The Legend of Zhuohua (2023) poster
8.3
Your Rating: 0/10
Ratings: 8.3/10 from 1,895 users
# of Watchers: 5,455
Reviews: 33 users
Ranked #1199
Popularity #2524
Watchers 1,895

It tells the love story of a woman who overcomes many trials to become a female official, and a general who has weathered many hardships in his road to victory. Despite being an illegitimate daughter, Mu Zhuo Hua breaks away from the path of traditional women during her time, as she escapes from her own wedding and enters the capital to seek a position as a female official. In her journey, she meets Liu Yan, a man known as the god of war. He may have been defeated on the battlefield, but he does not waver in his resolve, as he endures hardships to avenge his grievances. The two may have started out trying to use each other for their own purposes, but eventually join hands in their mission to better the nation, creating a world where women can also enter the court as officials. (Source: ChineseDrama.info) ~~ Adapted from the web novel "Ceng Feng Liu" (曾风流) by Sui Yu Er An (随宇而安). Edit Translation

  • English
  • ภาษาไทย
  • Italiano
  • Português (Brasil)
  • Country: China
  • Type: Drama
  • Episodes: 40
  • Aired: Aug 19, 2023 - Sep 7, 2023
  • Aired On: Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday
  • Original Network: Tencent Video
  • Duration: 45 min.
  • Score: 8.3 (scored by 1,895 users)
  • Ranked: #1199
  • Popularity: #2524
  • Content Rating: Not Yet Rated

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Cast & Credits

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The Legend of Zhuohua (2023) photo
The Legend of Zhuohua (2023) photo
The Legend of Zhuohua (2023) photo
The Legend of Zhuohua (2023) photo
The Legend of Zhuohua (2023) photo
The Legend of Zhuohua (2023) photo

Reviews

Completed
Mic Lo
19 people found this review helpful
Sep 13, 2023
40 of 40 episodes seen
Completed 0
Overall 8.5
Story 9.0
Acting/Cast 9.0
Music 9.0
Rewatch Value 6.0

Very good, could have been perfect if shorter.

The greatness of this drama is in its main characters. They are mature, thinking people with none of the usual simpering of the ganre. They are all complex and rounded and aren't so easily put into the usual boxes of good or bad.
The music and costumes were good, but as usual the white skin filtering was too much. Wish the Chinese industry would stop with this nonsense, since they already have such good looking actors without the filters.
The downside of the drama was the number of episodes. Forty episodes were too much for the story and the last five episodes I was mostly skipping and skimming. It was a good drama but it could have been excellent if it was shorter.

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Completed
PeachBlossomGoddess
35 people found this review helpful
Sep 19, 2023
40 of 40 episodes seen
Completed 10
Overall 7.0
Story 6.5
Acting/Cast 8.5
Music 7.5
Rewatch Value 6.0

Women should not rule the world.

The Legend of Zhuohua is another in a string of recent female empowerment themed historical romantic dramas. The production is upfront that this drama is a work of pure fiction. It is impossible for women to exercise the kind of influence and authority portrayed in this story in ancient Chinese patriachical society. The attitudes and values articulated are also incredibly modern and unsurprisingly, resonate with current audiences. It should be enjoyed at face value accepting that many aspects of it are sheer fantasy.

Titular character Ma Zhuohua flees an arranged marriage to the capital; where she must pass the imperial exams to fulfill her ambition to be a female official. Quick witted and resourceful, she saves Lord Ding, a decorated war hero, when he is wouded in the middle of a clandestine operation. Their fates intertwine as he is the strongest advocate of opening up scholarship and official positions to women. As they collaborate on official assignments and work toward their shared vision of the country, they fall in love. Can their relationship navigate a feudal system that requires women officials to choose between marriage and their career?

The most enjoyable arcs of this drama are the early courtship ones. This is the first time I have enjoyed Jing Tian's playing such a clever, demurely mischevious and independent character. Despite a ghastly white color filter and not the best dubbing, the strong chemistry between Jing Tian and Feng Shaofeng is unmistakable. It is so refreshing and very hot to see such a candid, lively and purely adult relationship dynanic laced with flirtatiously racey dialogue. The humor is very well written and so cheekily portrayed that I laughed uproariously many times, and especially at the dirty jokes. The political commentary and philosophical debates are surprisingly well written, with a sophistication beyond what I would expect of a light romantic comedy like this.

Outside the empowerment theme, the sub-plots are not special but this top notch veteran cast is very charismatic and executes so well it makes up for some of the lack of originality. Both Shi Yueling and Wang Likun in particular deliver formidable, almost terrifying performances as Empress Dowager Zhou and Princess Roujia. I also found Roujia's complicated relationship with Shen Jinghong very interesting. Unfortunately just after the mid-way point, the narrative rehashes tired plotlines including noble idiocy, murder most foul and high treason. In quite a similar vein to Destined, it nose dives into a poorly designed political melodrama and predictible twists. Even incredible acting cannot paper over that this is yet another delusional ends justifies the means antagonist with an unconvincing villain origin backstory.

This would have made a much better 20 episode drama that ended on the intended message that women should seize their dreams. The writers took it one step further into women can also seize the world. And then left us with an unambiguous message that women should not rule the world. The first few arcs of this are worth about an 8.0 but the latter arcs are just 6.0/6.5. I can only give this a 7.0. Its still a quality production with some good laughs to pass some time but it won't rock your world.

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Details

  • Drama: The Legend of Zhuohua
  • Country: China
  • Episodes: 40
  • Aired: Aug 19, 2023 - Sep 7, 2023
  • Aired On: Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday
  • Original Network: Tencent Video
  • Duration: 45 min.
  • Content Rating: Not Yet Rated

Statistics

  • Score: 8.3 (scored by 1,895 users)
  • Ranked: #1199
  • Popularity: #2524
  • Watchers: 5,455

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