''King's War'', also known as ''Legend of Chu and Han'', is a Chinese television series based on the events of the late

Qin dynasty The Qin dynasty ( ) was the first Dynasties of China, imperial dynasty of China. It is named for its progenitor state of Qin, a fief of the confederal Zhou dynasty (256 BC). Beginning in 230 BC, the Qin under King Ying Zheng enga ...

and the

Chu–Han Contention The Chu–Han Contention (), also known as the Chu–Han War (), was an interregnum in Imperial China between the fall of the Qin dynasty and the establishment of the Han dynasty. After the Qin dynasty was overthrown in 206 BCE, the empir ...

(206–202 BC) leading to the establishment of the

Han dynasty The Han dynasty was an Dynasties of China, imperial dynasty of China (202 BC9 AD, 25–220 AD) established by Liu Bang and ruled by the House of Liu. The dynasty was preceded by the short-lived Qin dynasty (221–206 BC ...

in ancient China. Directed by Gao Xixi, the series starred

Chen Daoming Chen Daoming (born 26 April 1955) is a Chinese actor who has starred in various genres of film and television series. Career Chen graduated from the Central Academy of Drama. His first notable role was Puyi (the last emperor of China) in the 19 ...

Liu Bang Emperor Gaozu of Han (2561 June 195 BC), also known by his given name Liu Bang, was the founder and first emperor of the Han dynasty, reigning from 202 to 195 BC. He is considered by traditional Chinese historiography to be one o ...

, the founding emperor of the Han dynasty, and

Peter Ho Peter Ho (, born September 13, 1975) is an American-Chinese singer, actor, producer and director. Active across Greater China, he is known for his roles in TV series ''Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (TV series), Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon'', ...

as Liu Bang's rival

Xiang Yu Xiang Yu (), born Xiang Ji, was a Chinese warlord who founded and led the short-lived ancient Chinese states, kingdom-state of Western Chu during the interregnum period between the Qin dynasty, Qin and Han dynasty, Han dynasties of China, d ...

. It started airing on Anhui TV, Zhejiang TV, Jiangxi TV and Tianjin TV on 28 December 2012. The show began streaming on

Netflix Netflix is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service. The service primarily distributes original and acquired films and television shows from various genres, and it is available internationally in multiple lang ...

in 2017.

Plot

The series is set in China in the late third century BC during the

, which had conquered the other six

Warring States The Warring States period in Chinese history (221 BC) comprises the final two and a half centuries of the Zhou dynasty (256 BC), which were characterized by frequent warfare, bureaucratic and military reforms, and struggles for gre ...

and unified China under the rule of the First Emperor in 221 BC. As the Qin dynasty governed with brutal and oppressive policies, it had incurred much resentment from the common people, so rebellions broke out in 209 BC shortly after the First Emperor's death. Among the rebels, two prominent leaders –

and

– emerged and worked together to overthrow the Qin dynasty by 206 BC. After the fall of the Qin dynasty, Liu Bang and Xiang Yu engaged in a power struggle, historically known as the

, for supremacy over China. The war ended in 202 BC with victory for Liu Bang, who became the emperor and established the

as the ruling dynasty in China.

Cast

* Duan Yihong as Han Xin * Yang Lixin as

Xiao He Xiao He (257 BC – 16 August 193 BC''xinwei'' day of the 7th month of the 2nd year of Emperor Hui's reign, per vol. 12 of ''Zizhi Tongjian'') was a Chinese calligrapher and politician of the early Western Han dynasty. He served Emperor Gaozu of ...

* Qin Lan as Lü Zhi * Li Yixiao as Consort Yu * Sun Haiying as Fan Zeng * You Yong as Yong Chi * Huo Qing as Zhang Liang * Kang Kai as Fan Kuai * Wang Jishi as Lu Wan * Zhang Chenghao as Zhou Bo * Fan Yulin as Long Ju * Zhu Yanping as

Xiang Liang Xiang Liang (; died 208 BC) was a Chinese military leader who led a rebellion against the Qin dynasty between 209 and 208 BC. He is best known as an uncle of Xiang Yu, the rival of the Han dynasty's founding emperor Emperor Gaozu of Han, Liu Ban ...

* Cai Yida as Xiang Zhuang * Xu Maomao as Xiang Bo * Hu Dong as

Ying Bu Ying Bu (died November or December 196 BC) was a Chinese military general, monarch, politician, and warlord who lived during the early Han dynasty. He was a native of Lu County (六縣; present-day Lu'an, Anhui). In his early life under the Qin ...

* Yu Hewei as

Qin Shi Huang Qin Shi Huang (, ; February 25912 July 210 BC), born Ying Zheng () or Zhao Zheng (), was the founder of the Qin dynasty and the first emperor of China. He is widely regarded as the first ever supreme leader of a unitary state, unitary d ...

* Elvis Tsui as Wei Bao * Xu Wenguang as Zhao Gao * Li Jianxin as

Li Si Li Si (; 208 BC) was a Chinese calligrapher, philosopher, and politician of the Qin dynasty. He served as Chancellor from 246 to 208 BC, first under King Zheng of the state of Qin—who later became Qin Shi Huang, the "First Emperor" o ...

* Yu Bin as Huhai * Cao Weiyu as Zhang Han * Wang Hualong as Ziying * Lin Peng as

Xiahou Ying Xiahou Ying (; died 172 BC), posthumously known as Marquis Wen of Ruyin, was a Chinese official who served under Liu Bang (Emperor Gaozu), the founding emperor of the Han dynasty, and two of his successors. A friend of Liu Bang, he first joine ...

* Shi Weijian as Li Yiji * Tang Yan as Consort Qi * Xu Yang as Consort Bo * Yu Mingjia as Consort Cao * Wu Gang as Shen Yiji * Ji Chenmu as King Huai II of Chu * Liu Jingfan as

Peng Yue Peng Yue (; died April 196 BC), courtesy name Zhong, was a Chinese military general who lived during the late Qin dynasty and early Han dynasty. He was a prominent ally of Emperor Gaozu of Han, Liu Bang (Emperor Gaozu), the founding emperor of ...

* Shi Yanjing as Li Zuoche * Peng Guobin as

Ji Xin Ji Xin (; died 204 BC), Posthumous name, posthumously known as Marquis Zhonglie of Xingyang (), was a military officer serving under Emperor Gaozu of Han, Liu Bang (Emperor Gaozu), the founding emperor of the Han dynasty. He is best known for h ...

* Zhang Jingyuan as Chen Ping * Lu Yong as Guan Ying * Zheng Jingyuan as Zhou Ke * Xu Xiaojian as

Cao Shen Cao Shen or Cao Can (died 24 September 190 BCE), courtesy name Jingbo (), was a Chinese military general and politician. He served as a chancellor of the Western Han dynasty. He participated in the Chu–Han Contention on Liu Bang (Emperor Gaoz ...

* Yang Yucheng as Sui He * Liu Zifeng as Liu Taigong * Wang Jun as Cao Wushang * Xu Fengnian as Chen Yu * Li Bingyuan as

Ji Bu Ji Bu (; 200s BC) was a Chinese military general from late Qin dynasty, Qin to the early Western Han dynasty. He was from Xiaxiang (下相; present-day Sucheng District, Suqian, Jiangsu). He previously served under Xiang Yu, a warlord who engag ...

* Ye Peng as Zhongli Mo * Yang Ziduo as Yu Ziqi * Yan Pei as Song Yi * Zhang Xiqian as Zhang Er * Liu Guanghou as

Shusun Tong Shusun Tong (; died ca 188 BCE) was a Chinese politician and writer who served the Qin and Western Han courts. He is known for organization of the first court worship for the Emperor Gaozu of Han (202 BCE), as well as for the custody over the yo ...

* Wu Xiaodong as

Sima Xin Sima Xin (died 204 BC) was a Chinese military general of the Qin dynasty. Between 209 and 208 BC, when uprisings against the Qin dynasty broke out, Sima Xin, along with Zhang Han and Dong Yi, led Qin forces into battle against the various reb ...

* Liu Jingxi as Liu Bang's mother * Zheng Tianyong as Lü Taigong * Siqin Gaowa Nanji as Chenxi * Xu Wanqiu as Lü Xu * Guo Ketong as Xiaoxian * Zhang Ruibo as Liu Fei * Dong Chunming as Liu Ying * Yang Zhiwen as Liu Le * Long Wu as Canghai Jun * Wang Pu as Weisheng * Gong Xiaorong as Ruojiang * Wang Weiguo as Yin Tong * Li Yansheng as the magistrate of Pei County * Yang Rui as Ren Ao * Da Youwei as Li Liang * Shang Yue as Song Xiang * Song Laiyun as Wang Li * Ren Mingsheng as Lü Ze * Dong Ming as the magistrate of Chenliu * Zhou Dianying as the administrator of Nanyang * Liu Xiaoxiao as Jitao * Bi Haifeng as Wang Ling * Miao Luoyi as Liyuan * Wang Yi as Chunyu Yue * Li He as Lüyi * Fu Hongjun as Master Zhong * Guo Wenxue as Tian Heng * Hu Jingpei as Marquis Gangwu * Ji Chenggong as Kuai Che * Li Chengfeng as Su Jiao * Li Gen as Zhang Ping * Lin Feng as

Tian Guang Tian () is one of the oldest Chinese terms for heaven and a key concept in Chinese mythology, philosophy, and cosmology. During the Shang dynasty (17th―11th century BCE), the Chinese referred to their highest god as ''Shangdi'' or ''Di'' (, ' ...

* Luo Ming as Ying Gao * Song Li as Cao Jiu * Sun Ning as Han Cheng * Wang Ming as Ziying's daughter * Wen Haifeng as Wu She * Yang Guang as Huan Chu * Zhang Xinhua as Chong Xin * Zheng Wei as Liu Ruyi

Production

''King's War'' is the second historical drama television series directed by Gao Xixi after ''

Three Kingdoms The Three Kingdoms of Cao Wei, Shu Han, and Eastern Wu dominated China from AD 220 to 280 following the end of the Han dynasty. This period was preceded by the Eastern Han dynasty and followed by the Jin dynasty (266–420), Western Jin dyna ...

'' (2010). The production cost for ''King's War'' was expected to break records as Bona Film Group announced on 8 June 2011 that it would provide Gao with a budget of 1.7 billion yuan for the project, excluding the costs for possible future expansions. Shooting started on 25 August 2011高希希陈道明联手打造《楚汉》
/ref> and ended on 5 May 2012.

Set construction

According to reports, apart from its huge budget, one of the highlights of the series is its realistic sets. The palace, along with other important locations in the television series, had to be totally reconstructed in accordance with the requirements stated in the script. The sets were expected to be completed by July 2011.

Casting

formally signed on to portray

. On 25 August 2011, Gao Xixi appeared in public with six confirmed members of the cast, including Chen,

and Hu Dong. Chen had been confirmed as Liu Bang while Ho was a likely choice for

.传奇大剧《楚汉传奇》开机何润东担纲项羽
/ref>

Script

Wang Peigong spent years creating the script for ''King's War''. Gao Xixi said in an interview, "Peigong and I would discuss about ''King's War'' when we have time. It has been four years, I believe the time is ripe now. The story will begin from

starting off as a patrol officer in Pei County, until he established the

and became the emperor. This series will not follow the narrative style of historical dramas. The clever part about ''Legend of Chu and Han'' lies in the word ''Legend''."

English dub

On 15 August 2015, an English dub of all 80 episodes was completed for release on South African Cable Television.

Reception

When the series received average ratings, Gao Xixi claimed that it was attracting a highly educated audience.高希希：《楚汉传奇》受众学历高
/ref>

Awards and nominations

International broadcast

References

External links

* * {{Gao Xixi 2012 Chinese television series debuts Television series set in the Western Han dynasty Television series set in the Qin dynasty Zhejiang Television original programming Chinese historical television series