''The Lost Tomb'' () is a 2015 Chinese

streaming television Streaming television is the digital distribution of television content, such as TV shows, as streaming media delivered over the Internet. Streaming television stands in contrast to dedicated terrestrial television delivered by over-the-air aer ...

series based on the internet novel ''

Daomu Biji ''Daomu Biji'' () variously translated as ''Grave Robbers’ Chronicles'',Title of the English translation of the book. ''Grave Robbery Note''Title seen on manhua edition of the story. and ''The Lost Tomb'',Title seen on serial edition of the sto ...

''. The series was originally intended to have 8 seasons filmed over a period of 8 years but only three seasons were produced as of 2020. The first season premiered on iQiyi on 12 June 2015.

Synopsis

Wu Xie (

Li Yifeng Li Yifeng (born Li He, 4 May 1987) also known as Evan Li, is a Chinese actor and singer, who rose to fame after participating in the 2007 ''My Hero'' contest. He debuted as a singer in the same year, with the album ''Four Leaf Clover''. Since 20 ...

) is an antique shop owner who comes from a family of tomb raiders. As he continues the family trade with his team of tomb raiders, he finds lost treasures of the

Warring States The Warring States period () was an era in ancient Chinese history characterized by warfare, as well as bureaucratic and military reforms and consolidation. It followed the Spring and Autumn period and concluded with the Qin wars of conquest ...

as well as the answers to the tragedies of his family's past. With the help of his grandfather's notes and his team – the quiet Zhang Qiling ( Yang Yang), the resourceful Pang Zi (Liu Tianzuo), the experienced Wu Sanxing (

Ken Chang Ken Chang or Chang Tzu-yao () is a Taiwanese actor and Mandopop singer who grew up in Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin Ame ...

), San Xing's loyal helper Pan Zi ( Wei Wei), and the skillful Ah Ning (

Tiffany Tang Tang Yan (, born 6 December 1983), also known as Tiffany Tang, is a Chinese actress and singer. She graduated from the Central Academy of Drama in 2006. In 2007, she was nominated for the Best Actress award at the Shanghai Television Festival for ...

) – Wu Xie sets out to find the lost treasures as well as the people responsible for the massacre of his family.

Cast

Main

Supporting

Production

In June 2014, a press conference was held at Shanghai and attended by representatives of H&R Century Pictures, Beijing Enlight Media and Nanpai Investment. It was announced that a film, television series and online game would be adapted from the novel ''

'' by Nanpai Sanshu. In particular, the television series would be divided into 8 seasons filmed over a period of 8 years. The series is directed by Cheang Pou-soi who directed the 2014 film '' The Monkey King''. Other notable production crew included

Hong Kong Film Award The Hong Kong Film Awards (HKFA; ), founded in 1982, is an annual film awards ceremony in Hong Kong. The ceremonies are typically in April. The awards recognise achievement in various aspects of filmmaking, such as directing, screenwriting, act ...

-winners Angie Lam and Bill Lui. Chun Hung Mak, who worked on the ''

Chinese Paladin ''The Legend of Sword and Fairy'' (), also known as ''Chinese Paladin'', is a game/media franchise created by Yao Zhuangxian and is developed by Taiwanese company Softstar. The franchise centers on a series of Chinese mythology-based role-play ...

'' series, composed the soundtrack of the series.

Principal photography Principal photography is the phase of producing a film or television show in which the bulk of shooting takes place, as distinct from the phases of pre-production and post-production. Personnel Besides the main film personnel, such as actor ...

commenced in August 2014 and wrapped up on 30 November 2014 at

Yamdrok Lake Yamdrok Lake (also known as Yamdrok Yumtso or Yamzho Yumco; ; ) is a freshwater lake in Tibet, it is one of the three largest sacred lakes in Tibet. It is over long. The lake is surrounded by many snow-capped mountains and is fed by numerous sm ...

Tibet Tibet (; ''Böd''; ) is a region in East Asia, covering much of the Tibetan Plateau and spanning about . It is the traditional homeland of the Tibetan people. Also resident on the plateau are some other ethnic groups such as Monpa people, ...

. Location filming took place at the Beijing Farm Animal Research Center and the Dagao International Art Unit.

Casting

On June 24, 2014,

confirmed through Weibo that he would be taking on the leading role of Wu Xie. On August 31, 2014, official posters of the main cast including Li, Yang Yang, Liu Tianzuo, Ken Chang and Wei Wei were released. On November 5, 2014,

was revealed to be the female lead of the series.

Deviation from novel

In the novel, Wu Xie is the owner of an antique store but in the series, he is an overseas returnee who studied at a German University and returned to China to return an antique to the country. The rest of the team also became "protectors of the antique" instead of a "tomb-raiding team". Two new characters, High Master and Cheng Chengcheng, were also created for the web series.

Reception

''The Lost Tomb'' is the most watched web drama of 2015 with over 2.8 billion views. Despite its popularity, the series was criticized for its draggy story-line and poorly done special effects. Fans of the novel also commented that the plot and characters deviated too much from the original novel.

Awards and nominations

International broadcast

References

External links

*
''The_Lost_Tomb''_ ''The_Lost_Tomb''_Sina_Weibo
">Sina_Weibo">''The_Lost_Tomb''_Sina_Weibo
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lost_Tomb The_Lost_Tomb.html" ;"title="Sina_Weibo
.html" ;"title="Sina Weibo">''The Lost Tomb'' Sina Weibo
">Sina Weibo">''The Lost Tomb'' Sina Weibo
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lost Tomb The Lost Tomb"> 2015 Chinese television series debuts IQIYI original programming Television series by H&R Century Pictures Chinese web series 2015 web series debuts