The Eloquent Ji Xiaolan is a Chinese television series about the life of Ji Xiaolan. The series was directed by Zhang Guoli and consists of a total of 173 episodes shot in high definition, each 45 minutes long and containing 10 minutes of 3-D effects. The series is based on events during the reign of the Qianlong Emperor in the Qing dynasty.
Involved in several events, Ji Xiaolan always tried to achieve justice, while the corruptive Heshen and his fellows always held him back. After initial misunderstanding two swords-women Mo Chou and Du Xiaoyue joined Ji Xiaolan. Qianlong Emperor always knew what Heshen had done but never punish him severely.
Season 2
Mo Chou, who during the last episodes of Season 1 had born Qianlong Emperor a son and become his imperial concubine, never reappeared in the following seasons due to audience criticism and was only mentioned in a few conversations.
Season 3
Du Xiaoyue never appeared due to the absence of her role player Yuan Li. A new girl named Lu Linlang was introduced to be her replacement.
Season 4
Lu Linlang did not reappear; After her husband was killed by corruptive officials associated with Heshen, Du Xiaoyue rejoined Ji Xiaolan.
Ji Xiaolan had a good relationship with Heshen while Fuk'anggan did not.
Qianlong Emperor and Ji Xiaolan were 39 and 26 years senior than Heshen respectively, but in the series the three were described as peers.
Heshen did not have 13 concubines, while Qianlong Emperor did not have 18 daughters.
When Prince Yunti died, Heshen and Fuk'anggan were only 5 and 1 respectively, but in Season 1 the three were described as peers.
The years appeared in the series spanned widely, while the age of Du Xiaoyue changed only a little.
In the series Heshen was described as a former imperial guard who was considered to be good at martial arts just as historical accounts recorded, but he always seemed to be without martial ability besides several certain episodes.
During Qing dynasty the status of actors was low, thus Du Xiaoyue would never be adopted by the Empress Dowager as a princess and married to Scholar Zhu Junhao.
Qing emperors were never prohibited to take Han women as imperial consorts as Seasons 1 and 3 suggested, while the mother of future Jiaqing Emperor was of Han ethnicity.
The event of deposing the Empress in Season 3 happened in 1765, while the event of marrying a princess to Fengšeninde in Season 1 happened in 1789, 12 years after the death of the Empress Dowager. In history the Empress was deprived of her rights as empress but never formally demoted to a concubine.
Critical reception
The series was one of the most watched ones in mainland China while it was broadcast.
