Review of Chu Han Chuan Qi

The Chu Han Contention, the story of the struggle for supremacy between two factions of a rebellion that resulted in the rise of the Han dynasty, is one of the great epics of China. It features a huge ensemble of complex characters, shifting alliances, and stunning battles that determined the course of Chinese history and became the sources for several idioms, folk tales and national legends. As such, it has been the subject of numerous TV series and films. I already have one of both, and my purchase of 2012's Legend of Chu and Han marks the first time I have procured a TV series about an historical period that I already have covered. Why not? After all, I have made the pilgrimage and all.

Me at Han GaoZu ChangLing (top) and HongMen (bottom)

It's also one of the longest historical TV series in my possession. Prior to ordering, I had read online of skepticism as to whether the history of the Chu Han Contention could really provide enough material to stretch into 80 episodes without taking significant liberties. I'm pleased to say that it was actually generally true to the source material, with only a few, mostly non-obstructive fictional bits of dramatic garnish thrown in. In fact, my other (and shorter) series about the same period, 2003's The Story of the Han Dynasty (which I am using as the standard henceforth), had left out quite a bit of the historically very detailed story. Legend of Chu and Han, on the other hand, covers all the bases, at least within the rebellion/contention period itself. If anything, they could have gone on a little longer (I'll get to that in a bit).

The scale of the series is also enhanced with the deeper treatment of the Qin side of the conflict; nearly all the characters in that camp are given a much larger slice of screen time, instead of turning them into caricatures or human plot devices. Zhang Han and Sima Xin, especially. A bit of license was taken with the whole (seemingly entirely fictional) Qin princess subplot, however, but it was not as bad as some romantic fiction I have seen in other series.

Lead characters are generally cast well. While there were some concerns online about whether idol Peter Ho could take on the role of Xiang Yu, I thought he did a good job with the brooding, stubborn warrior type. Come to think of it, I have only seen him play this role, specifically as Yang SiLang in 2006's Young Warriors of the Yang Clan and Lv Bu in 2010's Three Kingdoms. The eyebrows and hair helped with the "tiger look" too. As expected, Chen DaoMing also did well playing Liu Bang's flawed good guy role.

One character I liked a lot was that of Fan Zeng, played by Sun HaiYing. Strategists in Chinese TV tend to be articulate pontificators, whereas he would fumble and gesticulate now and then, yet maintaining dignity and wisdom in his portrayal. Even a little humor, like when he almost tripped while sizing up Liu Bang and Zhang Liang from a distance. Zhang Liang, his counterpart played by Huo Qing, was a little more traditional in that role, but still written and portrayed well. Members of Liu's Pei County gang was also given expanded roles, and a good deal of time is spent early on with introducing them and their relationship with Liu. Zhou Bo and Guan Ying were not only included, but had significant screen time, and Xiao He's screen time and importance was increased a lot (as should be the case).

Lv Zhi was written well too; a credible case for why she turned out so ruthless was offered in this series. Qin Lan, who also happens to be a real looker, did a good job portraying her transition. Conversely -- and this is not to justify her eventual fate -- consort Qi was portrayed as being not as innocent as she is seen historically. Connecting her to Battle of Dingtao, incidentally, is actually a good example of the keen sense of the writers. Another female character given more importance and time was Consort Bo; while a bit of license was taken with her early story, the writers did justice to her significance for the Han dynasty. Consort Cao was also given a much bigger role, although I doubt that this was necessary or even historically accurate. Overall, though, excellent writing that manages to fill 80 episodes without dilly-dallying.

Costumes and sets in the series are top-class, and armor/weapon design is very good. While the CGI battle/siege "bird's eye" scenes look a little, well, CGI, close-up battle scenes are executed well. The frequent focus on bloody soldier-to-soldier engagements and actual attack and defence techniques adds to the grittiness and realism of the war epic. The occasional focus on individual stories extended beyond the battlefield too. This may have not been executed perfectly all the time, however. For example, one thing that later became a sort of inside joke for me was the noticeably repeated use of two particular very recognizable extras in a number of different minor speaking roles.

Cinematography is overall extremely good, and I loved the inclusion of deep focus and tracking shots, including those on the battlefield. Thankfully, one of my Chinese war film/TV peeves -- wire fu -- was nowhere to be found.

It was impossible to not notice that English translation for subtitles had quite a bit of Engrish. Different episodes' subtitles seem to have been handled by different translators, because the same scene ending one episode and starting another often had different subtitles for the same lines. There were also some awkward machine translations that the editors didn't look at closely enough; for example, "韩国" kept getting translated literally, as opposed to in the historical context, which resulted in the odd situation of Zhang Liang trying his best to restore "Korea" in 206 BCE.

One thing I would have really liked is for the ending to have been less awkward. It would have been better to just end after Wei River with the coronation and an epilogue, because what happened after is a whole 'nother TV series (on that note, does anyone have a freaking clue as to where I can buy or otherwise get my hands on an English-subbed copy/stream of Da Feng Ge?). Also, the final battles that culminated in GaiXia were not quite historically accurate; Yu Ji, for example, was not used as bait by Han Xin, and there was no "song attack" either. Considering this, I have to wonder if the crew were under pressure to wrap things up earlier than anticipated. Anyway, this will only bother history geeks like me. Otherwise, Legend of Chu and Han is a winner, and I strongly recommend it.

KR&JP 2013 Travelogue Day 7: Ironclad Gaya in Gimhae

My final Three Kingdoms destination was the runt of the lot. Not even a kingdom, really, Gaya was a confederacy of city-states wedged between Baekje and Silla on the southern coast. The confederacy's capital for most of its existence was the state of Geumgwan Gaya, now the small city of Gimhae, located within the greater Busan conurbation. Although Gaya remained a small player in regional geopolitics of the time, and effectively disappeared well before the Three Kingdoms period ended, it is known for its technological and cultural contributions, for its role in early foreign relations, and for occasionally going to war despite its small size.

The city is very accessible from Busan, and in fact shares the same mass rapid transit system (top left) that connects both cities to Gimhae International Airport. A stream (top right) runs through the city, with the transit line running overhead, making access within and from the city easy. Most of the important historical sites are located within easy walking distance of each other.

Like the Baekje and Silla capitals, icons of Gimhae can be see in public works (bottom near and far left). There are a couple of nice statues around too, such as a knight from the iron cavalry (bottom near right) for which Gaya was famous. I also found a statue of Queen Heo Hwang-Ok, the founding queen of Geumgwan Gaya; she and King Suro are together honored as the ancestors of the Gimhae Kims, the most numerous of all Kim clans. Kim Yushin, who brought down Baekje and Goguryeo on behalf of Silla, was incidentally a Gimhae Kim; he and his fellow clansmen were integrated into Silla nobility after the fall of Gaya to Silla.

I started at the Bonghwangdong relic site, a large "shell mound" that dates to the Bronze Age. This is the oldest excavated archaeological site in Korea, with excavation starting in 1920. A few reconstructed artifacts of prehistoric life can be seen in this park.

Like Gongju, Gimhae has a traditional Hannok village/accommodation. And as with Gongju, I had plans to leave for my next destination in the evening, much as I would have liked to stay here overnight.

Gimhae's tourist services are very informative, suggesting optimal routes and helping me discover new places. One such place was the folk arts museum, which exhibited many examples of traditional craftsmanship. 

The Daesongdong Ancient Tombs were next. A large number of royal Gaya tumulus tombs (left) had been excavated here, and one was encased in an open viewing structure, letting me see the contents (right). This site had been in use since the Gaya predecessors' time -- the Byeonhan period, that is -- and showed evidence of tombs being built over earlier tombs.

(clockwise from top left) Exterior of Daesongdong Tombs Museum; swords and horse ornaments; human and horse armor, shield bosses, iron cavalryman reconstruction, arrowheads

The nearby Daesongdong Tombs Museum (top left) had on display a fairly large number of artifacts from Gaya, many of which attested to the distinctive and quality metalworking for which Gaya was well known in East Asia.

A few other public monuments dot the stream shore, including a small company of Gaya warriors (left), a long relief carving depicting Queen Heo's arrival in Geumgwan Gaya (middle), and the Gimhae Citizens' Bell (right).

(clockwise from top left) Museum front, golden Gaya crown, iron finial, tree-type crown, Gaya iron armor, distinctive bird pottery

The Gimhae National Museum was undergoing some reorganization, but the artifacts were, fortunately, available for viewing at the top level. The exhibit covered the history of Gimhae from prehistoric times to Byeonhan to Gaya, including artifacts such as the famous Gaya iron armor pieces, distinctive pottery, and assorted gold work.

I took a little break to enjoy the scenery at the Lotus Pond Park across the stream.

On my way east, I climbed Gujibong peak, on which Geumgwan Gaya's founding king Suro was both "born" and buried. I used quotation marks there because, like Bak Hyeokgeose, Seok Talhae and Kim Alji of Silla (and for that matter, Geumwa of Buyeo and Jumong of Goguryeo), Suro was also "hatched" from a supernaturally-delivered egg/box, along with the founding kings of the other Gaya states. There is also a large dolmen (left) at the top, which dates to long before Gaya was founded. In the distance, the walls of the old fort (right) snake along the mountain top.

At the foothills is the tomb complex of Queen Heo. She is said to have come from Ayodhya, which is in India, although given the circumstances of Suro's claimed origins, one might have to take that with a grain of salt. In any case, the tomb complex is large and open, including Heo's mound tomb (bottom right), and a stone pagoda Heo is said to have brought with her (bottom left).

Up one of the hills is a small collection of tumulus tombs called Baegundae, which appear to date from the very twilight of Gaya. It's quite a climb, but the reward is a broad vista of the city.

As I made my way down and south, I passed a couple of other interesting sights along the smaller streets of the city, such as the old North Gate (left) and a large Confucian academy (right)

Near the western entrance of King Suro's tomb park, on the inside, is a small museum, in which are exhibited further examples of Gaya artifacts, rituals and iron work.

The tomb park itself is very large, and contains numerous stelae (top right) shrines and ceremonial structures (middle left and right), a garden pond (bottom left) and Suro's large mound tomb (bottom right), which is flanked by stone warriors and animals (given the resemblance to Ming Chinese style, likely a much later addition).

It was time to head out, so I grabbed a quick bite while browsing the Gimhae street market (top left), and took the metro to the airport (bottom left and right). Sipping from a can of rice wine (top right), I waited to catch my plane to Jeju Island and bid the mainland farewell.

Now is the time ... it should not be lost!

Desert Monologues course graduation performance. Getting into character backstage to deliver speech one of The Great Declaration as Ji Fa, the Martial King of Zhou.

Artifacts of Ancient Sudan

God of the afterlife, with winged uraei flanking sun disc overhead. Meriotic, I think.

I managed to catch this exhibition at the Cultural Foundation of Abu Dhabi just days before it was due to close. I knew that there was much to see about ancient Sudan, and was especially interested in seeing this one after reading the recent Nat Geo special on Napatan Kush ( http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2008/02/black-pharaohs/robert-draper-text.html ), but even I did not expect to spend as much time as I did poring over the artifacts on display. There were pieces from all the major historical eras of Sudan - Neolithic, Kerma, Egyptian, Napatan, Meriotic, Christian and Islamic. The ones from the Egyptian, Napatan and Meriotic period were especially worth a second look. Great sculptures and carvings, and intricate goldwork (couldn't get pics of those, due to resolution constraints). As Nat Geo mentioned, the Nubians were probably the first Egyptomaniacs, and they carried their particular branch of Egyptian culture well into the ADs and past the subsumption of classical Egyptian civilization, even invading and holding Egypt for a time.