''Zhaoge'' () is an upcoming

Chinese Chinese can refer to: * Something related to China * Chinese people, people of Chinese nationality, citizenship, and/or ethnicity **''Zhonghua minzu'', the supra-ethnic concept of the Chinese nation ** List of ethnic groups in China, people of ...

television series written and produced by

Yu Zheng Yu Zheng (; born 28 February 1978) is a Chinese screenwriter and producer who is noted for ''Palace'', which earned him a Best Screenwriter award at the 16th Asian Television Awards. Biography Early life Yu was born and raised in Haining, Zhej ...

; starring

Zhang Zhehan Zhang Zhehan (; born 11 May 1991) is a Chinese actor and singer. His first major role was as Wei Ying in the Chinese historical drama '' Legend of Ban Shu'' (2015). He is best known for his roles in '' Legend of Yunxi'' (2018), '' The Blooms at R ...

and

Wu Jinyan Wu Jinyan (, born August 16, 1990) is a Chinese actress. She is best known for her roles in television series ''Beauties at the Crossfire'' (2013), '' Story of Yanxi Palace'' (2018) and ''The Legend of Haolan'' (2019). Early life and educatio ...

. The series is set in the later years of

Shang dynasty The Shang dynasty (), also known as the Yin dynasty (), was a Chinese royal dynasty founded by Tang of Shang (Cheng Tang) that ruled in the Yellow River valley in the second millennium BC, traditionally succeeding the Xia dynasty and ...

, and revolves around

Ji Fa King Wu of Zhou () was the first king of the Zhou dynasty of ancient China. The chronology of his reign is disputed but is generally thought to have begun around 1046 BC and ended three years later in 1043 BC. King Wu's ancestral name was ...

's life as a hostage in

Zhaoge Zhaoge () was the last of a series of cities that served as capital of the Shang dynasty, and later capital of State of Wey (衛國). It is located in current Qi County, Hebi, Henan about 50 km south of Anyang. See also *Yinxu Yinxu (modern ; ...

and his journey to become a legendary ruler. It involves fantasy elements originating from the 16th-century novel ''

Investiture of the Gods ''The Investiture of the Gods'', also known by its Chinese names () and is a 16th-century Chinese novel and one of the major vernacular Chinese works in the gods and demons (''shenmo'') genre written during the Ming dynasty (1368–1644). Cons ...

''.

Synopsis

During the Shang dynasty, the capital of China was moved to Zhaoge in the hopes that the city would grow prosperous. However, by the reign of King Zhou of Shang, the livelihood of the people was driven into a desperate state due to warfare. Thankfully, the son of King Zhou of Shang, also had the son of King Wen of Zhou, Ji Kao, in his hands. Ji Kao was on good terms with the son of King Zhou, Yin Jiao, who wished to save the people from their plight. Ji Kao eventually set up and degraded to the status of a slave but was saved by Yin Jiao. While fleeing, Ji Kao met Jiang Ziya, Nezha, and Yang Jian who assisted him. Years later, Ji Kao had changed names to Ji Fa and led eight hundred feudal princes to suppress King Zhou, leading to the destruction of the Shang dynasty. Yin Jiao turned on Ji Fa, who he accused of leading his mother to her death. This eventually led to Yin Jiao’s suicide. Ji Fa eventually ascended and became King Wu of Zhou, remembering to keep in mind his shared dream with Yin Jiao to lift the people towards a better future.

Cast

Production

Shooting began on September 13, 2016 in Kanas Lake,

Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region Xinjiang, SASM/GNC: ''Xinjang''; zh, c=, p=Xīnjiāng; formerly romanized as Sinkiang (, ), officially the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region (XUAR), is an autonomous region of the People's Republic of China (PRC), located in the northwest ...

. The series wrapped up filming on February 7, 2017 at Hengdian. The series reportedly took 300 million yen to produce, with six months of filming and eight months of pre-production. The series is written and produced by

, who also works as the art director. Directors Liu Zhenming and Ren Haiyao previously worked with Yu in the web series ''Demon Girl''. Lun Pengbo who worked on '' Mojin: The Lost Legend'' acts as the visual effects director, and He Jian of ''

The Glory of Tang Dynasty ''The Glory of Tang Dynasty'' (Chinese: 大唐荣耀) is a 2017 Chinese television series starring Jing Tian and Ren Jialun. It is based on the novel ''The Concubine of Tang: Legend of Pearl'' () by Cang Mingshui; and tells the fictional love sto ...

'' was appointed the costumes designer. Yu Zheng also engaged history professors, host of ''

Lecture Room ''Lecture Room'' is a Chinese television programme hosted by China Central Television (CCTV), in which scholars from various disciplines are invited to provide lectures. It was first broadcast on 9 July 2001 on CCTV-10. In its early days, featur ...

'' and archaeology professors to ensure that the television series is as accurate to real-life history as possible.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Zhaoge 2020 Chinese television series debuts Chinese historical television series Shenmo television series Television shows written by Yu Zheng Television series by Cathay Media Television series by Huanyu Film Television series set in the Shang dynasty Television series set in the Zhou dynasty Upcoming television series Works set in the 11th century BC