The Noble with Li Yi Tong and Chen Xing Xu Release Becomes First C-drama to Adopt New Regulations Requiring Billing Order by Strokes in Last Name as Well as Not Allowing Stage Names
Well, the production of period C-drama The Noble (Jin Zhi 金枝 or The Golden Branch) is either super duper go-getters or the savviest brown nosers ever. Because this week the production released the first batch of official stills for the drama and went ahead and followed the orders for the upcoming changes to drama promotion despite the regulation not going in effect until next month sometime in mid-July. The requirement is for billing order by strokes in their name, but also the totally out of left field requirement that stage names are not allowed so actors and actresses are to be identified by their real names. There are soooooo many stars with stage names in C-ent this is going to be hilarious. Thankfully next to the real name the production companies are still allowed to tag their Weibo accounts which has their stage name handles. So for The Noble, male lead Chen Xing Xu comes first despite the production being greenlit for female lead Li Yi Tong to have the top billing, and she’s referred to by her real name Li Xue. Supporting actor Deng Kai with the breakout in Pursuit of Jade gets named by his real name Deng Shang. I think the billing order rule is fine and helps avoid fandom fights but the real name requirement is silly as stage names are bread and butter common practice not just in C-ent but in every entertainment industry. But maybe this requirement is to avoid people adopting stage names with fewer and fewer strokes to keep top billing haha.
The CCP is hilariously petty, just like their buddy North Korea. lmao. This order won’t impact my fave at all since he already uses his real name as his stage name. But rising stars who just blew up, like Zhang Linghe, might take the brunt of this farcical order. He’s exclusively known by his stage name to international fans. Who would even recognize his very common real name, Zhang Jia-wei? lol
Linghe or Jawei sound equally exotic to international fans.
Changing a Chinese actor’s established name makes it much harder for international fans to adapt. Once a name sticks, it becomes a permanent mental anchor. For instance, I personally struggle to memorize Indian names quickly; it always takes me extra time to process and remember them.
Deng Kai’s breakout definitely came from Pursuit of Jade, not Prisoner of Beauty. Koala might like PoB better, but the fact is that far more viewers noticed him for his deranged villain role in PoJ. A lot of people, including me, skipped PoB entirely and only discovered him for the first time in PoJ.
Koala probably meant Pursuit of Jade. I don’t even think Deng Kai was in Prisoner of Beauty unless it was a quick cameo and I completely missed him
He wasn’t. Looks simply like a mix up.
Sorry my bad, brain just mixed up PoB with PoJ lol!
Why the stage name regulation?
Maybe to prevent actors from changing their real name to stage name with fewer strokes. Surname ‘Ding’ for example only has two strokes so if actors use stage name with surname ‘Ding’ then they will be listed first.
I find this funny but it does settle the rediculous disputes over first billing. Many Chinese artist are known for several names beside their stage name if I’m not mistaken and I’m sure no one would be so shocked. They can always google and I don’t see the problem. I’m sure the fandoms might have a cow but this would make things easier for drama production to go along smoothly maybe. 🤷🏻♀️
I feel that it’s fine to bill by alphabetical order to stop the billing order wars. I feel like it would be mostly easy to figure out who would have been likely the first billed or equal billed, given the writing, screen time, and market value. Given that the industry will understand that top billing is by stroke order, I feel top billing by virtue of having fewer strokes makes top billing no longer meaningful. I do feel terribly for the production assistant who would have to look up everyone’s names and count the strokes.
I also feel like printing out their birth name instead of their stage names won’t accomplish anything so I’m puzzled and annoyed that they’re pursuing this. Like if Cheng Yi is last in the order, you can sort of figure out and look up on your mobile device that his legal surname has a lot of strokes. I hope they can roll this back before the mid-July change.
Funny…we should see lots of actors with last name Ding.
I don’t think there are many actors with surname Ding working in chinese entertainment currently. and that’s why the regulation requires them to use real name.
Koala, please do get your facts right rather than incite fan wars. Both female lead and male lead are EQUALLY billed- if you look at previous official announcements, it is clearly stated that order does not denote rank.
However, a group of Li Yi Tong’s fans have incessantly INSISTED that she is top billed and SWAMPED the production team with posts saying that the male lead does not deserve airtime in the trailers or space on the poster. I mean, you don’t have to like Chen Xing Xu but this type of action is blatantly disrespectful and unnecessary. This is your blog and you can what you want, but perhaps you could consider checking your sources before perpetuating rumours unilaterally. Chen Xing Xu has been the target of an ongoing smear campaign from his previous drama (where the female lead and the current female lead are from the same agency- and it’s an agency that is (in)famous for black marketing their artistes’ co-stars).
Her Mandarin is notoriously bad for someone who claims to speak Chinese. Literally more than half of all her news are wrong or fake. Even in the article alone she changed Deng Kai’s surname lmao. Deng Kai’s real name is Deng Shang, not Shang Kai.
While anything that will stop the permanent billing wars (I’m sure they’ll soon find something else to fight over) is a step in the right direction, the real name rule is idiotic. Actors have a stage name for a reason! Many of them have worked hard for years to make a name for themselves. On top of that, the future casting announcements (by order of strokes, with real names followed by stage name in brackets) will become completely unreadable, with 60+ names squeezed into the “main cast category”.
They could have very easily stopped everyone from changing their name to “Ding” by stipulating that the surname of the stage name must be the same as the real name or that it cannot have fewer strokes than the real name.
I don’t see this nonsensical rule lasting very long…
THIS! The only point in this blog that actually makes sense! To prevent people from manipulating their stage names just to get top billing, the authorities only need to mandate that everyone’s stage surname matches their real surname. Instead, Chinese officials are making a federal case out of it. Lmao, they really aren’t that smart. Lol. Their logic is truly breathtaking. They took a simple issue and successfully made it ten times messier. Lol.
Oh, I just found out Ding Yuxi is the clear winner here! LOL. His Chinese surname only has two strokes: 丁! LMAO.
@somebody–Your hostility toward China is honestly hard for me to understand. I’m a Malay Malaysian and I’ve visited China three times in the past two years. I keep returning because I’ve found the people friendly, the scenery beautiful, and the country exceptionally safe. Even walking around at night, I felt safer than in many other places I’ve visited.
That’s why I don’t really relate to your narrative about the CCP. Looking through your comments, there seems to be a consistent anti-China bias that colors how you interpret everything connected to the country.
As for Zhang Linghe, I doubt he’s losing any sleep over this. He’s an intelligent and successful actor who understands his own brand far better than any of us do. If using his real name becomes the norm, I’m sure he’ll adapt just fine. His talent and popularity—not the name on the poster—are what audiences remember.
Somebody’s “hostility” is not towards China, it’s towards CCP. CCP and Chinese people are basically living in two different countries. You met friendly everyday Chinese people when you visited China, not their rulers CCP. Are you even capable of understanding the difference? I thought not.
LOL. My in-laws are Chinese and I respect Chinese tradition that has a lot of cultural strength and merits, so drop the ‘hate’ narrative. Your problem is assuming China and Chinese people equal the CCP—which is exactly the propaganda the Party pushes.
Furthermore, calling Malaysia a historical vassal state isn’t an insult; it’s a reflection of geopolitical reality. Geopolitically, Malaysia has long dealt with major CCP infiltration due to its large Chinese diaspora. Just like Singapore, the Malaysian government is actively trying to counter Beijing’s influence and protect local identity. I’ve seen far more Malaysians online parroting the CCP’s agenda than Singaporeans, unfortunately. You just come across as completely brainwashed, acting as a textbook mouthpiece for CCP like Lilith. lol
Oh wow, I haven’t post for a while in here but it seems like I still live rent-free in your head 😂.
Are you still stanning Zhang Linghe after he referred to Taiwanese as compatriots at the Straits Forum? 🤣
@ilyani Somebody is Taiwanese American. Although she loves to claim CCP and Chinese citizens are separate from one another, you can tell how much she looks down on the Chinese. She also looks down on Southeast Asians and makes light of the floods in SEA.
@Lilith, imagine exposing your own folly and taking the bait right on cue this easily, bozo!! lol
Stop putting words in my mouth. I couldn’t care less about ZLH’s comments on Taiwan. Like Xiao Zhan, he’ll obviously be weaponized by the CCP for propaganda. What choice do they have under an egregious regime and the worst leader in history? Say no and commit career suicide? They aren’t fools like Lilith. lol. The joke is on the CCP for thinking celebrity coercion works when 12 years of Taiwanese election results prove it fails every time.
Also, there are many SE Asian workers in Taiwan who help boost the local economy there. I strongly advocate for US and Taiwanese foreign policies that strengthen ties with Southeast Asia, similar to current initiatives with the Philippines. The region is geopolitically vital and the people are generally friendly, with obvious exceptions like Lilith, the clueless CCP lackey and the brainwashed @ilyani who constantly lives in their 3rd-world cells. lol
“Answer a fool according to her folly, or she will be wise in her own eyes.”
@Somebody Putting words in your mouth? Should I post the links to your words where you mocked Southeast Asians and joked about their flood crisis? 😇 Oh wait, I don’t have to, you’re already mocking Southeast Asians in your current comment.
Weaponized by CCP, my foot. Zhang Linghe chose to attend such events on his own and said certain words through his own mouth, just like how he chose to stick close to your supposed fave Xiao Zhan now by becoming the youth ambassador to the Magnolia Awards this year. You can’t call yourself a Xiao Zhan fan if you can’t recognize that everything Zhang markets about himself now closely follows the qualities which Xiao Zhan is known for.
Lmao at how you still think I’m Southeast Asian.
“A fool finds no pleasure in understanding but delights in airing his own opinions.”
@Lilith, keep talking loudly!!! You’re only exposing the CCP’s hidden schemes even further. What a fool! lol. The CCP must recognize ZLH’s rising fame to have even offered him the Youth Ambassador role for the Magnolia Awards. Oh, thanks for the added perspective! All the popular Chinese celebs are basically tools of the Chinese authorities. That’s a fact! You have to be a special kind of fool LOL to think some random nugu could just casually stroll into high-stakes, high-profile cross-strait forums sponsored by Beijing. The same goes for an ambassadorship to a supposedly prestigious Chinese film award!!! Only utter bozos would genuinely believe someone gets these major endorsements without the CCP pulling every single string behind the scenes! lol
“Even fools are thought wise if they keep silent, and discerning if they hold their tongues.”
But really, expecting common sense from a 3rd-world bumpkin and a chump who survives entirely on Weibo gossip accounts is asking way too much. LOL
LOL @Lilith, When have I ever said you’re from SE Asia? I only said you’re a bozo living in a third-world cell, which is 100% correct! lol
Keep showing your ignorance, fool. The Magnolia Awards has nothing to do with CCP, only the Flying Apsaras Awards is a government-sponsored accolade LOL 😂 But of course, you’ve been brainwashed by American propaganda for too long to think that CCP can control every single part of the industry like a machine.
“For the time will come when people will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths.”
Funny how you talk about surviving entirely on gossip accounts when you show up here for longer periods of time, you must be jobless after Trump rolled back DEI programs LOL 🤣
Considering how you equated @ilyani, a Malaysian, as someone living in 3rd world “cells” (this term doesn’t exist in English btw, another proof you need to improve your English), it’s obvious you equate Malaysia (a SEA country) as one of the 3rd world countries.
Coupled with your past comments here in December 2026:
https://koalasplayground.com/2025/11/29/top-j-pop-star-ayumi-hamasakis-shanghai-concert-abruptly-cancelled-last-minute-as-china-japan-political-spat-worsens/
You told me to “pay more attention to the flood disasters where you (I) live” and “Go donate and help your 3rd-world country fellows living in calamity.”. A simple google search will show that Southeast Asia experienced devastating monsoon floods and tropical cyclones in November and December 2025.
So yeah, proof that you look down on Southeast Asia and see all SEA countries as 3rd world countries.
Reposting due to typo:
Keep showing your ignorance, fool. The Magnolia Awards has nothing to do with CCP, only the Flying Apsaras Awards is a government-sponsored accolade LOL 😂 But of course, you’ve been brainwashed by American propaganda for too long to think that CCP can control every single part of the industry like a machine.
“For the time will come when people will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths.”
Funny how you talk about surviving entirely on gossip accounts when you show up here for longer periods of time, you must be jobless after Trump rolled back DEI programs LOL 🤣
Considering how you equated @ilyani, a Malaysian, as someone living in 3rd world “cells” (this term doesn’t exist in English btw, another proof you need to improve your English), it’s obvious you equate Malaysia (a SEA country) as one of the 3rd world countries.
Coupled with your past comments here in December 2025:
https://koalasplayground.com/2025/11/29/top-j-pop-star-ayumi-hamasakis-shanghai-concert-abruptly-cancelled-last-minute-as-china-japan-political-spat-worsens/
You told me to “pay more attention to the flood disasters where you (I) live” and “Go donate and help your 3rd-world country fellows living in calamity.”. A simple google search will show that Southeast Asia experienced devastating monsoon floods and tropical cyclones in November and December 2025.
So yeah, proof that you look down on Southeast Asia and see all SEA countries as 3rd world countries.
A self-proclaimed English czar who needs a proofreader for typos? Classic. Truly a joke! lol
Everyone knows the CCP has heavily infiltrated Southeast Asia with sleeper cells and puppet mouthpieces on all levels. But surely it is just a massive coincidence that your highly questionable behavior perfectly matches them? Guessing your location isn’t rocket science – it’s just basic logic. Lol.
So, tell me, where exactly are you from? You bear an uncanny resemblance to those CCP lackeys who love faking their nationalities online, only for their IP addresses to expose them in China or its Southeast Asian vassal states. In fact, the Taiwan National Security Bureau and the Administration for Cyber Security have found hundreds of millions of instances proving this; yes, hundreds of millions. So, if you have nothing dishonest to hide, why the sudden, dramatic mystery surrounding your true ethnicity and nationality? What is your excuse? Lol.
Plenty of regular visitors here have zero issues sharing where they are from, yet you seem curiously terrified to do so. But then again, they don’t spend all day acting like a textbook CCP agent, do they? LMAO.
Yeah yeah, as expected you’re skipping over the parts where I debunked your lies about Magnolia Awards having to do with CCP, and showed proof of you looking down on Southeast Asians and SEA countries.
Like I’ve said before, where I’m from doesn’t matter, unless you just want to judge people by their countries. People can say whichever country they are from, but there’s no way to tell the truth. For all we know, you can simply be Taiwanese instead of American. I can also say I’m Aussie, British, Malaysian, Korean, or even American, but would you believe me? LOL.
And lmao at you claiming regular visitors don’t act like CCP agent when you’ve claimed plenty of them as so. Just take a look at the past article link which I’ve posted, you already called a few other people CCP lackeys 🤣 Of course you had definitely implied some people are agents. You know? Going by your habit of accusing people of something which you’d actually done, you must be a CIA agent tasked with spreading anti-China propaganda online. Work harder, or else Trump will kick you out 😂
LOL Lilith! Cdrama forums are full of CCP lackeys, but your signature makes you look like a registered agent. Lmao. You’re still hiding your true nationality. What are you afraid of? Doesn’t matter anyway. Your behavior exposes you as a brainless CCP spokesperson. No matter where you live or what passport you hold, you act exactly like someone bought by the CCP.
I don’t care about nationality. I judge people by their actions and what they say. But hiding your nationality in a debate like this makes you look incredibly fish and have something to hide. lol
Of all the absolute rubbish you’ve rambled, the only point I’ll concede is that I can improve my English. As an American citizen, I always strive to excel at my second language. But it’s hilarious that a bozo like you thinks they can mock me. LMAO. Your English sucks too (see how often you had to proofread your own writing LMAO), yet you position yourself as some language Czar. What an arrogant, third-world bumpkin! lol. Did you only inherit stupidity from those Chinese genes in you? lol. Don’t deny you have those genes!
But Chen Xingxu’s name has more word count than Li Xue. So I am confused why he is put first.
陈星旭 (Chén Xīngxù)
陈: 7 strokes
星: 9 strokes
旭: 6 strokes
Total: 22 strokes
李雪 (Lǐ Xuě)
李: 7 strokes
雪: 11 strokes
Total: 18 strokes
The billing order is based on the number of strokes in their surname, not total number of strokes in the name.
@Dramafan The second character in cxx has fewer strokes.
@ceiling thanks. So it’s by number of surname strokes followed by Hanyu pinyin alphabetical order placing? So Chen comes before Li.
@Ceiling oh I see. So it’s surname strokes then probably followed by pin yin alphabetical order then.
No. It’s number of strokes of the surname. If that is equal, then it moves to counting the number of strokes in the second character of their name.