Poetry of the Song Dynasty (2021)

The Hands Behind the Power

This drama portrays the life story of Liu E, one of the most prominent empress dowagers in Chinese history (b. 969 – d. 1033). She became the regent of the Song Dynasty for Emperor Zhenzong (reigned 997 – 1022) and later, for Emperor Renzong (reigned 1022 – 1063). Here, Liu E is depicted as intelligent, benevolent, decisive and visionary, far exceeds her male counterpart. Her journey from rags to riches based on historical facts, is interjected with fictional stories and figures.

The production cost for this drama is undoubtedly high with well know veteran actors, Liu Tao and Chou Yu Min, and the quality and acting are good. However, the editing is horrendous, in particular, for the first 10 episodes, making everything feel disjointed. There, events move very fast, from one big event to the next, supposedly unravelling over a span of time in days or weeks, even years, but the way the drama was cut, it feels like multiple events happening within the same day or hour, confusing and frustrating many viewers. The drama is said to have 80 episodes originally but drastically being trimmed down to 61 episodes.

Liu E has been portrayed as an evil woman in some literature which contradicts what historians think. In historical records, she was a very smart and courageous woman and had implemented many impressive projects that benefited the nation; her contributions were undeniable. Liu Tao's portrayal here is elegant and strong, and yet not lacking her feminine charisma. Whether or not this depiction is historically accurate, it is anybody’s guess. For me, compared with “Serenade of Peaceful Joy” where Liu E was portrayed in the first few episodes, I find some of the events in “Palace of Devotion” more plausible while others rather far-fetched with the writer’s imagination running wild. For example, how Liu E loses her biological children here seems over dramatic, but the request of wearing the emperor’s attire to a ritual ceremony seems out of place in “Serenade of Peaceful Joy” where a great deal of time is spent in arguing over the subject, whereas here, it becomes a brilliant idea by the Emperor himself to grant the Empress Dowager the status and privilege without much ado. Also how Cao (Empress Cisheng) comes to the life of Emperor Renzong is more believable in this drama than the previous one. However, I do love the dialogues in the former drama (“Serenade of Peaceful Joy”) which are more poise and humorous and the costume there perhaps more accurately depicted given Emperor Renzong was a very frugal person.

My Verdict
This is a rather well-done drama with decent CGIs despite the disjointed editing in earlier episodes and some inconsistencies in the logic of the fictitious events which are meant to spice up the story. Compared with “Serenade of Peaceful Joy”, “Palace of Devotion” is action packed with epic war scenes, spectacular warriors from Song and Khitan-Liao, and the settings are more opulent. The encounter of another great empress dowager, the Khitan Xiao Yan Yan, gives viewers two historically great women with strong personalities and powerful characters that leave deep marks in Chinese history; their intelligence and wisdom well supersede their contemporaneous male counterparts.

This is not a drama of great romance, and yet, Emperor Zhenzong is devoted to his Empress Liu. If not for the need of having a male heir for the throne, he wouldn’t have agreed to sleep with other women. This is pretty rare for a custom notorious for harems with thousand beauties.

Many viewers are also critical of the age of the main actors and complaint of their chemistry, Perhaps, these viewers are very used to having good looking young actors and fireworks type of romance. If so, this drama may not be their cup of tea.

“Palace of Devotion” comes with great character development and nice OSTs, at the same time, not lacking a sense of humor, tragedies and connivance.

Women have been an important force in shaping up societies and in politics. Seeing the two great empress dowagers of the time, a what-if question runs through my mind - what if women were given equal power, would we have a more peaceful and better world today?

Though not 100% perfect, this is a good historical drama for history buffs. I have enjoyed it. Great watch and recommended!

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One of the Best!

This is my first ever review because I feel so compelled to do justice to this drama.

If you are a historical drama fan, you must watch this. Although the events and characters sometimes have some fictional elements (which I think they did on purpose to avoid censorship problems) the main plot and most of the events were played out nicely, down the the smallest details. As I watched this and read Wikipedia about each of these characters it really brought me joy in learning about Song Dynasty.

Some people don’t want to watch this due to bias against older actors/ actress (me included). But in the end I found them to be skillful and refreshing in telling this story. For those of us who knows the legend of Civet Cat replacing Crown Prince, this is the story itself but less vicious; more logical.

Wonderful to watch this without too much harem in-fighting and seeing a realistic portrayal of an Emperor, whom in spite of his status has a very hard life. He loves only one person and remains faithful through his embrace, gaze and need of spending time with her; yet he had to seduce other women in order to produce an heir (tastefully and sexily done …). He is also a fair person who doesn’t discard the women once he got his heir but to honor them best he could.

The main couple though in love evolved their love into a very mature relationship where they go through heart breaking decisions together. I sometimes feel so bad for them and wish they’re able to love like a normal couple.

Politically this drama also plays out the stress that the Emperor goes through and no wonder they die young whilst some ministers lived through 3 generations of Emperors. This is truly a bad for health job.

Everyone acts so well in their roles. Vic Zhou tends to have this pained , eye-squinting expression when he portrays the older weaker emperor. But he is very charming nonetheless. Even his consorts talk about his piercing eyes and good looks and how they all really love him. This includes the empress (Liu Tao) whom he loves so much.

This drama is a gem for people who likes to see a good quality set, high standards in acting, costumes, attention to every detail including etiquette and ceremonies. Amazing! Go watch it and you will be surprised how good it is. Some says initial editing was bad. I don’t think so. You just need to pay attention to the story. They make every episode counts and it’s paced so well that 61 episodes is not too long. I finally found something that is equal to Glory of Tang Dynasty which ‘wow’ me 3 years ago in a similar way.

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Do not watch it if you don't like history

The main reason I watch this drama is because of Vic Chou. I see him as male lead and I make decision to watch it. First... I sincerely thought it would be boring. Story about palace, King, politician and struggle for power never amuse me. Except for certain production like Dong Yi and Under Queen Umbrella. I watch palace of devotion from last episode. See if it can attract me to watch more. And surprisingly..it does.
Palace of devotion for me don't have a heavy plot. It basically about a King and his struggle to conceive a Prince as future Emperor. I don't see much love story between male and female lead because the King still take numerous concubine while he claim he only love female lead. I cannot feel any chemistry between the lead. I like King relationship with his one concubine, Wan-er. Their story is much more stronger.
61 episode is fair enough for me. Some said the production actually planning more than 61. I'm glad it doesn't take more than that.
Vic Chou as usual is gorgeous. He successfully portraying a King who has his own struggle for power. A struggle that in the end claiming his own life. Some episode and story make me cry hard. He is the King, but sadly he don't have full power on how to handle his own country. Politician constantly in a way for an absurd and selfish reason. They are the real villain in this drama.
Overall..palace of devotion is a good drama to watch except for people who don't like history. All the casting are great except for female lead. She's not too suited for her role. I don't know why.

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Wood chipper meet the Editing room

One word to describe this drama - atrocious! To be more precise - atrociously made. This was so disappointingly bad I couldn’t even come up with a witty headline for this review.

The plot is moving at a 2.0 speed, which won’t allow viewers to fully get immersed in the story let alone connect with any of the characters. There are flashbacks inside flashbacks, which are made worse by the cloudy-looking filter they used.

The editing was so horrible, so disjointed you’ll find yourself confused if the character has even finished speaking before the next scene transports you miles away. This sudden shift between scenes is like spinning the wheel and seeing where it takes you since you can’t fully be sure if you are going to find yourself in another place just geographically or in another time entirely. They are throwing time jumps like they are handing out sample tasting at the food court in the mall. There was an earthquake scene horribly done the whole thing came down like a house of cards. There was no choreography to the fight scenes. The battle scenes were truly laughable and again everything moved at a high speed it’s hard to tell what’s going on.

I was looking forward to watching this since it has a cast like Liu Tao and Vic Chou. After struggling through 8 episodes I had to give up. In an attempt to shorten what I’m assuming was initially meant to be a longer drama, they practically took the drama and edited it through a wood chipper.

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Heaven help me but I hated this

Update:
I dropped this series at episode 11 but felt compelled to hate-watch a few more episodes and read other recaps and reviews to help check any biases I might hold. So, now I have a better understanding.

Firstly, the screenplay was written by a guy who clearly didn't understand how to parley history in a manner that would be palatable to younger viewers, especially if the series is being presented as a "historical romance". Likewise, the director, who, at 60 years plus, did not understand whether her target audience should be the older generation who are bound to appreciate this type of archaic but factual storytelling, or the younger generation who are inundated with a newer more dynamic method of incorporating romance within a historical drama. A perfect example is the Story of Yanxi Palace which was loosely based on the love story between Emperor Gaozong of Qing and his favorite concubine. Not only did we get factual historical events but also an exciting and compulsively watchable drama. The failure of director Li Shao Hong to read the trend is one of the reasons Palace of Devotion failed to appeal to the audience, prompting the many low ratings (and ridicule) it got while it aired in 2021.



Initial review:
The synopsis made this series seem like an epic love story interspersed with historical palace politics but we were given a docu-series of an Emperor who didn't love the FL or care about her well-being. Additionally, this Emperor was written in the most bizarre manner. He came across as weak, indecisive, and lacking in discernment.

Since I started watching Chinese palace dramas I’ve seen a dozen or more that are historically accurate yet entertaining because the scriptwriters know it's imperative to provide the audience with not only history but one that’ll keep us invested in the protagonist. Had I wanted a historical accounting then I’d watch the History channel.

It being a harem drama doesn't mean I want to see the ML having intimate moments with other women. Like, how was this even allowed? I never ever want to see multiple women being loved by the ML to the point the supposed FL is nothing but a blip in his journey of being Emperor. Also, with an Emperor as weak as this one was portrayed, I couldn't help but hate him.

Only watch this if you like all of the above. Three stars is being generous.

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