Jin Xin Si Yu (2021)

From Belittled Concubine's Daughter to Respected Marquis's Wife

As a historical Cdrama lover, The Sword and the Brocade was certainly a delightful watch, giving an insight and story that is both informational and enjoyable. Set in the Ming Dynasty, viewers follow the journey of Luo Shiyi Niang, as she gains respect from the people around her as she rises from a concubine's daughter to the wife of a powerful marquis. As a 45 episode drama with 45 minutes per episode, I thoroughly enjoyed most of the drama, especially the progression and improvement of many characters' personalities.

This is definitely not a low-budget drama, with colorful and intricate clothing, realistic Ming dynasty props, and nice sets. Shiyi Niang's clothing showed off her sunshiney personality and simplicity, showing off pastel colors of many shades to viewers. And rather than clothing that looked too royal and fancy, Shiyi Niang's clothing fit her personality perfectly.

Story-8.5:
If you enjoyed The Story of Minglan, you will most likely love this drama as well. The drama doesn't have a very spectacular plotline, but rather shows how the many characters in the drama changed as they experienced more of life, and the very inspirational outcomes from various circumstances.

Born in the rather influential Luo family, Luo Shiyi Niang (Luo= last name, Shiyi= 11, Niang= character given to all Luo girls) is not given upmost care from the family, with the exception of her concubine-ranked mother. In ancient China, children born of the main wife were considered the legitimate children, while concubine-born children were illegitimate. As a young girl, Shiyi Niang only experienced true familial love from her mother, who later dies in a tragic and mysterious way. Determined to find the murderer and avenge her mother, Shiyi Niang can only marry Xu Lingyi, the powerful marquis of the Xu manor, who was the husband of her eldest sister, Yuan Niang, before she died.

Shiyi Niang and Xu Lingyi's marriage is a perfect example of a normal marriage in ancient China, where parents would decide the spouse of their children. This couple started out without any love at all, but through various circumstances, romance started to bloom. The drama explores love from family, lovers and friends, as well as life in ancient China.

It should also be noted that a harem of a few concubines and children was perfectly normal in ancient China. Some viewers may be uncomfortable with this significant detail, but this picture of an influential official's harem frames ancient Chinese polygamy quite well. (I'm not implying that this is acceptable now, just that it was normal in ancient China, and we can also learn some history from it.)

My story rating dropped from a 9.5 to an eventual 8.5 after a few parts of the drama. Some parts were rather unnecessary, while other parts would have been much better off with more explanation (especially the ending, which felt very rushed). I have to admit that I started to get bored at times, but fortunately, the plot managed to keep the drama rolling.

Acting/Cast-9.0:

First, please allow me to say that the main reason I gave this drama such a high rating overall (9.0) is being of the character development. The Sword and the Brocade has one of the best character developments I have seen in dramas. Shiyi Niang is such an influential and motivational figure. Although she is concubine-born, she managed to win over the hearts of the entire Xu family, who were all cold and distant to her at first. Adding on to this trait, she also displays kindness and care towards her family, friends and anyone in need, and is willing to sacrifice if necessary. She is definitely not the whiny female lead, or a woman in ancient China who has to depend on her powerful husband to live well. She starts a, we'll call it an embroidery educational system, and she is quite good at teaching the young girls embroidery, being amazing at embroidery herself. (which is an essential talent for women in ancient China) As always, Tan Songyun slayed her role, perfectly pulling off this headstrong but caring female lead, who used her wits and kindness to gain the affection of her husband and respect of her new family members.

Wallace Chung did not disappoint as well. He kept the image of a powerful and intelligent marquis throughout the drama, one traumatized by the death of a few of his family members when he was quite young. This event also changed him to the cold man seen in the beginning of the drama, who only cared about filial-piety and protecting the nation. After Shiyi Niang's arrival, though, his change was clear and evident. He began displaying signs of affection towards not only her, but other family members as well. He began to understand the hardships of others, and also the importance of family (which, Shiyi Niang saw importance in as well).

There is a rather significant age gap between both the actors (Actress Tan Songyun and actor Zhong Hanliang) and the main leads in the drama, the gaps being 16 years and most likely 10 years respectively. I have noticed a disturbance in viewers after this discovery, but this gap did not bother me from enjoying the drama at all. Seven Tan and Wallace Chung had acceptable chemistry. Shiyi Niang and Xu Lingyi are a cute couple. Not so-cute-I-could-look-at-them-at-day cute, but they were a nice couple. There were a few intimate scenes, which were conducted fairly well.

Some of the other characters who won me over were Shiyi Niang's sisters, her Fifth Sister-in-Law, Hu Po, and so many others. Almost of all of the characters had amazing character development (excluding the antagonists, of course). It was normal for sisters to fight over the most trivial things, as the atmosphere in families were highly competitive, but Shiyi Niang stayed back, while her other concubine-born sisters gained more of the main wife's favor. One of her sisters was most deserving of my scorn, but I took the hate back as the drama started to near the end. Most of these actors and actresses did a wonderful job playing the roles of people living in ancient China, managing to make everyone's stories and goals realistic but also pretty relatable. The antagonists were fine, wanting to gain from greed and influence from others.

How did Shiyi Niang even manage to gain the respect of so many people and also establish such successful and stable relationships? These results can be attributed to a tiny bit of luck, but mostly her high EQ and patience that helped her in the long run. Even Xu Lingyi's mother, who disliked her greatly at first, eventually took to her as her own daughter. Shiyi Niang's personality is one that all of us can learn and benefit from.

Music-8.0:
The Sword and Brocade does not have a very memorable soundtrack, but it had nice songs nonetheless. I especially enjoyed he song sung by Seven Tan. Who knew that she has such a sweet and gentle voice! Fortunately though, my ears did not receive any complaints of the bgm or OSTs not matching with what was going on eith the drama, making the music a nice add-in.

Overall-8.5:
Overall, a great drama, and a great perception of Ming Dynasty life as well! Not only was the story intriguing, but the character developments are so rare and motivational, showing us how patience and kindness will pay off in the end. Greed will get us nowhere, and the antagonists got what they deserved in the end. From a girl who no one took much importance in to an influential wife of a powerful marquis, Shiyi Niang managed to achieve many things she never thought she would achieve, as well as help many people in the nation.

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