The Yun Zhong Ge bar is probably the most battle-worn place on Baidu right now. Every time I check in there is a new shit storm over something Yu Zheng, who holds the rights to adapt this novel to a drama, has pulled on the anxious fans of the original novel written by Tong Hua. Two weeks ago Yu Zheng claimed to have finalized a few cast members and released their names and which character they will play. Yeah, that turned out to be bull shit as well, because this morning he turned the YZG bar upside down (and then kicked those poor souls a few times for good measure) when he posted on Weibo that his original choice for male lead Liu Fu Ling (Emperor Zhao of Han) Chen Xiao will instead now be playing Liu Xun (aka Liu Bing Yi, future Emperor Xuan of Han). WHAT THE HELL?!?! Word on the street is that Yu Zheng is looking to marginalize the character of Ling gege while letting Liu Xun take center stage with Meng Jue. *headdesk* Let me caveat by saying I actually am fascinated by Liu Xun’s character, and some of his scenes with Yun Ge are amazing (the tomb scene, the kitchen scene, and later the cherry blossom and sword scene). Chen Xiao, who managed to play douchebag Lin Ping Zi in The Swordsman wonderfully and with such depth and nuance, is quite possibly the best pick to play Liu Xun (the conflicted royal heir turned commoner turned Emperor), and Yu Zheng has just said pretty Su Qing is playing Xu Ping Jun. But then what about my Ling gege! Who is playing him, and is he being turned into a side character that croaks midway through and that’s it? The C-fans are collectively weeping blood tears right now, and bracing themselves for more Yu Zheng casting attacks in the coming days. The rumor that Yun Ge could be Angelababy, Yuan Shan Shan, or even Yang Rong, has everyone forming support groups to deal with the upcoming trauma. I’ll form one here for us if that happens.
Yu Zheng’s original Weibo: Chen Xiao is playing Bing Yi, Su Qing is Ping Jun. In this drama, Bing Yi is calculating but charismatic, stands out very much!
Chen Xiao responded to Yu Zheng’s Weibo: A brand new experience, let’s try it, fighting!
Yu Zheng then wrote: Like Liu Bing Yi, like the depth of his feelings, like how he went from nothing commoner to Emperor and the calculating journey he took. Like how he protects the people of his country but only ever loved one woman. In The Swordsman I created Miss. Dong Fan, please anticipate the brash, powerful, alluring Emperor. Wait for The Great Han Love Story I am preparing for you!
This quote from one Baidu fan captures my feelings perfectly.
于正，你给我去死吧，你死一万次也不能解我的恨！！！！！！！！！！！！！！！！！！
Yu Zheng, you go fucking die, even if you died one million times it won’t erase my hatred for you!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Of course, nothing in China escapes the eyes of the billions of masses, and this week a sharp-eyed fan spotted what appears to be Yu Zheng at a coffee shop with a guy. They looked to be in an argument and suddenly the other guy jumped up and dumped a drink on Yu Zheng and then slapped him while screaming “How could you do this to me? You are a beast! You are not human, you are a pervert………..”
All I can say is – hallelujah there is something called karma. One Weibo post captured it perfectly “Which hero eliminated a pestilence on behalf of the people, why not leave a name for doing such a greater good?” Ahahahahahaha! Of course, the guy in the picture above could be not Yu Zheng, but the Chinese fans who saw him last week on Hunan TV discussing his monstrosity remake of The Swordsman swear that its him, same old pudgy him.
OMG! To be so hated is quite an accomplisment!!
my thought exactly!!!
LMAO! Yu Zheng seems physically and mentally incapable of going by history/actual novel, etc. He just needs to completely alter either the characters or the story in itself somehow. Swordsman burns my eye because of the ‘epicness’ of the effects, but the story somehow… seems worse. Its beyond crazy, all sorts of mad.
But in his defence, I am seeing Beauties of the Emperor now and his crazy, ridiculous and unimaginable alteration of having Xiang Yu and Lu Zhi have a love affair is actually working out good. Obviously, the SRAFT had to get those name changed in the dubbing, so its easier to not imagine these are XY and LZ here. But I guess it makes some sense as to why the characters are acting the way they are, just story wise.
All I can say is LMAO to the fans and comments. He’s one of those: Love him or hate him; unfortunately can’t ignore him.
if Yuan ShanShan is to be our dearest YunGe, I will definitely need double dose of tranquilizer.
Ugh, Yuan Shan Shan. How is she in so many things!?
Pretty, she is hardly, even after the face swap. It’s not like she can act either.
If Yuan Shan Shan is cast as Yun Ge, someone needs to form a mob and go kick Yu Zheng’s ass. I don’t even know if I’m joking.
Wowser! That’s got to hurt. Haha :p
It must be a talent to be able to piss people off to this extent.
if yuan shanshan is cast as yun ge, we should all create a voodoo doll of both of them and use it to get rid of our hatred
This is crazy!
Then again Yu Zheng is definitely loony beyond the point of redemption.
Sigh let’s hope he does not continue to desecrate Tong Hua’s works any further… or else he’ll probably be cursed by fans till the end of time.
Such a pity too coz my fav character is Ling Gege and was looking forward to see Chen Xiao play the gentlemanly and scholarly role.
Thought that he would make a great Liu He too as he definitely has the looks to take on the role. Plus it would be fun to see how he plays the charming yet lackadaisical nephew of Liu Fu Ling.
Ling Ge Ge!!!! You are definitely in the same league as Meng Jue. How can you be relegated to third position?
Okay, I’m all for Chen Xiao taking on a more challenging role and diversify his acting and all that jazz, but still, Ling Ge Ge marginalized as the 3rd male lead? NO NO NO! totally not acceptable. It’s also so low of Yu Zheng to change his mind after promoting Chen Xiao as LGG for so long. And I really hope Yuan Shan Shan doesn’t end up as Yun Ge. No. just one word, No.
please do not let yuan shan shan be Yun Ge. Please i pray to the monkey god. I rather have Angelababy (whom i hate) play Yun Ge than YSS.
Chen Xiao as Liu Bing Yi is a nice change. Chen Xiao would have been perfect as Ling Ge Ge but I agree that Chen Xiao could bring that complexities to Liu Bing Yi. I think Yu Zheng’s logic is that people are more drawn to the ‘damn’, and the rich to rag to riches storyline more so he choose to focus more on Meng Jue and LBY. While reading YZG, i always feel like Ling Ge Ge is not as big as the other two. His story is more straightforward, his personality is a bit more simple. He is the feel-good guy. Love-story wise, he’s the main guy. But as Yu Zheng always seem to be more incline toward palace scheming, he must have love LBY, the notorious schemer of the novel
Actually Liu bing Yi isn’t a bad character for Chen xiao. Think Yu Zheng wants to give him a role that doesn’t die. While ling gege is legendary, if not written and acted right, he will just be a supporting character.
But I guess we are all reliving that slap when I first found out my hu ge is not Huo Qu bing.
Well…although I am dissappointed with Swordsman …but actually I am Yu Zheng fans, hehehehe….because i like the drama he write or produced….With the swordsman..I think it would be better if Yu Zheng brave to make totally different story inspite of combine many story but have a lot of loopholes in it… I think he want to give new and fresh story without dissapoint the old Swordsman fans…but unfortunately that was not going well…but I still waiting for his new production..such as Female Prime Minister (when will it be aired???)…YZG and ROCH..
What do you like about this shithead’s work? Wait my bad, what work? All his “original” work are copied from others and all his “adaptation”, he fail to even copy the story that is already beautiful written for him and try to change it into something shitty. He is a disgrace to screenwriters and the film industry as a whole. This is why movies/shows from China is crap now and people look else where like Taiwan and Hong Kong to watch good work. I’m surprised he even have fans….you guys must think a bag of shit is gold.
A better cast will be: Yangmi as Yunge, Yankuan as MengJue, Yuan Hong as Liu Bingyi and Liu Shishi as Xu Pingjun. As for Ling-gege, well I still ahven’t found someone that is worthy to play him XP. but casting Yangmi is way better- she has tones of experience and a lot of acting skills. It would be a shame to have someone with a mute face (LOL) play Yunge.
That being said, I agree the current cast will drive fans crazy- who wants ANOTHER Yuzheng swordsman?
AND LING-GEGE should never be third rank!