The Emperor's Shadow
Encyclopedia
The Emperor's Shadow is a 1996 Chinese historical film directed by Zhou Xiaowen
Zhou Xiaowen
Zhou Xiaowen is a Chinese filmmaker. He graduated from the Cinematography Department of the Beijing Film Academy in 1975 and is part of the so-called Fifth Generation of Chinese filmmakers.-Selected filmography:-External links:...

 and starring Jiang Wen
Jiang Wen
Jiang Wen is a Chinese film actor and director. As a director, he is sometimes grouped with the "sixth generation" that emerged in the 1990s. Jiang is also well known internationally as an actor, having starred with Gong Li in Zhang Yimou's debut film Red Sorghum...

, Ge You
Ge You
Ge You is an acclaimed Mainland Chinese actor. A native of Beijing, he is considered by many to be one of the most recognizable acting personalities in the Mainland...

, Xu Qing and Ge Zhijun. It was the most expensive Chinese film produced at the time of its release.

Plot

Set in third century BC China, the story of The Emperor's Shadow revolves around the relationship between Ying Zheng
Qin Shi Huang
Qin Shi Huang , personal name Ying Zheng , was king of the Chinese State of Qin from 246 BC to 221 BC during the Warring States Period. He became the first emperor of a unified China in 221 BC...

, the King of Qin
Qin (state)
The State of Qin was a Chinese feudal state that existed during the Spring and Autumn and Warring States Periods of Chinese history...

, and later the First Emperor; and the musician Gao Jianli
Gao Jianli
Gao Jianli was a citizen of Yan, a Chinese state during the Warring States Period, and a player of the zhu . After Jing Ke was killed in his assassination attempt on Qin Shi Huang, Gao changed his name and became an assistant in a wine shop as Qin Shi Huang retaliated against all friends of Jing Ke...

. Gao Jianli's mother was the king's wet nurse when the young king was a hostage in the Zhao state
Zhao (state)
Zhao was a significant Chinese state during the Warring States Period, along with six others...

, but they were separated after the former returns to Qin to become king.

After reaching adulthood, Ying Zheng embarks on a series of wars to fulfill his plan of unifying China. He kidnaps Gao Jianli from the Yan state
Yan (state)
Yān was a state during the Western Zhou, Spring and Autumn and Warring States Periods of Chinese history. Its capital was Ji...

 to compose a powerful hymn for his new state. The two conflict over the new composition, the construction of grand public works, Ying Zheng's ruthless mass killing policies, and Ying Zheng's daughter, Princess Yueyang.

Cast

  • Jiang Wen
    Jiang Wen
    Jiang Wen is a Chinese film actor and director. As a director, he is sometimes grouped with the "sixth generation" that emerged in the 1990s. Jiang is also well known internationally as an actor, having starred with Gong Li in Zhang Yimou's debut film Red Sorghum...

     as Ying Zheng
    Qin Shi Huang
    Qin Shi Huang , personal name Ying Zheng , was king of the Chinese State of Qin from 246 BC to 221 BC during the Warring States Period. He became the first emperor of a unified China in 221 BC...

    • Tian Ming as young Ying Zheng
  • Ge You
    Ge You
    Ge You is an acclaimed Mainland Chinese actor. A native of Beijing, he is considered by many to be one of the most recognizable acting personalities in the Mainland...

     as Gao Jianli
    • Wang Peng as young Gao Jianli
  • Xu Qing as Princess Yueyang
  • Ge Zhijun as Zhao Gao
    Zhao Gao
    Zhao Gao was the chief eunuch during the Qin Dynasty of China. He played an instrumental role in the downfall of the Qin Dynasty.- Early life :...

  • Wang Qingxiang as Li Si
    Li Si
    Li Si was the influential Prime Minister of the feudal state and later of the dynasty of Qin, between 246 BC and 208 BC. A famous Legalist, he was also a notable calligrapher. Li Si served under two rulers: Qin Shi Huang, king of Qin and later First Emperor of China—and his son, Qin Er Shi...

  • Di Guoqiang as Wang Jian
  • Wang Ning as Wang Ben]]
  • Shu Yaoxuan as Xu Fu
    Xu Fu
    Xú Fú ; was born in 255 BC in Qi, and served as a court sorcerer in Qin Dynasty China. He was sent by Qin Shi Huang to the eastern seas twice to look for the elixir of life. His two journeys occurred between 219 BC and 210 BC. It was believed that the fleet included 60 barques and around 5,000 crew...

  • Li Mengnan as Jing Ke
    Jing Ke
    Jing Ke was a guest residing in the estates of Dan, crown prince of Yan and renowned for his failed assassination attempt of Ying Zheng, King of Qin state, who later became China's first emperor...

  • Yuan Yuan as Fan Yuqi
  • Ren He as Huhai
    Qin Er Shi
    Qin Er Shi , literally Second Emperor of Qin Dynasty, personal name Huhai, was emperor of the Qin Dynasty in China from 210 BC until 207 BC.-Name:...

  • Zhao Yi
  • Wang Hong
  • Sun Bicheng
  • Zhang Chunyuan

Music and themes

The political use of music and of the arts in general is one of the major themes in the film. In one of the climaxes of the film, the king states his belief that through music he can "control the minds and hearts of the people", echoing Mao Zedong
Mao Zedong
Mao Zedong, also transliterated as Mao Tse-tung , and commonly referred to as Chairman Mao , was a Chinese Communist revolutionary, guerrilla warfare strategist, Marxist political philosopher, and leader of the Chinese Revolution...

's Yan'an
Yan'an
Yan'an , is a prefecture-level city in the Shanbei region of Shaanxi province in China, administering several counties, including Zhidan County , which served as the Chinese communist capital before the city of Yan'an proper took that role....

 talks of 1942. Music is perceived by the monarch as being as important as military power. Whereas his armies can conquer his rivals, he needs the arts to exert spiritual and ideological control. At the premiere of the film on 7 June 1996 in Beijing
Beijing
Beijing , also known as Peking , is the capital of the People's Republic of China and one of the most populous cities in the world, with a population of 19,612,368 as of 2010. The city is the country's political, cultural, and educational center, and home to the headquarters for most of China's...

, director Zhou Xiaowen noted: "Chinese rulers have always wanted to control our spirit. But they cannot succeed in doing so."

Reception

After The Emperor's Shadow was released in five major Chinese cities, it was banned by state authorities without any clear reason being given. Eight months later permission was given for re-release.

The film has been criticized in China for its many historical inaccuracies. Chief among these is the distortion of the character of Gao Jianli. According to Sima Qian
Sima Qian
Sima Qian was a Prefect of the Grand Scribes of the Han Dynasty. He is regarded as the father of Chinese historiography for his highly praised work, Records of the Grand Historian , a "Jizhuanti"-style general history of China, covering more than two thousand years from the Yellow Emperor to...

's Records of the Grand Historian
Records of the Grand Historian
The Records of the Grand Historian, also known in English by the Chinese name Shiji , written from 109 BC to 91 BC, was the Magnum opus of Sima Qian, in which he recounted Chinese history from the time of the Yellow Emperor until his own time...

, Gao Jianli was a friend of the assassin Jing Ke
Jing Ke
Jing Ke was a guest residing in the estates of Dan, crown prince of Yan and renowned for his failed assassination attempt of Ying Zheng, King of Qin state, who later became China's first emperor...

, who fails in an attempt upon Ying Zheng's life. Other minor errors, mostly of academic interest, also contribute to the film's lack of historical authenticity. The director Zhou Xiaowen defended his film by saying that it was an exploration of ideas and values for the present day and was not intended as a strictly historical depiction of the First Emperor. In a 1999 interview, he said "I don't like history; I just like the buildings, the palaces, the dress."

The film influenced the creation of Tan Dun
Tan Dun
Tan Dun is a Chinese contemporary classical composer, most widely known for his scores for the movies Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon and Hero.-Early life in China:...

's 2006 opera The First Emperor
The First Emperor
The First Emperor is an opera in two acts with a libretto written in English by Tan Dun and Ha Jin, and music by Tan Dun. The opera received its premiere at the Metropolitan Opera at the Lincoln Center in New York City on 21 December 2006, conducted by the composer and with Plácido Domingo in the...

.

See also

  • The Emperor and the Assassin
    The Emperor and the Assassin
    The Emperor and the Assassin, also known as The First Emperor, is a 1998 Chinese historical romance film based primarily on Jing Ke's assassination attempt on the King of Qin, as described in Sima Qian's Records of the Grand Historian. The film was directed by Chen Kaige and stars Gong Li, Zhang...

  • Rise of the Great Wall
    Rise of the Great Wall
    Rise of the Great Wall is a 1986 Hong Kong television series based on the biography of Qin Shi Huang, the First Emperor of China and founder of the Qin Dynasty...

  • Qin Shi Huang (2001 TV series)
    Qin Shi Huang (2001 TV series)
    Qin Shi Huang is a Chinese television series based on the life story of Qin Shi Huang, the First Emperor who unified China under the Qin Dynasty. The series was filmed between 1999 and 2000 and was first released in 2001 in Hong Kong and Thailand, and in 2002 in Singapore...

  • Hero (2002 film)
    Hero (2002 film)
    Hero is a 2002 wuxia film directed by Zhang Yimou. Starring Jet Li as the nameless protagonist, the film is based on the story of Jing Ke's assassination attempt on the King of Qin in 227 BC....

  • List of historical drama films of Asia
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