feishan (died 926), wife of ...
* as
Li Lianying
Li Lianying (; 12 November 1848 – 4 March 1911) was a Chinese imperial eunuch who lived in the late Qing dynasty. He was a eunuch during the regency of Empress Dowager Cixi, who was the ''de facto'' ruler of China from 1869 to 1908 throu ...
* Zhou Yinghong as the
* Zhang Yajun as
Princess Rongshou
* Han Xinmin as
Ronglu
Ronglu (6 April 1836 – 11 April 1903), courtesy name Zhonghua, was a Manchu political and military leader of the late Qing dynasty. He was born in the Guwalgiya clan, which was under the Plain White Banner of the Manchu Eight Banners. De ...
* Sun Ning as
Wu Tingfang
Wu Ting-fang (; 30 July 184223 June 1922) was a diplomat and politician who served as Minister of Foreign Affairs and briefly as Acting Premier during the early years of the Republic of China. He was also known as Ng Choy or Ng Achoy ().
Ed ...
* Lu Chang'en as Sun Yu
* as
Yuan Shikai
Yuan Shikai (; 16 September 1859 – 6 June 1916) was a Chinese military and government official who rose to power during the late Qing dynasty and eventually ended the Qing dynasty rule of China in 1912, later becoming the Emperor of China. H ...
* Jia Dazhong as
Zhang Zhidong
Zhang Zhidong () (4 September 18375 October 1909) was a Chinese politician who lived during the late Qing dynasty. Along with Zeng Guofan, Li Hongzhang and Zuo Zongtang, Zhang Zhidong was one of the four most famous officials of the late Qing ...
* Zou Zheng as Xiaowenzi
* Wang Wentao as Xiaoshizi
* Zhang Ge as Musashi
* as
Uchida Kōsai
Count was a statesman, diplomat and interim prime minister, active in Meiji, Taishō and Shōwa period Japan. He was also known as Uchida Yasuya.
Biography
Uchida was born in what is now Yatsushiro city, Kumamoto Prefecture, as the son ...
* Yuka Ishizaki as wife of Uchida Kōsai (Uchida Masako)
* Peter as
Edwin H. Conger
Edwin Hurd Conger (March 7, 1843 – May 18, 1907) was an American Civil War soldier, lawyer, banker, Iowa congressman, and United States diplomat. As the United States' minister to China during the Boxer Rebellion, Conger, his family, and ...
* Maresa as wife of Edwin H. Conger (Sarah J. Conger)
* Galia as wife of
* Xing Jun as
Consort Yu
* Wang Shuai as Barong
DVD release
The series was released in a DVD boxset on 7 September 2006. The set includes ten discs containing all the episodes.
References
External links
*
* {{Imdb title, 9586354
2006 Chinese television series debuts
Biographical television series
Television series based on novels
Television series set in the 1900s
Television series set in the Qing dynasty
Television series about princesses
Mandarin-language television shows
English-language television shows
Fiction about interracial romance
Cultural depictions of Empress Dowager Cixi