''The Legendary Prime Minister – Zhuge Liang'' is a Hong Kong television series based on the life of
Zhuge Liang
Zhuge Liang ( zh, t=諸葛亮 / 诸葛亮) (181 – September 234), courtesy name Kongming, was a Chinese statesman and military strategist. He was chancellor and later regent of the state of Shu Han during the Three Kingdoms period. He is r ...
Shu Han
Han (; 221–263), known in historiography as Shu Han ( ) or Ji Han ( "Junior Han"), or often shortened to Shu (; pinyin: ''shŭ'' <
Three Kingdoms
The Three Kingdoms () from 220 to 280 AD was the tripartite division of China among the dynastic states of Cao Wei, Shu Han, and Eastern Wu. The Three Kingdoms period was preceded by the Han dynasty#Eastern Han, Eastern Han dynasty and wa ...
period. Starring
Adam Cheng
Adam Cheng Siu-chow (born 24 February 1947) is a Hong Kong TVB actor and Cantopop singer.
Career
Cheng started his career in the 1970s, where he gained a reputation for playing the lead roles in TVB ''Wuxia'' drama series based on the works of ...
as the title character, the series not only incorporates stories about Zhuge Liang from the 14th-century historical novel ''
Romance of the Three Kingdoms
''Romance of the Three Kingdoms'' () is a 14th-century historical novel attributed to Luo Guanzhong. It is set in the turbulent years towards the end of the Han dynasty and the Three Kingdoms period in Chinese history, starting in 184 AD and ...
'', but also includes some elements of
wuxia
( ), which literally means "martial heroes", is a genre of Chinese fiction concerning the adventures of martial artists in ancient China. Although is traditionally a form of historical fiction, its popularity has caused it to be adapted f ...
and a fictional romance between Zhuge Liang and Xiaoqiao (Cantonese: Siu-kiu). The series was produced by
ATV
ATV may refer to:
Broadcasting
* Amateur television
*Analog television
Television stations and companies
* Ràdio i Televisió d'Andorra
* ATV (Armenia)
* ATV (Aruba), NBC affiliate
* ATV (Australian TV station), Melbourne
* ATV (Austria)
* AT ...
and first started airing in Hong Kong on 9 December 1985.
Plot
General Liu has 2 sons Liu Qi and Liu Zhong. Both sons are fine in war strategy, except that Qi is kind while Zhong is evil. Qi saves a beautiful maid, Zhi Lan. He likes her but his brother rapes her. Later Zhong ditches her. Qi gets worried when Zhi Lan has Zhong's child and disappears. Knowing that his brother is the scheming type, he gives everything up and tries to look for her with Liang. They finally find her. Zhi Lan is touched by Qi's love for her and finally marries him. Liang envies them and wonders when he will get to be with his love one day. Liu Bei seeks his help 3 times before he agrees to help him out. On his way to the camp, he meets Xiao Qiao who is beautiful and also intelligent. Both are interested in one another but Liang is disappointed to know that she is engaged to another general, Zhou Yu. Zhou Yu is angry to know that his fiancée has a change of heart and he demands to carry their wedding forward. Xiao Qiao seeks help from Liang but he ignores her. Zhou Yu is close on their heels. Out of desperation, she jumps off the cliff. Both men are alarmed upon seeing this. Liang tries to hold her hand but tears her sleeve instead. He also injures himself when both reach the bottom of the cliff. He tries to crawl close to the unconscious Xiao Qiao but Zhou Yu kicks him aside and carries her home. Xiao Qiao is sent to Huang Ying's father for treatment. Zhou Yu never leaves her alone as Xiao Qiao may die any second. Huang Ying, however, pities Liang who stands outside the hut daily to check on Xiao Qiao's condition. She starts to fall for him. Zhou Yu marries Xiao Qiao after her recovery. She is unhappy and Zhou Yu treats her coldly although he really loves her. Liang also marries Ying but he sets his mind to put his heart in his work to manage his master's state to help his son. He gets along well with Kwan Yu and Zhang Fei. He thinks of very good war strategies to control the other states. Being a martial arts expert himself (can you believe it?), he is also a master of traps. He finds Qi but Qi declines to help as he is happy to settle in a village with his family and son. In the meantime, Zhong joins Cao Cao's army. The Wei state thus becomes the strongest among the three. Zhou Yu and Liang often see each other and they often have verbal attacks. Cao Cao is glad to see this and he plans to grab the other 2 states when he gets the chance. After all these years, the other people have aged, except for Xiao Qiao. Why? To save her life, Ying's father has to give her a valuable drug that keeps her youth all along. Ying is amazed to see how Xiao Qiao remains the same all these years while she ages so much. She can see how much Liang still loves her and feels inferior of herself. She finally dies miserably, urging Liang not to give Xiao Qiao up. Zhou Yu helps his master, Sun Quan, after the elder ruler Sun Che dies. Being younger and inexperienced, he always listens to Zhou Yu's advice. Liang also helps Liu Bei's son, Ah Dou, who is a stupid man. He ages so much as he takes charge of everything in the war after his masters' death. Zhou Yu fails in several attempts to seize Liu Bei's state. He is seriously injured in an attack. However, he is very upset that Xiao Qiao doesn't say that she likes him all these years. Even though she takes care of him, she doesn't say these words even till the day of his death. Cao Cao also becomes an unhappy man after he causes his favourite son, Cao Zhi's death. Cao Pi throws discord among them and he is remorseful over it. He starts to wonder the point of having wars and stops. Liang and Xiao Qiao are finally together. But Liang is dying too as he reveals too many predicted secrets. Xiao Qiao is upset but they decide to spend the remaining days happily together.
Cast
: ''Note: Some of the characters' names are in Cantonese romanisation.''
*
Adam Cheng
Adam Cheng Siu-chow (born 24 February 1947) is a Hong Kong TVB actor and Cantopop singer.
Career
Cheng started his career in the 1970s, where he gained a reputation for playing the lead roles in TVB ''Wuxia'' drama series based on the works of ...
Michelle Yim
Michelle Yim Wai-ling (; born September 2, 1955), better known by her stage name ''Mai Suet'' (), is a Hong Kong actress and elder sister of former actress Sidney Yim Wai-ming also known by stage name ''Suet Lei'' (). She graduated from St. Rose ...
Kwan Yu
Kwan may refer to:
People
* Kwan (surname) (關), a Chinese surname
* Kwan Cheatham (born 1995), American basketball player for Ironi Nes Ziona of the Israel Basketball Premier League
* nickname of Kwandwane Browne (born 1977), Trinidadian field ...
* Choi Kwok-hing as Cheung Fei
* Tong Chun-chung as Chiu Wan
* Wong Wai as
Cho Cho
Cho Cho ( my, ချိုချို) is the wife of Win Myint, the tenth President of Myanmar. She served as the First Lady of Myanmar from 2018 to 2021, when her husband was removed from office in a coup d'état.
Biography
Cho Cho was bor ...
Szema Wah Lung
Tsang Sun Chiu (曾順釗), better known by stagename Szema Wah Lung (司馬華龍), (2 August 1921 – 27 July 2012) was a Hong Kong film actor. He was known for his roles as a veteran evergreen actor, the Green Leaf King (綠葉王). In man ...
Kenny Ho
Kenny Ho Kar-king (born 29 December 1959) is a Hong Kong actor and Cantopop/Mandopop singer. He was best known for his role as Zhan Zhao in the Taiwanese and Mainland Chinese television series '' Justice Bao'' from 1993 to 2012, and is also known ...
Cho Tat-wah
Walter Tso Tat-Wah (15 September 1915 – 10 January 2007) was a film actor of Hong Kong, most famous for the roles he played in a number of ''Wuxia'' films in the 1950s and 1960s.
The names Cho Tat-wah and Shih Kien were synonymous to "good ...
Eric Wan
Eric Wan Tin-chiu (born 28 October 1964) is a Hong Kong television actor best known for his role as "Fong Tin-yau" in the '' My Date with a Vampire'' television series trilogy produced by the Hong Kong television network ATV. Wan began his actin ...
Berg Ng
Berg Ng Ting-yip (born 12 December 1960) is a Hong Kong actor. He is best known for his role as Inspector Cheung in the 2002 crime thriller film ''Infernal Affairs''.
Filmography
Television
* ''The Undercover Agents'' (1984)
* '' 101 Citizen ...
as Shek Kwong-yuen
* Hui Ying-sau as Elder Kiu
* Chan Mei-yee as Lady Kam
* Lau Suk-fong as Lady Mei
* Kwan Ka-lai as Kwan Yu's wife
* Yau Pui-ling as Cheung Fei's wife
* Tam Tak-sing as Hon Hin Dai
* Tang Pik-yuk as Consort Tung
* Ng Wui as Yuen-kei To-yan
* Kong To as Bak-duk San-mo
* Fan Wing-wah as East Cave Master
* Chan Lai-yau as South Cave Master
* Keung Wai-kwong as West Cave Master
* Tsang Tsan-on as North Cave Master
* Fong Kwok-san as Nanman woman