C-Dramas

I am a historian of Chinese art and design. Chinese is my second language (I have some Japanese, but I rarely use it anymore, so it’s rapidly disappearing). During the pandemic, I became addicted to C-dramas. My favourites are big-budget series such as 知否知否 Story of Mulan，三体 The Three-Body Problem，长安十二时辰 Chang’an 24, and smaller-scale dramas such as 棋魂 Hikaru no Go. They have smart scripts and acting, and the camera work is fresh. There are many shows that I watch and then rewatch. But if you only encounter the general run of C-dramas (the true melodramas, also fun in their own ways, especially if there is flying/wire work involved), expect to see at least three or four of the following:

• The whole plot is shown in the beginning and ending credits
• An intense conversation at a riverbank
• A twisted ankle (not necessarily the female romantic lead, sometimes it is the male)
• Underwater kiss or kiss of life because of near drowning
• Childhood encounter with romantic partner, but only one of them remembers it
• Getting drunk and revealing too much
• First kiss is always––always––interrupted
• One of the main romantic leads dies at the end
• If it’s a court intrigue there’s a low-flying birds’ eye shot of the palace quarters; if it’s a contemporary drama in Shanghai, there’s a high-flying shot of the Bund and the Oriental Pearl Tower at night
• One or the other of the romantic leads loses his or her memory for a span of time
• One of the main characters masquerades as someone else and often there are actual masks involved
• One of the romantic leads trips and falls on the other romantic lead and their lips accidentally touch briefly, and both consider this to be a kiss
• The wind blows through curtains and hair when there’s strong emotions
• Or fireworks go off
• A third person jealously manipulates the romantic leads
• The manipulative third person always is assured by the unrequited love interest that the feelings between them are those of an older brother to a younger sister (or variations)
• The darker, usually evil, side wears black and red
• If you turn to the dark side, you start wearing dramatic eyeshadow and crimson lipstick, and sometimes you get cool tattoos
• The good side wears whites and pastels
• White clothes always are white, no matter what happens to the person wearing them
• Practically every wound or fever requires a trip to the hospital or a consultation with a doctor
• If a fantasy, historical, or court romance, the couple always goes to the highest available point at night for moon-watching
• Massive amounts of drinking on rooftops
• Men wear more makeup than women (which I love, personally)
• Everyone wakes up in the morning looking refreshed with a perfect full face of makeup
• Blood is always the missing element for some potion they’re trying to make
• There’s coughing or spitting blood (red means internal injury to the meridians, black means poison)
• Any car or carriage trip begins in the daylight hours and ends in twilight
• Whenever a character says “I’m not hungry,” the next thing to happen is the sound of that person’s stomach growling
• Someone gets hungry and eats enough for three people, easily
• Characters vomit on screen

Happy C-Drama Watching!