My interests in specific types of cdramas can be traced back to the HK dramas that I watched growing up. Specifically, xianxias and historical romances.
My interest in historical romances stemmed from watching TVB’s 2003 Perish in the Name of Love, based on the 帝女花 opera. To an 8-year old, that was the angstiest drama I’d ever seen. The second angstiest drama was when I watched Drive of Life in middle school, also starring Charmaine Sheh. She honestly ruled my childhood.
But my interest in xianxias stemmed from 2 specific dramas: TVB’s The Journey to the West (my mom used this drama to teach me about reincarnation lol) and Whatever it Takes starring Benny Chan and Annie Man.
There were 2 stories in The Journey to West that were memorable to me, and both included Angie Cheong, though she played different characters. The stories are all a blur to me and I barely remember any details from them, but I think in Journey to the West I, she played the spider demon named Shishi whose lover was reincarnated but they ended up dying in a fire. According to TV tropes:
“Spider Demoness Shishi was sentenced to death via fire but her scholar husband Yushu refused to accept it, and carried her to perish in the fire together, although Shishi inadvertently survived. The arc ended with a reincarnated Yushu (as a Centipede Demon) sentenced to death via fire, but Shishi carried Yushu to perish in the fire together, this time killing both for real.“ https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Series/JourneyToTheWest1996
In Journey to the West 2, she played a snake demon. I remember nothing from that arc, except she was also scorned by her lover.
I also remember nothing from the 2001 drama Whatever it Takes 天子寻龙, except that I was especially in love with Annie Man’s angelic character, and it was probably my first exposure to story about a fairy falling in love. My only faint memory from the drama was how ethereal and elegant she was as a fairy, and my kindergarten self wanted to be her. But here’s the MDL summary if you’re curious. It’s also not the first TVB drama that featured a fairy/angel who falls in love with the mortal she’s been tasked to help. Jessica Hsuan played a fairy who’s come down to earth to help Deric Wan’s love life in the 1995 drama A Good Match from Heaven 天降奇緣.
Whatever it Takes (2001):
A Good Match from Heaven (1995):
I feel like TVB xianxias walked so that cdrama xianxias could run.
Bonus: Dicky Cheung (who played the Monkey King in Journey to the West I), mocks the tropes in modern cdrama xianxias (at the 1:40 mark in the video). He says that back in the day, deities and spirits and fairies could wear whatever colourful clothes they wanted. Nowadays, the heavenly realm in xianxia dramas seem to have a dress code where everyone needs to wear white.
Back in the day, there was also a Shi Fu 師父 in xianxia dramas, but back then, your Shi Fu was nothing but your Shi Fu. Nowdays, your Shi Fu is your lover. Brutal.
Here’s the video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6rWjN96VIc8
Anyway, thanks for joining me as I took a trip down memory lane.
