Empresses in the palace
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Who Was the Real Zhen Huan? The Historical Empress Behind Empresses in the Palace — and the Poem Hidden in Her Name
> ※ Two questions fans of Empresses in the Palace (甄嬛传 / Zhen Huan Zhuan) ask most often: Was Zhen Huan a real person? and What does her beautiful name actually mean? This article answers both — first the flesh-and-blood empress the drama was built on, then the classical love poem folded into the two characters of her name. — Part 1 — The Real Woman: Empress Xiaosheng Xian (Niohuru) Zhen Huan (甄嬛, pinyin Zhēn Huán) is not a complete…
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“Empresses in the Palace” Theme Song Hongyan Jie: The Doom of Beauty, Explained
> A note before we begin. The doomed love between Zhen Huan and Prince Guo, which this song carries, is the drama’s fiction. The historical Prince Guo (Yunli) was a scholarly prince loyal to the Yongzheng Emperor; there was no romance with Zhen Huan. This piece is about the beauty of that story — and it explains the song’s meaning rather than reproducing its copyrighted lyrics. — The Chinese palace drama Empresses in the Palace (Chinese title The Legend of…
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“Feng Huang Yu Fei”: The Ending Song of Empresses in the Palace, Explained
If you’ve watched Empresses in the Palace (the 2011 Chinese palace drama also known as The Legend of Zhen Huan), you’ve heard “Feng Huang Yu Fei” (凤凰于飞) — the haunting closing theme sung by Liu Huan. To me, it isn’t a song about the throne at all. It’s the secret love song of Prince Guo and Zhen Huan. A note for first-time viewers Empresses in the Palace follows Zhen Huan, a young woman who enters the harem of the Yongzheng…
