Succession War Connection

Let’s situate Succession War in the TVB Qing Dynasty world.

As you will recall, Ben Wong played the Yongzheng Emperor in Gilded Chopsticks.

He is the father of the Qianlong Emperor, played by KK Cheung in Succession War. Qianlong retires as emperor after 60 years, passing the throne to his son, the Jiaqing Emperor.

Shaun Tam plays the Jiaqing Emperor in Succession War. It is the same character as Yu Yang in War and Beauty.

Jiaqing’s first Empress is Jess Sum. She is the mother of his eventual successor, the Daoguang Emperor, played by child actor Nono Yeung. He will grow up to be Sunny Chan in Curse of the Royal Harem.

The first Empress (Jess) has already died at the time of Succession War. Selena Li is Jiaqing's Imperial Noble Consort and will eventually become his second Empress. The character becomes Rebecca Chan in War and Beauty and is made Empress Dowager in Curse of the Royal Harem, played by Gigi Wong.

Looking at Jiaqing’s other concubines, Katherine Ho plays Concubine Yu, who will later be promoted to be Consort Yu, a character famously played by Sheren Tang in War and Beauty. Siu Hoi Yan plays Consort Hua, who is Gigi Lai in War and Beauty.

Also, notice how the imperial crown and robes has been "passed down" through the generations.

See Gilded Chopsticks Connection for map before this era

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See The Confidant and Curse of the Royal Harem Connection for map after this era

Related: Beauty At War Connection (map of the same era)

Beauty at War Connection

Recall the post about the connection between The Confidant and Curse of the Royal Harem. Beauty At War (and the original War and Beauty) occurs in the time period immediately before Curse of the Royal Harem.

The Qianlong Emperor (乾隆) abdicated after 60 years on the throne because he did not want to exceed the 61 years of service of his grandfather, the Kangxi (康熙) Emperor. The retired Qianlong took the title Taishang Huang (太上皇), but still held de facto power for the next four years until his death.
-   Christine Ng is the concubine of Qianlong. Her character does not exist in real history.

The Jiaqing (嘉慶) Emperor, played by Yu Yang, assumes the throne after his father’s abdication. War and Beauty was set 15 years into his reign. Beauty at War takes place sometime later in his reign.  

Rebecca Chan is Jiaqing’s (second) Empress in War and Beauty. One of her sons is the 4^th prince, Mianxin (綿忻), portrayed by Joel Chan in COTRH.
-   Gigi Wong’s role in COTRH is the older version of Rebecca Chan’s role.
-   The 4^th prince will be played by the actor Chris Lee in Beauty at War.

Sheren Tang correctly holds the title of Consort Yu (如妃) at the time of both series. She was posthumously named as Imperial Noble Consort Gongshun (恭順皇貴妃). She is the mother of Jiaqing’s fifth son, Mianyu (綿愉), which is child actor Pako Au in Beauty at War.
-   The 5^th prince was born in the 19^th year of Jiaqing. In Beauty at War, he is said to be seven years old, but in history, Jiaqing already died when the prince was six.
- The 5^th prince dies too early in BAW. In reality, he lives until the age of fifty.

In War and Beauty, the other concubines were named as Noble Ladies (貴人). In reality, they all held different titles at the time setting of the drama (in the 15^th year of Jiaqing).

Gigi Lai = Consort Hua (華妃). She married Jiaqing when he was a prince. She is the most senior concubine of the Consort rank, even higher than Consort Yu (Sheren Tang). She died in the 9^th year of Jiaqing, which is before WAB.

Charmaine Sheh = Imperial Concubine Chun (淳嬪). She was the daughter of the head of the national library committee. [Note that her title shares the same character as Christine Ng’s character in BAW, but they are not the same person.]

Maggie Cheung = First Class Attendant An (安常在). Unlike the ending of WAB, she actually survives the Jiaqing Emperor and is elevated to the rank of Imperial Concubine (安嬪) by his successor.

At the end of WAB, there was an invasion of Forbidden City, which is the Eight Trigrams Uprising by members of the Tianli Sect. The future Daoguang (道光) Emperor (Sunny Chan in COTRH), a prince at that time, led the defensive efforts and personally killed two rebels with his musket. It is said that his heroic actions was one of the reasons why Jiaqing (Yu Yang) ultimately named Daoguang (Sunny) as his successor. 

Note: In BAW, a 6^th prince was born to the Emperor, but in reality Jiaqing (Yu Yang) only had five sons.

See Gilded Chopsticks Connection for map before Qianlong
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Relationship map continues with The Curse of the Royal Harem & The Confidant

The Confidant and Curse of the Royal Harem Connection

Here’s how Curse of the Royal Harem connects with The Confidant.

Sunny Chan was the Daoguang (道光) Emperor in COTRH. Jessica Hsuan was his (third) Empress. She bore a son, which was still an infant in COTRH. Nancy Wu was a concubine of Sunny and died in a fire in COTRH. 

In reality, Nancy's character outlived Jessica and was named Sunny’s fourth Empress. One of her sons is Prince Gong (恭親王), portrayed by KK Cheung in The Confidant.

-     Nancy is a palace maid in The Confidant.

-      In COTRH, KK was the loyal eunuch of Gigi Wong (Sunny’s step-mother). He committed suicide alongside Gigi.

-     Prince Gong is a character made popular by Chinese drama Sigh of His Highness.

At age 19, Jessica’s son succeeds his father Daoguang (Sunny) and becomes the Xianfeng (咸豐) Emperor. Among Xianfeng’s wives are Ci’an (Magie Siu) and Cixi (Michelle Yim). These two become Empress Dowagers upon Xianfeng’s death.

Oscar Leung is Michelle’s son and succeeds his father Xianfeng (Jessica’s son) as the Tongzhi (同治) Emperor at age 5. He marries Natalie Tong, a relative of Ci’an (Maggie).

-     KK’s Prince Gong is the uncle of Oscar.

-     I assume most of The Confidant takes place during Oscar’s reign.

Tongzi (Oscar) dies childless at age 19 and the throne was passed to his 4 year-old cousin, the Guangxu (光緒) Emperor. Guangxu was the nephew of Cixi (Michelle), which was why she chose him as successor.

-     Guangxu’s father is the 1^st Prince Chun, 7^th son of Daoguang (Sunny).

-     Imperial convention requires that the throne be passed from one generation to the next, but Tongzhi (Oscar) and Guangxu were cousins of the same generation. Thus, in legal terms, Guangxu was named as successor of Xianfeng’s (Jessica’s son) throne, not Oscar's.

Guangxu was controlled by Cixi for his entire reign, dying just one day before her. Some say he was actually poisoned by her. He is succeeded by his 3 year-old nephew Puyi, the Xuantong (宣统) Emperor, also the last emperor of the Qing Dynasty. 

Confusing? Maybe a diagram will help.

As an aside, in connection to an earlier Qing Dynasty drama, Life and Times of a Sentinel, two emperors were portrayed in that series. Sunny Chan was the Shunzhi (順治) Emperor and Power Chan was his son and successor, the Kangxi (康熙) Emperor. Daoguang (Sunny in COTRH) is the direct descendant of these two emperors.

-    In The Confidant, Power is the personal eunuch of Oscar, the Tongzhi Emperor.  

TVB Anniversary Series

Heading into TVB Anniversary season, we have some exciting dramas ahead: The Confidant, starring Wayne Lai and Michelle Yim, and Silver Spoon, Sterling Shackles, featuring Damien Lau, Idy Chan, Kenneth Ma, and Tavia Yeung among others.

A look back at TVB Anniversary dramas in the past several years.

2011

Forensic Heroes III – The popular Forensic Heroes franchise was rebooted with a fresh cast in an ultra-high-tech atmosphere. Reigning TV King Wayne Lai finds chemistry with a new partner in Maggie Cheung, boosting the series to the top rank in ratings for 2011. Still, Wayne and the series lose to Kevin Cheng’s Law Ba and Ghetto Justice. 

Curse of the Royal Harem – Another palace-scheming production pitting very intelligent women against each other and a rather useless emperor in the background. The series was a new challenge to the actresses as Jessica Hsuan participated in her first Qing-dynasty palace drama and Myolie Wu was cast in her first villian role. Though Jessica’s character prevails in the series, Myolie is the ultimate winner in capturing her first TV Queen title.

Super Snoops – Liza Wang and the Three Gods bring their cross-dressing and imitation talents from variety show to drama. This was the first comedy used as a TVB Anniversary series since 2007. However, the silliness of the series didn’t attract many viewers and the series only managed average ratings, not even breaking into the top ten for the year.

2010

Gun Metal Grey – This series had an intriguing premise about a vigilante police officer, supported by a stellar cast, including two of the Five Tigers – Michael Miu and Felix Wong. Felix agreed to return to TVB for the 30^th anniversary of the first collaboration between him and Michael. Unfortunately, TVB seemed to favour No Regrets more and neglect Gun Metal Grey, leading to a sour ending for TVB and Felix.

No Regrets – Following the success of Rosy Business, Wayne Lai and Sheren Tang led the audience back to the wartime era. The epic and moving story of Lau Sing and Miss Kau easily matched the success of its predecessor as it nearly swept the awards ceremony. Wayne and Sheren became the first duo to win back-to-back TV King and Queen. Surprisingly though, No Regrets lost out on the Best Drama award to Can’t Buy Me Love. 


2009

Beyond the Realm of Conscience – Hoping to recreate the success of War and Beauty, this series had a star-studded cast, featuring four top siu-sangs and fadans alongside strong veterans. In the finale, it broke the all-time ratings record of 50 points, set by Korean drama Jewels in the Palace. Despite this, Beyond was largely overshadowed by Rosy Business at the Anniversary Awards.

Born Rich – Featuring a cast of A-listers, the drama marked the return to TVB of several prominent actors, such as Ray Lui, Kenix Kwok and Jamie Chik. But in the end, it failed to materialize as the audience were simply uninterested in the case of older generation actors and the illogical plot.

2008

Gem of Life – The 82 episode mega-production was all about glamour and riches. It was the most expensive television drama ever produced in Hong Kong history, having a $100 million budget. However, the convoluted plot, messy character relations and sheer length of the series turned away many viewers.

When Easterly Showers Fall on the Sunny West – Joe Ma and Charmaine Sheh find themselves together again after the critically acclaimed Maiden’s Vow. But their chemistry wasn’t enough to save the series from finishing near the bottom in terms of ratings.

Random Things

- Wayne Lai has now starred in an anniversary series for three consecutive years (No Regrets, Forensic Heroes III and The Confidant)

- Nancy Wu has been a part of five anniversary series in the past three years (No Regrets, Gun Metal Grey, Forensic Heroes III, COTRH, The Confidant).

- This is the second year in a row that Wayne and Nancy play a pair in an anniversary series (Forensic Heroes III, The Confidant)