I'm talking about Chinese dramas in an ancient setting - wuxia, xianxia, palace intrigue, etc. So far, all that I've tried watching have an ending where one or both leads die, or at best they live but don't get together because of drama. Sometimes, it'll be a modern person crossing into the past which kinda gives us a better ending where after they die in the past, they cross back to the modern time and meet the other lead's incarnation or something similar. If there's anyone who watches a lot of Chinese dramas with non-modern setting, can you recommend one where it has a happy end? Or do they have to write a bad/sad end to pass censorship for some reason? So many decent dramas ruined by a crappy ending, sigh...
I think it’s cultural. Something like ‘it’s better for my lord’ or ‘to save my lord face, because he can never be wrong’ I the only reasonable person will just go die so as not to embarrass anyone.
If it's based on ancient settings, of course everybody is dead at the end, as they are all already dead... Since a long time ago. Especially as the life expectancy was very low if it's far in the past, and even more so if it's during war times or if they are deaply involved in politics during ancien China. I don't think I remember any classic chinese novel in an ancien setting or history based (I talk about dead tree type of novels, not webnovels) that end with a "and they had a lot of kids and were happy until the end of times". Even classic chinese historical fictions almost always end sadly, it seems that their author like dramas, tragedy and sad stuff. And chinese authors loooooove to follow the trends or re-use stuff that had been popular previously... It's like watching a titanic movie hoping that the ship will not drown...
Haha I avoid them like plague. I think it's all so they can have a season 2 King of Blaze might interest its fairly old now. I haven't watched any in a while
Haha, did you just watch Bu Bu Jing Xin? I don't watch many Chinese TV shows but I'd say that they're way happier in general than what you'd see in traditional Chinese stories. Back in the day, Chinese literature had the same division between comedies (喜剧) and tragedies (悲剧) that the Ancient Greeks had. Of these, the tragedies are more memorable and they make a stronger impression on the audience. Just look at all the popular Chinese folklore tales and operas out there - most of the famous ones are tragedies of one form or another; with the Butterfly Lovers being a prime example of this. Personally I like tragic endings as long as they work with the story. See, the only way a tragedy works is if it manages to invoke enough passion for a viewer to be invested in the outcome. It's no coincidence that quite a few of my favorite stories have at least some aspect of tragedy to them.