Nirvana in Fire

Synopsis

In sixth century China, there was war between feudal Northern Wei and Southern Liang dynasties. The Liang commander general, Lin Xie, his 19-year-old son, Lin Shu, and the Chiyan Army defeated hostile Wei forces. However, when the Chiyan were weakened from the battle, they were massacred under the Emperor's orders. Unknown to the king, the Chiyan were framed by political rivals, who claimed that they were conspiring a rebellion with the then-crown prince, Prince Qi. As a result, Prince Qi and members of the Lin manor were also unjustly executed, with Qi's mother, Consort Chen, and Lin Shu's mother, committing suicide.

Lin Shu survived but was poisoned from the Poison of the Bitter Flame as the result of the fighting. To save his life, the master of Langya Hall, Lin Chen, gave him treatment, which ultimately led to Lin Shu's altered appearance and weakened state. For the next twelve years, he establishes the Jiang Zuo Alliance and becomes chief of the pugilist world as Mei Changsu. Lin Shu takes the opportunity to return to the capital during the fight for the throne between Prince Yu and Prince Xian, where he would enact his plan to restore his family's innocence as well as secretly help his childhood friend, the unfavored Prince Jing, become Emperor.

Under the disguise as Su Zhe, Lin Shu becomes a strategist, who, on the surface, supports Prince Yu. He helps him take down the Crown Prince and his most powerful ally, Minister Xie Yu, while also secretly assisting Prince Jing as he rises in power and favor. While also investigating Xie Yu, Lin Shu discovers new details of Xie Yu's involvement in the Chiyan conspiracy. He realizes that Xia Jiang, head of the Xuan Jing Bureau, was the instigator of the case and framed Prince Qi and the Chiyan Army so that Prince Qi would not dissolve the Xuan Jing Bureau when he became emperor.

After the Crown Prince falls from grace, Prince Yu and his own strategist, Qin Banruo, become suspicious of Mei Changsu after seeing Prince Jing becoming more and more powerful in the royal court. Although he was advised to stop advancing for the throne, Prince Yu forms an alliance with Xia Jiang, who agrees to help him become emperor to prevent the Chiyan case from being re-investigated under Prince Jing, for fear that the prince would try to uncover Xia's lies. Despite their plan to use the capture of ex-Chiyan general, Wei Zheng, to create bad blood between Prince Jing and his father, the prisoner's escape leads them to fail, with Xia Jiang arrested and Xuan Jing Bureau seized and searched. Prince Yu's previous crimes were also revealed, causing him to be demoted and put under house arrest. Although all seems lost for Prince Yu, Qin Banruo persuades him to hold a rebellion and take the throne by force while his father is away at the Spring Hunt with Prince Jing and Mei Changsu.

Despite arriving with a more powerful army compared to the small amount of soldiers stationed at the Hunt, Prince Yu fails to destroy his father, and therefore, commits suicide in prison. Meanwhile, Xia Jiang had escaped prison during the rebellion attempt and deduces that Mei Changsu is Lin Shu. He attempts to regain the Emperor's trust by uncovering Mei's identity and accusing Prince Jing to have conspired with the strategist as the reason for the prince's quick rise in power. Although the Emperor imprisoned Xia Jiang again, he attempts to kill Mei Changsu to prevent further mess for Prince Jing. He is stopped by his son, however, as the prince wasn't willing for people to die for him.

Together, Prince Jing and Mei make a plan to try and bring up the Chiyan case to the Emperor. At the Emperor's birthday celebration, the Prince has Grand Princess Liyang, the wife of Xie Yu, bring up the case in front of the emperor with evidence from Xie Yu's confession. The Emperor is angered by the sudden accusation of his own mistakes, but is powerless to stop it, as the whole court pleads for him to reopen the Chiyan case. With a final confrontation with Mei Changsu (now revealed to him as Lin Shu), the Emperor finally agrees to reopen the case and pronounce Prince Qi, Lin Xie, Lin Shu, and the entire Chiyan army innocent.

Shortly after his wish is fulfilled, Mei Changsu receives news that the Northern Wei forces has come to take advantage of the political unrest in the royal court by invading Da Liang. Mei Changsu decides to help drive off the Northern forces, as it would be what Lin Shu would have done. He takes a herb medicine made by Lin Chen to give himself strength for three months, so he may lead the Liang forces to defeat the enemy. He ultimately did not return to the capital. Several years later, Prince Jing becomes the new Emperor. When Commander Meng Zhi requests for Emperor Jing to name the newly merged militia, he names it "Chang Lin" army, in honor of Lin Shu and Mei Chang Su.

Background

In April 2011, Shandong Television Media Group acquired the film adaption rights for the popular 2007 internet novel written by Hai Yan, Lang Ya Bang, which has been called the "Chinese version of The Count of Monte Cristo". Producer Hou Hong Liang thought that the original novel conveyed the kind of emotion people are most attracted to, the characters' inner strength and revenge, and therefore decided to adapt the novel for television. The series' overall investment of the costume drama was more than one hundred million yuan, and the director and producer strived for majestic atmosphere with poetic, beautiful images.

Director Kong Sheng and Hou Hong Liang, who have been friends for 20 years, have worked together in The Age of Iron, Chuang Guandong, All Quiet in Peking, and The Line and other television productions. The original author, Hai Yan, said that she had no intention to make Lang Ya Bang into a television series, but Shandong producers encouraged her to do so, while also offering her the role as the drama's screenwriter, despite the fact that she had no such experience. The writing of the script lasted from mid-October 2012 to April 2013. Haiyan stated that the story "will certainly be changed in details, but the framework, the characters and the plot is set to no major changes..., we are most concerned about the preservation of the outcome of Mei Changsu. I think, according to my personal standards, 80% of the script is original." Hou Hongliang said in earlier interviews that the series highlights justice, patriotism and brotherhood.

Although it was not intended for any historical backstory corresponding to a certain dynasty, for the sake of the costumes, props and set designs, Nirvana in Fire was set during the Northern and Southern dynasties. Hou Hongliang stated that "characters will be relatively free flowing, in line with ancient individuals that are typically imagined."

Notable members of production include Sun Molong and Li Gang as directors of photography, Meng Ke as head composer, Jiang Guangtuo in charge of the dubbing, Liu Jie as the stunt director, Wang Huo, Su Zhiyong and Shao Changyong as the artistic designers, Ru Mei Qi as the fashion designer, Kong Gezi in charge of visual effects, and Liu Lei in charge of sound recordings.

Shooting

It was announced in mid-December 2013 that Hu Ge, Victor Huang, Wang Kai and Chen Long would act as Mei Changsu, Prince Yu, Prince Jing and Meng Zhi in the drama. When the cast and crew were formally established, they officially started shooting on February 12, 2014 at Hengdian World Studios. The shooting was separated into three groups, shooting at Heng Dian, Xiang Shan studios, western Zhe Jiang grasslands, Wuxi and others. Location shooting was finished in June 2014, and entered post-production.

Soundtrack

"When the Wind Rises", sung by Hu Ge, is the main theme song of the drama, with "Faded Beauty" and "Loyal Blood Forever Runs Red" acting as insert songs. The rest of the tracks are instrumental and performed by various artists. "When the Wind Rises" was composed by Meng Ke, with lyrics written by Hai Yan. "Faded Beauty" was composed by Zhao Jialin and written by Yuan Liang. "Loyal Blood Forever Runs Red" was composed by Yu Haihang and written by Qing Yan and Bing Feng.

Critical response

When the drama premiered on the 19th, it streamed well on various sites, with much positive reviews and discussion surfacing around the internet through Weibo. However, it wasn't until after National Day that the drama topped viewing charts with the highest ratings. Xu Ming of Global Times praised the story, acting and cinematography of the series, stating that it was a quality example of Chinese period dramas, despite pointing out several flaws in the plot, such as Mei Changsu being "too capable" compared to the other characters. Douban gave the drama 9.2 out of 10, with the series topping viewership ratings in fifty cities in China. The series also has been called "China's Game of Thrones" due to its popularity, and enjoyed high audience ratings in Taiwan.

Certain scenic spots in China have also been changed to Langya Ge (Langya Hall) to attract tourists. Although Anhui, Jiangsu and Shandong province all claim to be where the drama is set, Hai Yan clarified that the setting was fictitious. The publications for the web novel was highly anticipated, with the amount of pre-orders reaching new highs. At the 2015 Big Data Index of Culture and Entertainment Industry Conference, the character, Mei Changsu, was named the year's "most talked-about television character (online)". The success of the adaption ushered in the original book's sales increase by more than 3,300 percent on Amazon.

Ratings