Dang, I hope the rumors are not true and that C-netizens are targeting Love Like the Galaxy next, because I’m caught up on that one and its growing on me. But back to what just happened to a recently aired C-drama The Legendary Life of Queen Lau, which premiered in June and just finished airing. From the outset C-netizens criticized the drama for its Japanese influenced costumes on both the men and woman (see below comparison), and even later the female lead was seen eating dishes that is best described as sushi and a chirashi bowl. Queen Lau has also been called out for elements that are Korean in style. Last week the Chinese Broadcast Association met and issued a decree that period Chinese dramas are not to use or incorporate any foreign influenced elements in any way. This weekend netizens discovered that if they tried to click on the official streaming episodes of Queen Lau it was not available anymore, seemingly having been removed. This will definitely lead to a scramble of currently filming dramas to check costumes and sets and also for future dramas to stay clear of crossing this arbitrary line.
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Honestly, loved the characters and storyline, but I always felt the clothings and makeup were weak in this drama. Didn’t realize that they had Japanese influence on the clothes. Idk if it was trying to be like go go princess since they also had their own versions of microphones to announce news in the drama.
What?? It’s a cute show. What’s the deal with “using foreign influence?” (So hypocritical and useless) Anyway, I don’t have youku and I just finished it earlier today so it won’t be a problem for me if it’s pulled. It’s one of the better fluffy shows though so it’s a loss for other viewers.
Typical double standards. When Joseon Exorcist got cancelled for incorporating Chinese influences, people agreed and said need to look at Korea’s national sentiments. When it comes to Chinese dramas, it’s “What’s the deal?”. Don’t tell me it’s because it’s fluffy blah blah blah, this drama didn’t just use Japanese clothings, it also featured sushi.
If c-netz didn’t make a big deal out of this, i bet people will say the Chinese is stealing Japanese elements.
I agree wholeheartedly. They have the right to demand that their culture be represented accurately and respected. It’s weird and a double-standard when fellow foreigners bark back when they in turn would never accept cultural appropriation.
How did this show get passed the “strict” broadcast rules to air? Someone’s not doing their job? Anyway, I except all Chinese people to wear traditional Chinese clothes all the time instead of western inspired clothing if this is how outraged people are. lol
There is ZERO justification for period inaccurate clothing. As western wear is period accurate in the modern era, your point is silly.
As always, the double standards against Chinese people are sickening. If Koreans took offense at actually period appropriate Chinese influenced items (you know, since the Sinosphere was a thing for millennia), they’re just defending their culture, right?
Yes @karol
Normally the Chinese ancient / historical dramas tends to have a longer period of scrutiny on accuracy of historical facts. If it’s fiction then probably less stringent. And it depends on whether it’s on prime time TV or for streaming sites. Maybe they did not pay much attention to the costume. I didn’t watch this show but now I am concerned for Love like a Galaxy coz it’s a big budget production.
Do costume designers not do their research anymore? Who gets the initial and final say when it comes to production styles? Why is everyone getting punished instead of going straight to the source?
I am not saying the citizens are right. I expect a serious historical drama to be researched well and costumes/props to be accurate so I can focus on the plot.
However Queen Lau was a fluff piece. It was silly and I thought the leads are kinda meh. I am sorry for the production house.
However the China, Japan and Korean history and their influences on each other exists.
I couldn’t use an European costume comparison as comparing British vs French vs Italian vs Netherlands doesn’t work. They are so close to each other geographically that I couldn’t find a similar comparison to say that the Chinese citizens are in a twit over yet another thing. I wanted to comment about a specific British item if clothing in Pride and Prejudice that could be attributed to another country.
Don’t people have better things to do? I spent my 5 minutes writing then I have better things to do with my day than spend it comparing costume designs. If every costume designer of every period drama needs to be historically accurate then those fantasy drama production houses are going to be in trouble.
Instead of all cultures getting their underwear in a knot, why don’t they use it as a teaching moment when something is historically incorrect?
Assume westerners know little and introduce them to the finer elements of their culture?
I would welcome a website that compared styles by country and time-frame. I would especially like the men’s hats explained. In this drama the hat could also be used as a backscratcher!🤣
I wonder if the outfits would be more similar than dissimilar?
Bottom line – don’t take the drama’s away. It’s not fair to the actors nor the audience.
The thing is, China has an overwhelming number of clothing styles, especially for certain time periods, and Korea’s time periods earlier than Joseon have very little historical documentation on their clothing styles. This is why China repeatedly claims that Korea is stealing Chinese elements such as the Chinese knot, because Korea doesn’t have clear documentation unlike Japan which has clear documentation of how their clothing and culture were influenced by and slow deviated from Chinese dynasties.
i thought it was intentional in the production part to claim the outfit as chinese, just like how some dramas did to hanbok previously where they incorporated hanbok elements in their hanfu outfit. and even some argued and claimed that hanbok copied hanfu. but it was backfired and wasn’t well received when it comes to Japanese. i wouldn’t understand this before if zhang zhehan case didn’t happen.
Have you verified any of this yourself or do you just get your information from Korean translation sites in English?
The Chinese government is one thing and deserves hatred but please don’t treat 1 billion people like they’re a monolith/responsible for the actions of a few and also apply some critical thinking when it comes to Korean and Japanese claims.
I wonder why no one gets outraged by the clear historical revisionism of Korean dramas downplaying the huge Ming contribution to the Imjin war or pretending that Koreans shot Li Shimin (Emperor Taizong) and caused him to lose an eye? Oh that’s right, they’re the good guys!
u are so exaggerate. i said some but u suddenly said 1 billion of people. don’t twist my words like that lol. i don’t really understand your statement actually but it seems like as if u accuse me being pro korean. well, you are so wrong. I’m more fond of chinese historical culture than korean 💁♀️.
no one is outrage? i don’t know what history u r talking abt but aside from that, i litterally found some pages and accounts accused korean dramas stole hanfu looks. isn’t this an outrage? while i also found some pages accused chinese dramas used hanbok as hanfu. both has photos evidences in it. chill and relax. i just say what I’ve seen and read. i agree and disagree with some of the claims. should i make a clear stance to where I’m more inclined to? oh that’s right. i like chinese more! are u happy now? but wait a sec, me liking chinese more doesn’t mean I’ve to agree everything with the claims made by pro chinese.
Most production designs just try to suck you into their interpretation of that time period the story takes place. Costume design is just one part of severals that gives the audience a feeling for the environment and aesthetics the characters are living in. The whole production design is always influenced by creative choices, time and money constraints and individual aspects.
If you’re aiming for true authentic accuracy, you need the original historical clothes or the same materials and the same craftsmanship belonging to that time period to produce them. No modern ways to fabricate any piece of clothing. That is something only archeologists and historical researchers do. Do they do that for Chinese dramas? Of course, not.
So, every production has to make some kind of concessions to their costume designs.
Also, how much realism do we really need in dramas. Sorry to mention a hurtful example, if we asked for as much accuracy in costume design in Chinese dramas as possible and less creative leeway, shouldn’t we also see actress in lotus shoes (due to binding)?
In the end we are watching creative entertainment shows. Not documentaries.
If there are to many restrictions the creativity is condemned to vanish. Do we want that? Creative is based on different ideas mixed together to ideally create something fresh.
BTW, that drama doesn’t take itself to seriously. Why should it be scrutinized?
Ah, the old ‘we couldn’t possibly be accurate so why even try?’ method endorsed by the lazy. It’s like saying, I’m not an anatomist so why even bother drawing anatomically correct people?
No one is asking for 100% accuracy but there is such a thing as plausibility. Kimono/yukata elements in hanfu are NOT plausible. If this were a choice based on anything else than ignorance such as the characters having some Japanese connection, you wouldn’t see people getting upset about it.
You asked for 100%, by stating “There is ZERO justification for period inaccurate clothing” in a comment above.
Also, it’s very telling what aspects you pick to scrutinize in your responses to other comments and what you choose to deliberately overlook in your answers.
no one will belive that drama is historically accurate to begin with. So, it’s a perfect product to play with things. It shouldn’t be a problem, unless you’re nationalist or see the world in a back and white manner without anything in between. There are so many more important things to worry about, than to go after people who enjoyed that drama or produced it.
it’s definitely a cheap budget drama show, and the sad truth is, just like many other teen c-dramas, I believe this one, too, was designed to promote young actors and idols. Aint no way there’re viewers actually watching it for the historical accuracy in it. The hairstyle of the queen looks almost no different from her servants. The king should usually dress up in yellow with some dragon prints on it, but nah, in the first few episodes, there’s no significant scene where the king and the queen dress up formal.
There is no historical accuracy/value in this show, in fact, many history c-dramas promoting young actors fail to pursue historical accuracy, instead, they only use “history” as a theme to boost the aesthetics and meet the desire of their young audience who, likely, are or will become fans of those actors.