The Qin Empire (TV series)
| The Qin Empire 1st season | |
|---|---|
 DVD cover art | |
| Genre | Historical drama |
| Written by | Sun Haohui |
| Directed by |
Huang Jianzhong Yan Yi |
| Presented by |
Liu Bin Li Ruigang Shu Zhan Qu Xiangjun Jiao Yang Wang Yaxing |
| Starring |
Hou Yong Wang Zhifei Qi Fang Du Yulu Sun Feihu |
| Ending theme | Fenghua Juedai (风华绝代) performed by Liao Changyong and Tan Jing |
| Composer(s) | Zhao Jiping |
| Country of origin | China |
| Original language(s) | Mandarin |
| No. of episodes |
51 (original version) 48 (China version) |
| Production | |
| Executive producer(s) |
Lin Feng Lu Shuchao Chen Ruofan Jiang Anmin |
| Producer(s) |
Jiao Yang Chen Wenguang Chen Liang |
| Location(s) | China |
| Running time | 45 minutes per episode |
| Production company(s) |
陕西省广电局 陕西电视台 上海文广新闻传媒集团 福建广播影视集团 北京军区政治部战友电视艺术中心 陕西国风影业投资有限公司 北京长河绿洲文化发展有限公司 |
| Distributor | 广东梦通文化发展有限公司 |
| Release | |
| First shown in | December 2009 |
| The Qin Empire | |||||||
| Traditional Chinese | 大秦帝國 | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Simplified Chinese | 大秦帝国 | ||||||
| |||||||
The Qin Empire is a 2009 Chinese television series based on Sun Haohui's novel of the same Chinese title. The series chronicles the rise of the Qin state in the Warring States period during the reign of Duke Xiao of Qin. It was produced in 2006 and first aired on television channels in China in December 2009. It will air with an English dub some time in 2016.
Plot
In the mid-fourth century BC during the Warring States period, groundbreaking political changes occur in the Qin state in western China. Qin, weakened by poverty and internal conflict, is in peril of being annexed by the six other states in the east. Duke Xiao, the young new ruler of Qin, seeks to restore his state to its former glory and retake the territories lost by Qin in its earlier humiliating defeats by rival states. Duke Xiao recruits several talents to help him in his ambitious plans. The most outstanding one, a statesman called Shang Yang, cooperates closely with Duke Xiao on massive political and economic reforms in Qin that lasted two decades. The changes transform Qin into a powerful state, with legal and military systems that helped to lay the foundation for Qin's eventual unification of China under the Qin dynasty nearly 200 years later in 221 BC.
The series won the Flying Goddess Award and the Golden Eagle Prize for the Best TV Drama.
Cast
Qin state
- Wang Zhifei as Wei Yang (Shang Yang), a legalist who reforms the Qin government and becomes the chancellor.
- Hou Yong as Ying Quliang (Duke Xiao), the ruler of Qin.
- Lu Yong as Ying Qian, Duke Xiao's elder brother.
- Lü Zhong as the Duchess Dowager, Duke Xiao's mother.
- Qi Fang as Yingyu, Duke Xiao's younger sister and Wei Yang's wife.
- Xu Huanshan as Duke Xian, Duke Xiao's father and predecessor.
- Liu Naiyi as Ying Si (King Huiwen), Duke Xiao's son and successor. Feng Pengfei played the younger Ying Si.
- Yu Yang as Jing Jian, the vice chancellor.
- Hou Xiangling as Che Ying, a general.
- Sun Feihu as Gan Long, the imperial tutor who heads the aristocrat faction that opposes Wei Yang's reforms.
- Qiu Yongli as Gongsun Gu, the former tutor to the crown prince who becomes a fugitive.
- Lu Ying as Du Zhi, the ancestral temple keeper and Gan Long's student.
- Liu Bingfeng as Gan Cheng, Gan Long's son.
- Jiao Changdao as Meng Che, an aristocrat general.
- Ren Xihong as Xiqi Hu, an aristocrat general.
- Li Zhuo as Bai Jin, an aristocrat general.
- Guo Changhui as Zi'an, a general.
- Ren Wei as Wang Shi, a minister.
- Jin Ming as Zhao Kang, a magistrate.
- Mao Yue as Chuli Ji, a governor-general.
- Li Haige as Linghu, Jing Jian's wife.
- Jiang Hualin as Heibo, the palace manager.
- Feng Zheng as Shan Jia, a general.
- Xia Lu as Heya, Wei Yang's godsister.
Wei state
- Li Li-chun as King Hui, the ruler of Wei.
- You Yong as Pang Juan, a general.
- Wang Hui as Wei Ang, King Hui's younger brother and the chancellor of Wei.
- Du Yulu as Gongshu Cuo, the former chancellor of Wei.
- Liu Mu as Wei Shen, King Hui's son.
- Lu Chaofan as Jin Bi, a general.
- Jiang Hua as Long Gu, a general.
Mohists
- Yuan Ran as Xuanqi, Baili Yao's granddaughter and Duke Xiao's lover.
- Zhou Yuhua as Qin Huali, the head of the Mohist school.
- Qian Weidong as Kuhuo
- Wang Yingqi as Deng Lingzi
Others
- Gao Yuanyuan as Bai Xue, Wei Yang's lover.
- Wu Ma as Baili Yao, a descendant of Baili Xi.
- Ji Chen as King Wei, the ruler of Qi.
- Dong Qiming as Sun Bin, a Qi strategist and Pang Juan's rival.
- Chen Zhihui as Hou Ying, a youxia serving under Bai Xue.
- Zhao Dongbai as Shen Buhai, a legalist who becomes the chancellor of Han.
- Li Shide as Shen Dao, a legalist.
- Zhao Yang as Meigu, Bai Xue's servant.
- Xu Yuting as Laobaituo
- Sun Jiaolong as Jing Nan, a mute Mohist who serves as Wei Yang's bodyguard.
- Zhang Bingqi as Zhao Liang, Zhao Kang's brother and a scholar.
- Mei Shengxiang as Bian Que, a famous physician.
List of featured songs
- Jiujiu Laoqin (赳赳老秦; Grand Old Qin) performed by the China Philharmonic Orchestra.
- Xiang'ai Gengzhi (相爱耕织; Sowing Mutual Love) performed by Lei Jia.
- Fenghua Juedai (风华绝代; Magnificent and Peerless) performed by Liao Changyong and Tan Jing.
External links
- (Chinese) The Qin Empire official website
- (Chinese) The Qin Empire on Sina.com