Scarlet Heart

Scarlet Heart
Promotional poster
Genre	Romance Historical fiction Chuanyue
Based on	Bu Bu Jing Xin by Tong Hua
Directed by	Lee Kwok-lap
Starring	Cecilia Liu Nicky Wu Kevin Cheng Yuan Hong Lin Gengxin
Opening theme	One Persistent Thought by Hu Ge and Alan
Ending theme	Three Inches of Heaven by Ivy Yan Season of Waiting by Cecilia Liu
Composer	Raymond Wong
Country of origin	China
Original language	Mandarin
No. of episodes	35
Production
Producer	Karen Tsoi
Production location	China
Running time	45 mins
Production company	Tangren Media
Original release
Network	Hunan Satellite TV
Release	13 January (2011-01-13) – 28 September 2011 (2011-09-28)
Related
Scarlet Heart 2 Moon Lovers: Scarlet Heart Ryeo Scarlet Heart Thailand

Scarlet Heart
Scarlet Heart's intertitle (Simplified Chinese version)
Simplified Chinese	步步惊心
Traditional Chinese	步步驚心
Hanyu Pinyin	Bùbù Jīngxīn
Transcriptions Standard Mandarin Hanyu Pinyin Bùbù Jīngxīn

Scarlet Heart (Chinese: 步步惊心, lit. Startling by Each Step) is a 2011 Chinese television series based on the novel Bu Bu Jing Xin by Tong Hua. It premiered in China on Hunan Broadcasting System (HBS) on 10 September 2011.

The series tells the story of a woman, Zhang Xiao, who time-travels from the 21st century to the Qing Dynasty during the Kangxi Emperor's reign, where she, as her previous incarnate Ma'er'tai Ruoxi, encounters the emperor's nine sons, who are involved in a lengthy battle for the throne. During the course of the series, she has relationships with the Eighth Prince and then the Fourth Prince, the latter eventually ascends the throne as the Yongzheng Emperor. Although largely faithful to the novel, the series’ ending differs from the original.

Scarlet Heart was a commercial and critical success across Asia, establishing Cecilia Liu as a lead actress and revitalizing Nicky Wu’s career.^[1][2] A sequel, Scarlet Heart 2, aired in China on Zhejiang TV on 22 April 2014.^[3][4] A film version, Time to Love, with different cast, was released in 2015. A Korean version, Moon Lovers: Scarlet Heart Ryeo, aired in 2016. A Thai version, Scarlet Heart Thailand, was announced in 2024.^[5]

Synopsis

Zhang Xiao (Cecilia Liu), a young woman from the 21st century, suffers a near-fatal accident that sends her back in time to the Qing Dynasty during the Kangxi Emperor's (Damian Lau) reign. She finds herself trapped in the body of one of her previous incarnations: Ma'ertai Ruoxi, the teenage daughter of a Manchu general. In this new timeline, she has an elder sister, Ruolan (Annie Liu), who is a concubine of the Kangxi Emperor's eighth son, Yinsi (Kevin Cheng). Ruoxi initially tries to return to the future, but she soon adjusts to life in this era. She gets acquainted with Kangxi's other sons, including the fourth prince Yinzhen (Nicky Wu), tenth prince Yin'e (Ye Zuxin), and fourteenth prince Yinti (Lin Gengxin). She also forges a close friendship with the thirteenth prince, Yinxiang (Yuan Hong).

Ruoxi attracts the attention of the emperor with rumors of her brashness and bravery, and manages to charm him with her intelligence and wit. Later, at the imperial palace's "beauty draft" (during which concubines and wives are chosen for the princes or the emperor himself), conflicting arrangements are made by Yinsi and his wife, Gogoro Minghui (Shi Xiaoqun), leading to Ruoxi being drafted into the service of the dowager empress to keep the peace, before Ruoxi is given an appointment as a servant to the emperor, specifically to prepare and serve tea to him and those he hosts.

During Ruoxi's stay in Yinsi's house, Yinsi falls in love with her. She initially rejects him but then returns his feelings, and agrees to marry him if he gives up competing for the succession to the throne. This is because Ruoxi is aware of the history, in which Yinsi's ambition will ultimately lead to his death in prison after Yinzhen becomes emperor. However, Yinsi refuses to and thus Ruoxi breaks up with him. Before leaving, Ruoxi warns Yinsi of Yinzhen's plans to usurp the throne and came up with solutions for him to prevent being taken down by Yinzhen.

Ruoxi then starts to get closer to Yinzhen, and their interactions changes her unfavorable opinion of him, and they gradually fall for each other. Meanwhile, Yinsi and his supporters, acting on Ruoxi's advice, frame Yinzhen for plotting against the crown prince Yinreng (Zhang Lei). Yinxiang, the closest brother to Yinzhen, steps forward to take responsibility and is sentenced to house arrest. After this incident, Yinsi realizes that Ruoxi is now romantically involved with Yinzhen. Yinreng is deposed after his criminal ways are exposed and is imprisoned for life. Kangxi then begins showing preference for Yinti and offers Ruoxi as a concubine to him. However, Ruoxi boldly defies the emperor's order, and as a penalty, she is demoted to the laundry department.

Ruoxi works within the laundry department for a number of years, and is offered some level of protection and special treatment by ways of the princes. Kangxi falls ill during this time, and when Ruoxi is brought back to the emperor's service by Eunuch Wang to prepare pastries and help stimulate Kangxi's appetite, he pardons her and restores her to her former role as his lead tea server.

After Kangxi dies, with military support from Longkodo (Zhao Jialin) and Nian Gengyao (Xing Hanqing), Yinzhen falsely claims that Kangxi named him the successor, effectively staging a coup and taking the throne from Yinti to become the Yongzheng Emperor. He releases Yinxiang, who is enfeebled by years of custody.

Yinzhen moves Ruoxi into his quarters, namely as his lady-in-waiting, and consummates their relationship. He does not, however, marry her, as he wants to be able to live with her and see her every day—concubines have their own estates in the harem between which the emperor must divide his time. Ruoxi is pleased enough with this arrangement, as she has always been reticent about marriage and enjoys seeing Yinzhen daily as well, until her happiness is overshadowed by Yinzhen’s paranoia and his ruthless persecution of his brothers. She frequently finds herself caught between the rival camps of Yinzhen and Yinsi.

When Gorolo Minghui, Yinsi’s wife, tells Ruoxi that Yinsi began opposing Yinzhen years earlier because he was provoked by Ruoxi’s conviction that he would lose to Yinzhen, Ruoxi is devastated. Although Yinsi never learns that Ruoxi’s warning stemmed not from a lack of faith in him but from her knowledge of the future, she is overwhelmed by the cruel irony of history and her own role in the princes’ fratricidal struggle. The shock causes her to miscarry Yinzhen’s child, leaving her unable to conceive again. Enraged, Yinzhen blames Yinsi and Minghui, issuing an edict forcing them to divorce, which drives Minghui to commit suicide.

Wracked by guilt and fearful of Yinzhen’s harsh treatment of his brothers, Ruoxi confesses her role in driving Yinsi into opposition against Yinzhen. Shocked by the revelation, Yinzhen begins treating her coldly. Unable to bear the emotional strain, Ruoxi asks Yinti to help her leave the palace. Yinti presents Yinzhen with an edict issued by the late Kangxi Emperor, which betrothes Ruoxi to Yinti in recognition of his military achievements. When Yinzhen remains reluctant to carry out the late emperor's edict, Yinsi intervenes and reveals his past romance with Ruoxi. The disclosure proves to be the final blow for Yinzhen, who feels deeply betrayed by Ruoxi and ultimately let her leave the Forbidden City to marry Yinti.

Despite Yinti's excellent care, Ruoxi's emotional anguish deeply affects her health, and she begs him to send a letter to Yinzhen, requesting to see the emperor one last time before she dies. However, a misunderstanding between Yinzhen and Yinti causes the letter, sent in Yinti's name, to be thrown aside unread. Ruoxi struggles to stay alive, but after three days, she concludes that Yinzhen's absence confirms that his love for her has ended, and she dies. When news of Ruoxi's death reaches Yinzhen, he rushes to Yinti's house, regretting his actions after learning that Ruoxi still loved him.

Yinzhen subjects Yinsi and Yintang (Han Dong) to increasingly harsh punishments and imprisoned both men. Yinxiang visits them in prison and delivers poison, which is Ruoxi’s last request for him before her departure from the palace. The two princes subsequently take their own lives, ending their suffering as Ruoxi wished. Yinxiang dies a few years later, followed shortly by Yinzhen himself, whose 12-year reign as Emperor was the shortest in Qing history. Yinti lives on but does not find another wife. Only Yin'e, who once had a crush on Ruoxi, has a happy ending with his wife (Liu Yuxin), whom he grows to love.

Upon Ruoxi’s death, Zhang Xiao awakens in a hospital in 2011 and learns that she has been in a coma for several weeks. She is left wondering whether her experiences in the past were real or merely a dream. After recovering, Zhang researches the Qing dynasty and discovers that history remains on its proper course, with no trace of Ma’ertai Ruoxi in the historical record. However, during a visit to a museum, she notices a woman in a Kangxi-era painting depicting the emperor and the nine princes enjoying a tea gathering before the deadly succession struggle. The scene exactly matches her memories of life in the palace. Meanwhile, another visitor bearing a striking resemblance to Yinzhen passes by but fails to recognize her. The series ends on a cliffhanger as the man walks away, leaving Zhang Xiao in tears.

Cast

Deviations from the novel

The show's producers have announced that the series will remain mostly faithful to Bu Bu Jing Xin, the novel by Tong Hua on which it is based. However, there are some differences:

• In the novel's beginning, though in the television series Zhang Xiao remains a 25-year-old white-collar worker — her alter ego, Ma'ertai Ruoxi, was 13 years old, not 16. Another difference was that Zhang came from the year 2005, not 2011.
• In the novel, Ruoxi is unable to return to her own time and ultimately succumbs to her illness, while Yinzhen dies ten years later amid hopes of reuniting with Ruoxi after death. The story ends with Yinzhen's son Hongli's (whom he fathered with Lady Niohuru) ascension to the throne as the Qianlong Emperor.^[6] In the television series, after Ruoxi and Yinzhen's deaths, Ruoxi's soul returns to her incarnation in the 21st century. Whilst struggling to get over the trauma of her experiences of time travel, she encounters a man who resembles Yinzhen and is possibly a present-day incarnation of him.^[7] The man does not recognize her, though he did inquire her if they knew each other before making his leave. Zhang Xiao remains in guilt over everything that happened when she was Ma'ertai Ruoxi. She chooses not say anything and tearfully watches the man leave.^[8]

Soundtrack

Songs not included in the commercial release

• Aide Lianyi (爱的涟漪; Love's Ripples) performed by Ailiya & Alicia [04:30]
• Diaoke Aiqing (雕刻爱情; Sculpture of Love) performed by Zheng Jiajia [03:35]
• Xuehua Hongmei (雪花红梅; Snowflakes and Red Plum Blossoms) performed by Gong Shujun [04:14]

Awards

Remake

Moon Lovers: Scarlet Heart Ryeo is a South Korean remake, directed by Kim Kyu-tae. It is the first Korean drama project for Universal Studios and has a budget of $13 million. It began airing on 29 August 2016 for 20 episodes.^[13] It received criticisms for its screenplay, direction and performances, but was well received overseas.^[14][15] In China, the series aired at the same time as its Korean broadcast on Youku and Mango TV, also, in Hong Kong on LeTV, and on ONE TV ASIA in Malaysia, Singapore and Indonesia under the title Scarlet Heart.^{[16][17][18][19]} Due to its simultaneous broadcast and extensive publicity campaign, including a fan-meeting with Kang Ha-neul before the premiere, the drama was well received in Singapore and Malaysia, and has 2.5 billion cumulative views on China's biggest video platform, Youku.^[20][21]

See also

• Palace

References

External links

• Scarlet Heart at IMDb