Imperial China: Difference between revisions

{{trope}}

Most Western audiences know this period from Asian pop culture sources such as ''[[Wuxia]]'' movies, or Japanese works such as the ''[[Dynasty Warriors]]'' series of games and the ''[[Romance of the Three Kingdoms (anime)|Romance of the Three Kingdoms]]'' anime, though most of these are based on much older Chinese novels, folk-stories and other source material.

Life in '''Imperial China''', according to this view, apparently involved lots of politics and betrayal around the Emperor's solid gold palace, punctuated by battles featuring big hulky brocade-wearing brutes mowing down peasant soldiers by the thousands with their flashy ''musou'' attacks. When you met a fair maiden, either she was [[Waif Fu|skilled enough with martial arts to kick your butt]], or she was [[Shapeshifting Lover|a supernatural creature in disguise]].

* [[Arranged Marriage]]

* [[Deadly Decadent Court]]

* [[Supernatural Martial Arts]]

* Most ''[[Wuxia]]'' books, films, TV series etc.

* ''[[The Burning of Red Lotus Temple]]''

* ''[[Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon]]''

* ''55 Days at Peking'', also set during the Qing Dynasty.

* ''[[Dream of the Red Chamber]]''

* ''[[Journey to the West]]''

* ''[[Water Margin]]''

* Much of ''[[Towards the Republic]]''

* Most Chinese opera

* ''Kumo No Yo Ni Kaze No Yo Ni'' (''Like the Clouds, Like the Wind'')

* ''The Tale of the White Serpent'' (白蛇伝)

* ''[[Fushigi Yuugi]]'' and ''[[Fushigi Yuugi Genbu Kaiden]]''

* ''The Favorite'' by Inoue Yasushi is about Yang Guifei.

* There have been at least two Japanese TV production of [[Journey to the West]] that use a relatively straight fantasy version of the setting. The 1978 version was dubbed by the BBC as [[Monkey]].

* ''[[Dynasty Warriors]]''

* ''[[Kung Pow]]: Enter The Fist''.

* ''[[Shanghai Noon]]'' (the early parts).

* The ''[[Judge Dee]]'' novels and short stories, though the first is a translation of a Chinese story.

* Several novels by Pearl Buck, including ''[[The Good Earth]]'' and ''Peony''.

* ''Lady of Ch'iao Kuo: Warrior of the South'' by Lawrence Yep, from ''[[The Royal Diaries]]'' series.

* Some parts of the first ''[[Kung Fu]]'' TV series.

* The stage play and later opera, ''Turandot''.

* ''[[Jade Empire]]'' is set in the role-playing-game fantasy version.

* ''[[Mulan]]'', though it's based on a traditional Chinese folk-story.

{{quote|'''[[The Nostalgia Chick]]''': "Sure, let's go ahead and use the word 'honor' fifty times."}}