''The King's Woman'' () is a 2017 Chinese television series starring

Dilraba Dilmurat Dilraba Dilmurat (, zh, 迪丽热巴·迪力木拉提 ; born June 3, 1992) is a Chinese actress, singer, and model. She is an ethnic Uyghurs, Uyghur from Ürümqi, Xinjiang. Early life and education Dilraba was born on June 3, 1992, in Ürümq ...

and

Vin Zhang Zhang Bin Bin (, born 19 January 1993), also known as Vin Zhang, is a Chinese actor. He made his acting debut in the show ''V Love'' (2014) and received recognition for his roles in ''Chronicle of Life'' (2016), ''The King's Woman'' (2017), and ''R ...

. It is adapted from the novel ''The Legend of Qin: Li Ji Story'' (秦时明月之丽姬传). The series aired on

Zhejiang TV Zhejiang Television (ZJTV, ) is a Satellite television, satellite television channel owned by Zhejiang Radio and Television Group serving Zhejiang, Zhejiang Province. It was launched on October 1, 1960. History On January 1, 1994, Zhejiang TV ...

every Monday to Wednesday, from 14 August to 4 October 2017.

Synopsis

Gongsun Li is the granddaughter and disciple of military commander Gongsun Yu. When she was young, she met and rescued

Ying Zheng 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 dynasty in Chine ...

, who then fell in love with her at first sight. When the Qin troops were attacked, Gongsun Li's childhood lover,

Jing Ke Jing Ke (died 227 BC) was a '' youxia'' during the late Warring States period of Ancient China. As a retainer of Crown Prince Dan of the Yan state, he was infamous for his failed assassination attempt on King Zheng of the Qin state, who later ...

was poisoned while protecting her. In order to attain the antidote for

, Gongsun Li agreed to marry Ying Zheng. However, she found out that she was already pregnant with Jing Ke's child. Ying Zheng decides to hide the truth for Gongsun Li, treating the child, Tianming, as his own. Gongsun Li was deeply touched by Ying Zheng's actions. Simultaneously, Han Shen (Sun Li and Jing Ke's senior) entered the palace to save her and stayed on in the palace as an imperial guard

Cast

Main

as Gongsun Li / Li'er **Huangyang Tiantian as young Gongsun Li **A kind and caring woman who was in love with Jing Ke. After he was poisoned, she gives herself up to the King in order to pay for the cure. She soon finds herself falling in love with Ying Zheng and willing to do anything for him. She tends to put others before herself and does not care if she is hurt. She holds the affection of Jing Ke, Ying Zheng, and Han Shen. She has a son, Tianming with Jing Ke. **"Concubine Li" (丽良人), later "Madam Li" (丽夫人) *

**Dongli Wuyou as young Ying Zheng **The King of Qin and later Emperor of Qin who plans to unite China. As a child, he fell in love with Gongsun Li, one of the first people to show him compassion. Years later, he runs into her and recognizes her as the girl who saved him. He immediately makes her a fugitive in order to force her to become his wife. He is known for his unpredictable temper and is feared by everyone in his court. He has two sons,

Fusu Fusu (died August or September 210BC) was the eldest son and heir apparent of Qin Shi Huang, the First Emperor of the Qin dynasty. Life After being deceived by two alchemists while seeking prolonged life, Qin Shi Huang supposedly Burning of bo ...

(his biological son) and Tianming (Gongsun Li's son). *Li Tai as Han Shen **The senior disciple of both Jing Ke and Gongsun Li. He is in love with her and is willing to protect her with his life. When Li first entered the palace, Han Shen followed her and became an imperial guard to protect her. He is known as a skilled martial artist and sword master. *Chang Liu as

**Xu Wangzi as young Jing Ke **Gongsun Li's second senior disciple and Han Shen's junior disciple. He is in love with Gongsun Li and has a special relationship with Ge Lan. He is skilled in Swan Swordsmanship, a deadly sword technique that was passed down from his master. He planned to assassinate Ying Zheng, but ultimately failed. *Zhang Xuan as Ge Lan / Lan'er **Jing Ke and Gongsun Li's close friend. She is the daughter of a skilled sword master, Ge Nie. She is in love with Jing Ke, but holds in her feelings because she knows he’ll never love her back. She is light hearted and kind, often putting others before herself.

Supporting

Qin kingdom

* as

Lü Buwei Lü Buwei (291–235 BCE) was a Chinese merchant and politician of the Qin state during the Warring States period. Originally an influential merchant from the Wey () state, Lü Buwei met and befriended King Zhuangxiang of Qin, who was then a ...

**Ying Zheng's biological father and Prime minister of Qin who used his son to gain his position in the royal court. After he is banished, he faked his death and helped an enemy territory. He is then killed by Ying Zheng. *Chen Yisha as Lady Zhao, the Queen Dowager **Ying Zheng's mother and Lü Buwei's lover who was honoured as "Queen Dowager" after her son's ascension. After her lover, Lao Ai is killed, she goes crazy and is confined in the Southern Palace under Ying Zheng's command. *Yang Tong as Li Zhong **Ying Zheng's closest friend and head of the royal palace guards. *Su Youchen as Chengjiao, Lord of Chang'an **Ying Zheng's brother who was coerced to rebel and surrendered while punished by reduction to a lower rank. They indirectly make peace thanks to Gongsun Li's intervention. *Liao Xueqiu as Queen Dowager Huayang **Ying Zheng's grandmother and the head of the harem, who was born in

Chu State Chu (, Old Chinese: ''*s-r̥aʔ'') was an ancient Chinese state during the Zhou dynasty. Their first ruler was King Wu of Chu in the early 8th century BC. Chu was located in the south of the Zhou heartland and lasted during the Spring and A ...

. She hates Gongsun Li and would do anything to make sure she doesn’t become queen. *Wang Ting as Chu Ruo **Ying Zheng's concubine born into the Chu Royal family and is close with Queen Dowager Huayang. She is scheming and sabotages Gongsun Li as much as possible. However, she grows to be a more mature and considerate person, even advising Li'er to protect herself against Ying Zheng. **"Madam Chu" (楚夫人), demoted to "Concubine Chu" (楚良人) and later promoted again to "Madam Chu" (楚夫人) *Qiu Yinong as Min Dai **Gongsun Li's close friend who later betrays her due to her vicious heart. It is then revealed that she purposely married into Qin so she could help her homeland. **"Madam Min" (敏夫人) *Li Xiapei as Concubine Han **One of Ying Zheng's concubines who was killed by Min Dai. *Zhang Gu as

Zhao Gao Zhao Gao (died ) was a Chinese politician. He was an official of the Qin dynasty of China. Allegedly a eunuch, he served as a close aide to all three rulers of the Qin dynasty – Qin Shi Huang, Qin Er Shi and Ziying – and was regarded as h ...

**Ying Zheng's advisor who is willing to do anything to help his homeland, Zhao. He worked with Madam Min in order to ensure Zhao's safety. *Zhao Tingliang 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 ...

**A member of the Qin royal court who is jealous of anybody who could threaten his position. *Liu Haochen as

Lao Ai Lao Ai (; died 238 BCE) was an imposter eunuch and official of the State of Qin during the late Warring States period. Allegedly falsifying his castration in order to gain entry into the court of Qin, he became the favorite of Queen Dowager Zhao, ...

**Qin's false eunuch and Queen Dowager Zhao's lover. After committing adultery with her, he used her seal to rebel and was then punished by Ying Zheng. *Zhou Xiaopeng as Sikong Ma *Yuan He as Yao Jia *Cheng Dachun as Ji Fengjian **One of the four villains in Xianyang killed by Ge Nie's sword. *Zhu He as Mang Bianlin **One of the four villains in Xianyang killed by Ge Nie's sword. *Li Junying as Kuang Huoquan **One of the four villains in Xianyang killed by Ge Nie's sword. *Yuan Zhiwei as Rui Daoshan **One of the four villains in Xianyang killed by Ge Nie's sword. *Huang Qian as Meng Wu **A warrior of Qin during the

Warring States Period The Warring States period in history of China, 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 ...

who become Ying Zheng's trusted general. *Meng Yuli as Concubine Jing **Ying Zheng's concubine. *Lü Yingna as Qing'er **Gongsun Li's maidservant in the palace.

Yan kingdom

*Sean Pai Yixiang as Crown Prince Ji Dan / Yan Dan **Prince of Yan who was imprisoned for his whole life in Qin. Although Ying Zheng views him as a close friend, Dan believes that Ying Zheng is a cruel person. Gongsun Li then helped him escape back to Yan. *Yao Kan as Tian Guang **Yan Dan's royal tutor and Yan's strategist who sacrifices himself for Dan. *Jiang Yi as

Gao Jianli Gao Jianli () was a musician of the Chinese state of Yan, during the Warring States period, who played a struck zither called '' zhu'' ( 筑) or ''ji zhu'' ( 击筑). Legend After his friend Jing Ke was killed during his assassination attempt on ...

**Yan's ranger and Jing Ke's confidant. *Liu Yiyang as Qin Wuyang **Yan's deputy envoy and Jing Ke's assistant.

Others

*Wang Tonghui as Ge Nie **Jing Ke's good friend. He is known as the world's best swordsman. *Yang Zhe as Gongsun Yu, Gongsun Li's grandfather and a great general of the Wei State. *Sun Kan as Crown Prince Jia, Zhao Royal family's member. *Lin Jiandong as Dou Yi, "Poison Needle Demon King" (毒针妖王) *Jin Youming as Xiahou Yang, Dan's person who works for Li Si and later died under Ge Nie's sword. *Zhang Bowen as four-year-old Ying Tianming, Gongsun Li's son with Jing Ke. **Yin Haoquan as nine-year-old Ying Tianming *Zhao Zuoshan as King Xi of Yan *Chen Jingyu as Lord Tang *Zhang Haifeng as King of Han State *Shen Xuewei as Zi Chu *Cheng Cheng as Lord of Changping *Wei Zhiqiang as Lu Goujian *Bai Jincheng as Ju Wu *Wu Chenchao as Bao Ye *Jiang Ke as Xuan Wu

Production

The producing team of ''The King's Woman'' included Chen Minzheng, the fashion designer for ''

Empresses in the Palace ''Empresses in the Palace'' () is a 2011 Chinese television series based on the novel of the same name by Liu Lianzi. Directed by Zheng Xiaolong, it stars Sun Li in the title role. Acclaimed for its strong ensemble cast and dialogue, the serie ...

'' and the creative director for ''

Nirvana in Fire ''Nirvana in Fire'' () is a 2015 Chinese language, Chinese historical drama and political thriller based on Hai Yan's book ''Lang Ya Bang (瑯琊榜)''. It was directed by Kong Sheng and Li Xue, and stars Hu Ge, Liu Tao and Wang Kai (actor), Wang ...

'' and ''

The Disguiser ''The Disguiser'' () is a 2015 Chinese spy war television drama based on Zhang Yong's novel, ''Spy War on Shanghai Bund'' (諜戰上海灘). It was produced by Hou Hongliang and directed by Li Xue, and stars Hu Ge, Jin Dong, Liu Mintao and Wang K ...

'', Zhao Changyong.

Casting

To immerse in the role,

prepared a for a month beforehand to learn about the related history and the background of

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 ...

. During this period, Zhang also learnt horse riding for the scenes required by the series. ''The King's Woman'' is

's fourth collaboration with

after ''

V Love ''V Love'' ( zh, s=微时代, p=Wēi Shí Dài; ), formerly known as ''Love In The Micro Era·First Love'' ( zh, s=微时代之恋·初恋篇) is a 2014 Chinese television series directed by Liu Yuzhi and written by Chen Baohua, starring Gao Weigu ...

'', ''Eternal Love'', and '' Pretty Li Hui Zhen''.

Filming

The series was filmed on set at the Hengdian Studios throughout the

Lunar New Year Lunar New Year is the beginning of a new year based on lunar calendars or, informally, lunisolar calendars. Lunar calendar years begin with a new moon and have a fixed number of lunar months, usually twelve, in contrast to lunisolar calendar ye ...

of 2017.

Soundtrack

Reception

The drama garnered over 1.5 billion viewers in total on

Youku Youku Tudou Inc. (formerly Youku Inc.), doing business as Youku (), is a video streaming service and former video sharing website based in Beijing, China. It operates as a subsidiary of Alibaba Group Holding Limited. Youku has its headquart ...

. The series placed first in television ratings and became one of the most searched and discussed topic online during its broadcast with around 1.2 billion readers on

Weibo Weibo (), or Sina Weibo (), is a Chinese microblogging ( weibo) website. Launched by Sina Corporation on 14 August 2009, it is one of the biggest social media platforms in China, with over 582 million monthly active users (252 million daily ac ...

and shares over 5 million.

International broadcast

References

External links

*
{{DEFAULTSORT:King's Woman, The 2017 Chinese television series debuts Chinese historical television series Chinese romance television series Cultural depictions of Qin Shi Huang Television shows based on Chinese novels Zhejiang Television original programming Television series by Hualu Baina Film & TV Television series set in the Warring States period