Title
The Yang Heroines

How Long
 episodes

Year
2001

Prologue
Please note that "The Yang Heroines" and "Heroines of the Yang" are 2 different serials. The former is a Taiwan cum Singapore production produced in 2001, the latter was a production of ATV in 1998.

WARNING
Spoilers are sprawled all over the review, DO NOT read the review at all if u do not want me to spoil the serial for u coz I really don't know how to write a review without revealing all the important scenes of the serial. Please note that any negative comments about the character written is aimed at the character itself and not the artiste playing them!

The  Characters & Cast

The Yangs:

Zheng Pei Pei - Lady She 
Most Respected Character
Age: 62/72
Background: The head of the household. Ever since her husband and sons died in the war, she has been the one in charge. Initially the whole Yang family is not very united, but after some incidents, they began to stand as a whole under her leadership. She's what I called a true heroine.

Roger Kwok - Yang Si Lang aka Mu Yi
Most Short sighted and Selfish Character
Age: 32
Background: Fourth son in the Yang family. Everyone thought he was killed in the battle at Jing Sa Tang. When war broke out again, Siniang saw her in the Liao's camp and learnt that he has became the Liao's prince consort.
Comments: I really hate this character. Maybe you don't agree with me, but I think he's one wimpy, shortsighted and selfish person so much so that I don't think he deserve to be a Yang. I definitely do not agree with Yang An or his own explanation on why he choose to be a Prince Consort of the Liaos. Yang An said it took greater courage to live than to die, I beg to differ. If he's a man with the slightest integrity, he should choose to kill himself when he learnt that Ying Jing is actually the Liao princess and also they wanted him to be the Prince Consort. Empress Xiao is the one that cause so much bloodshed between the Songs and Liao, she's the one that killed so many of his soldiers when he was still a warrior, she was the one that killed her father and brothers......how can any person with the slightest integrity called such a hateful woman mother in law?!?!?!? If I'm him really, I would seize the chance to assassinate her, make your own death more worth it. Yes I agree, if he did that he's doing Ying Jing, his savior a "BIG" wrong, but he's a MAN, he's a Warrior, most importantly, he's a YANG warrior known for their patriotism. Killing Empress Xiao is riding the Songs a big enemy and maybe peace will be restored after this. If harming a girl can save the lives of millions of soldiers, why not? Sometimes it's really essential to think of the BIG picture. Think of all the soldiers that died. Think of all the dead soldier's family that are mourning in pain. Think of all the civilians that are suffering. And I was also pissed at how he treated Siniang. If he had thought of his wife, if he really loved his wife as much as he claims, why did he ever remarry?!!?!!?!? All I can see is how Siniang always think for him and not the other way. I know I will never forgive this man when I saw how Siniang wept when he left her. How can he be so cruel? To conclude, Yang Silang is a lousy warrior and definitely one hell of a lousy husband.

Ben Wong - Yang Liu Lang
Most Patriotic Character
Age: 28/34
Background: Sixth son of the Yang Family. He's the only one with a son, Yang Zhong Bao. He's stationed at the Song-Liao borders as the leading marshal, making sure the Liaos would not attack the Songs successfully.
Comments: I think he's the most patriotic and the Yang son with the most integrity( In actual fact, I don't think highly of the Yang guys mostly thanks to Silang, I think the wives are much better people). To him, it's always COUNTRY before FAMILY. So he makes a good soldier, but not really a great husband. I pity his son and wife because he's always at the borders all year round and only get to reunite with the family during festivals.  

Cai Ying - Da Niang
Age: 30/36 
Background: Wife of the 1st Yang son.
Comments: This is just another Ke-Le-Fe character, so nothing much to comment about her actually. She looks understanding and king though.

Wei Yi Na - Er Niang
Age: 26/32
Background: Wife of the 2nd Yang son.
Comments: This is just another Ke-Le-Fe character, so nothing much to comment about her actually. The actress playing this character looks a bit fierce to me. =p

Jing Ying - San Niang
Age: 24/30
Background: Wife of the 3rd Yang son. She's the most vain wife in the family, always very conscious about her looks and knows a lot about cosmetics.
Comments: This is just another Ke-Le-Fe character, so nothing much to comment about her actually.

Wang Yu Wen - Siniang 
Most Forgiving & Considerate Character
Age: 28/34
Background: Wife of the 4th Yang son.
Comments: I think I wanna pray to her if such a magnanimous person ever since. hahaha. I mean your husband remarry and she still thanked him and always think of his welfare!?! Her magnanimity is what that makes me respect and like her and don't you think she has a very soothing look? She's not pretty but one look at her you'll feel at peace.

Constance Song Yi Fei - Wu Niang
Most Blabber Mouth Character
Age: 22/30
Background: Wife of the 5th Yang son. Her husband became a monk after the battle at Jing Sa Tang. She felt humiliated about the fact that he dumped her to be a monk. Later she went to look for him and demanded for a reason. They sort of reconciled after that.
Comments: Well, this is not a major character, the only scene that I could remember her in was the one where she went to look for her husband at the temple, begging him to see her and to go and save Bamei. The monks in the temple were trying to stop her and she scolded them. I think that was quite a dynamic scene. Wu Niang is a blabber mouth, very frank person and so tends to offend people. She's closer to Liu Niang.

Tong Ai Ling - Liu Niang aka Princess Cha
Age: 28/34
Background: Wife of the 6th Yang son. She's actually a Princess and she gave birth of the only heir of the Yang family: Yang Zhong Bao.
Comments: This is just another Ke-Le-Fe character, so nothing much to comment about her actually.

Sun Li - Qi Niang aka Xie Jin E
Most Intelligent and Learned Character
Age: 20/26
Background: Wife of the 7th son in the Yang family. Qilang and her did not really had an official wedding ceremony and Lady She did not know about her presence initially. When the female Yang warriors went to the borders to fight the Liaos, she came to their army camp, saying that she's the wife of Qilang. Everyone has doubts about her but later her sincerity touched everyone and they accepted her.
Comments: I like this character because she's very intelligent, frank, mature despite her tender age and sometimes cute.

Carmen Lee - Yang Bamei
Most Wilful Character
Age: 18/24
Background: The youngest of the family and also the only girl. I think she's the most doted in the family and hence accounts for her unbearing and wilful character at the start of the serial.
Comments: Actually I watched the serial for Carmen and it's really the love relation of Bamei and Yang An that made me continue watching the serial. But after sometime, I really got a bit fed up with this character. She's wilful, unreasonable, reckless, rash and sometimes irritating. Her rashness always caused trouble and pain for the people around her. She always has to learn lessons the hard way, and sometimes the price is a bit too high. Her love relation with Yang An is something that can make you vomit blood because both of them obviously have feelings for each other, but is always too proud to make the first move and in the end they just go in circles and circles. (reminds me of Xiu Lian and Mo Bai in CTHD if you did watch that serial). She's the kind that actually doesn't listen to reasons so much so that I pity Yang An and Paifeng for having to tolerate such a person at times. Of course she has a cute side of her, she's naive, pure and true. I like it when Carmen turned her eyeballs around, looking bewildered and innocent. Really cute! And you'll be amazed that she still looks as youthful as before., though when the camera do zoom in on her, u can actually see her wrinkles. This is the character that will mature as the plot develops.

Lian Kai - Yang An
Most Block Head Character 
Age: 22/28
Background: He's the son of a servant in the Yang. His father has been serving the Yangs for ages and Lady She treats them as a family and she especially trust Yang An because he's careful, calm and meticulous person. Loves Bamei but feels inferior and not worthy of her because he's a servant. This let Jiang Bin had the chance to come between them.
Comments: Yang An is a true breed BLOCK HEAD! Unromantic, not good with words, stubborn, and sometimes he can be very harsh with you. A direct contrast with Jiang Bin, so it's no wonder why Bamei fell for Jiang Bin so easily. He's a good leader and helper because he's meticulous, cautious and highly skilled. He would be a good husband because he would love his wife, he's faithful, honest and very trustworthy so much so that if I have to hand my life to any one of the characters in the serial, I would say Yang An. However I don't think he's a good boyfriend because he's SUCH A BLOCKHEAD! haha. Of course, this block of wood did do some unexpected sweet stuff for Bamei on and off, that's why I still like him despite his boring ways.

Theresa Lee - Yang Paifeng
Most Selfless Character 
Age: 17/23
Background: Another servant in the Yang family. Best friend with Bamei, is secretly in love with Yang An. When she found out that Yang An loves Bamei, she decided to be the match maker. Later has a love relation with Cheng Bo.
Comments: One of my favorite character. Kind, helpful, frank, carefree and funny. Actually I think she's in everyway better than Bamei in terms of character, just that she's not pretty enough. A bit stupid and slow at times, that's what makes her cute! But I think the most prominent feature of Paifeng is her selflessness and kindheartedness. She loves Yang An, but she tried ways and means to get him and Bamei together, because she wants him to be happy. She knew she might get poisoned too, but she sucked the poisoned out for Jingling without much consideration. 

Zhang Zhi Xiao - Yang Zhong Bao
Age: 12/18
Background: Son of Princess Cha and Yang Liu Lang. The only heir of Yang family that's why all of them are very uptight about his safety. Smart, quick witted, righteous. He met Mu Gui Ying while trying to steal Xiang Long Mu, a treasure of Mu Ke Zai. Initially both of them didn't quite like each other, but with understanding, love soon develops.
Comments: A smart kid since young. Very sensible, quite mature at his age but because he's inexperience he tends to make blunders at times. That's the way of learning. Overall quite a likeable character.

Ning Jing - Mu Gui Ying
Most Interesting Character 
Age: 17/23
Background: Daughter of Mu Ke Zai's chief. Later married Yang Zhong Bao.
Comments: Actually Singapore is also airing ATV's version of Yang Heroines when I am watching this serial, and I was told that Yang Heroines's main character should be Mu Gui Ying instead of Yang Bamei. So actually this serial's theme is quite different from the normal Yang Heroines as Mu Gui Ying is not really a big character here. 

The Liaos:

Dai Rong Mo - Song Emperor
Most Selfish and Ambitious Character
Age: 45/51
Background: Ruler of the Liao Empire. Has 2 daughters, Ying Jing and Jingling. 
Comments: Very ambitious and unscrupulous woman who would stop at nothing to achieve her own goals. She even sent her own flesh and blood into a tiger's den, to be the spy! To marry the Song Emperor! What kind of a mother is that? I really hate her, she's disgusting. She always claims to be fighting for the good of the Liaos, but wake up, you're just fighting for yourself! How many Liaos were killed in your quest for power and fame? How many people have you sacrificed, including your own daughter? Dictators always claims to be fighting for the happiness of the people, but really, who are they fighting for? We have enough history lessons to know the answer. Actually watching such a war serial now really makes me think hard, with all the tragedies, fightings, terrorism and war coming in nowadays, it really makes me wonder how scary humans can get. Why must there be war?!

Yueling - Princess Ying Jing
Most Pampered Character
Age: 22/28
Background: Eldest daughter of Empress Xiao. She saved Silang by chance and fell in love with him. Her mother later forced Silang to marry her. They spent about 4 years together and bored him a son before she discovered that he's a Yang warrior.
Comments: Actually I don't have much feeling for this character, except that she seems to be pampered by all. By right as the eldest daughter of Empress Xiao, she should be the one being sent to the Song as a spy, but why was her sister sent instead? And a few begs from her, her mother would let Silang off, so I conclude that her mother dotes on her more. Both Ying Jing and Jingling are Princess, but one is so fortunate, the other leads a sad and pathetic life. Both Siniang and her are wives of Silang, but Silang always seems to think of her welfare first and chose her repeatedly. The only time I like her was when she's scolding her mother for the death of Jingling.

Michelle Xie Yun Yi - Princess Jingling aka Lady Wang
Most Pitiful Character 
Age: 24
Background: The second daughter of Empress Xiao but she was sent to Song since young to act as a spy. She became the "daughter" of a high ranking Song official Wang Qin and consequently became the Emperor's most favorite concubine.
Comments: My favorite character!!! I was so sad when she died! ARGHHHH. I guess she's the most pitiful character of all. By right being a princess, she should be happy because she can get anything she wants. But this is definitely not the case for Jingling. Her entire life is being manipulated by her mother. Her life is burdened with nothing but responsibilities. She lost her freedom, she lost her body, she lost her soul, she lost the right to love, and she lost the right to live a life of her own. The serial started with Jingling as Lady Wang, the most favorite concubine of the Song Emperor. We see Jingling trying ways and means to make the Emperor neglect court matters so that her "father" could take control of the court matters. We were given the misconception that this character must be another one of those scheming vainpot concubine who cares nothing else but her own beauty, money and power. I was actually quite shocked to learn that she is actually the Princess of the Liao Empire and was the spy sent her mother. I felt really sad for her because her mother obviously didn't care much for her! If she cared, she wouldn't sent her to the Song Empire because it's so dangerous and she could be killed anytime. If she cared, she shouldn't have "forced" her to marry someone that she didn't love. Actually I know Jingling did this "willingly". I place an invert coma because yes technically speaking her mother did not force her, but Jingling did it because she loved her mother dearly. She wanted to help her mother fulfill her wish in conquering the Song. She wanted her happy. If given a choice, she would just want to lead a simple and carefree life. I was really happy at the scene where Jingling's sister Yingjing scolded their mother for being selfish. She said:"Mother, Bamei is not the one who killed Jingling, the one who killed Jingling is YOU! Did you ever asked her if she wanted to be the Song concubine? Did you ever think for her? All you life, all you care about is your ambition and empire, did you ever think for us?" Great scene!

I remember a scene where Bamei was actually sniggering at Jingling, asking her doesn't she feel that her life is meaningless and pathetic because she has to think of ways and means to entertain the Emperor? Jingling said that sometimes one cannot choose her own path in life, and freedom doesn't go to everybody. This was the first time that I started to take note of this character and for a moment I was quite impressed by what she said. She seems so much more sensible compared to the childish Bamei. Later when her identity was finally exposed and Beimengduo wanted to silence Wang Qin (her fake father), Jingling said no. She feels that she was able to become the concubine all because of Wang Qin and she shouldn't be ungrateful. When Beimengduo wanted to kill Paifeng, she stopped him again because she didn't want to hurt the innocent. Later, in order not to hurt Paifeng anymore, she decided to surrender. All these shows that Jingling is actually very kind at heart, selfless and honorable and definitely makes a loyal friend. She always think of other people's welfare first. All she wish for is to have a day of her own, a day where she can do what she wants, a day to look at the beautiful scenery around her, a quiet day with the guy she loves. Such a simple wish, such a noble and kind girl, but such a tragic life and pathetic ending! Haizz life isn't fair. Actually she's the younger kid, I thought the one to be sent to Song should be Yingjing instead. Seems to me that the mother dotes on Yingjing more. 

Darren Lin Ming Lun - Jiang Bin 
Most Scheming Character 
Background: He's actually a Song, but for fame, power and money, he decided to betray his country and be a lackey of Empress Xiao. Later, thinking he's charming and smart, he decided to court Bamei, hoping to make use of her feelings to wipe out the whole Yang family....only to find out that he has really fell for Bamei......
Comments: There was a time where I absolutely HATED this character because he's such a evil and scheming person. I personally feel that the most despicable kind of guy is one that toys with a girl's feelings, thinking he's suave and smart and every girl would fall for his charms!!! PUKE! I was cursing him, hoping he would die every moment I saw him appear. haha. Especially when he's the biggest obstacle between Bamei and Yang An!!! But later you will see that he actually did love Bamei and I felt sad for a moment (0.00000000000000000000000000000001 nanosecond?) when he died in Bamei's hands, murmuring that he didn't love Bamei at all. I think he's just trying to ease Bamei's guilt, so that she would not be too sad when he died. With his martial skills, it's possible for him to escape, but he chose to die in Bamei's hands, I don't know if he's being cruel or kind to Bamei. He's one proud person, I reckon that he feels that Bamei would not believe in him and love him anymore, feeling "defeated" by Bamei, he thus lost the will to live. To die in the hands of the person you love is a blissful thing. Maybe that's what's his mind. 

Others:

Song Emperor 
Most BAKA & Irritating Character
Background: The Song Emperor
Comments: HOW CAN SUCH A PERSON EVER BECOME THE EMPEROR????? Frankly, I've never seen any serial with such an irritating and stupid emperor. He really gets on my nerves. He only knows how to play and make merry and was never really concern about the affairs of the country. The only thing he is concern about is courting girls and this highly irked me. He seems to treat disloyal subjects better! Just like the way he spare Wang Qin. When Paifeng was seriously ill and needed his moustache as the antidote, he tried ways and means to avoid the Yang family?!?!?! What's that? They fought life and death to help you keep your stupid lousy empire and you can't even spare then a few pathetic strands of moustache?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!!? I'm totally speechless.
Note: BAKA is a japanese word for STUPID.

Wang Qin
Most Disloyal & Haughter Character
Age: 50/56
Background: A very high ranking official in the Song. Very trusted subordinate of the Emperor partly because his daughter Lady Wang is the most fav concubine of the Emperor. A Liao spy, tried ways and means to undermine the influence of the Yangs in the Song. 
Comments: Very sly, scheming, disloyal, despicable and greedy person. Extremely proud and haughty too. You can find all the traits of a villain in him so it's not hard to hate him. 

Storyline
Jiang Bin <---> Bamei <--->Yang An<---Paifeng
Well, as you can see from the the arrows, it's a typical rectangular love story. Bamei, Yang An and Paifeng are childhood buddies. Yang An and Bamei loves to bicker and never see eye to eye on every incident. Yang An feels that Bamei is wilful and beyond reason, while Bamei feels that Yang An is stubborn and a block of wood. Paifeng always plays the role of a mediator. However some incidents caused Bamei and Yang An to became closer and they also realized that they work together very well. Bamei was shot by Jiang Bin during the war with the Liaos and Yang An saved her life. He was very worried about her and discovered that he has indeed fell for her. Bamei pulled through and her relation with Yang An deepens. Bamei met Jiang Bin and became friends with him. She didn't know he's a lackey of the Liao with ulterior motives. Jiang Bin tried to court Bamei and Yang An is very jealous. Yang An and Bamei has some misunderstanding and Jiang Bin siezed the chance to come between them. Bamei later fell for Jiang Bin. Yang An was devastated by wished the best for Bamei. He later feel that Jiang Bin's background is a bit suspicious and became wary of him. Jiang Bin revealed his true colors to Yang An and Yang An arranged for a duel with Jiang Bin. The one who lose will have to leave Bamei. Jiang Bin injured Yang An before the duel and hence Yang An lost during the duel in front of Bamei. Bamei asked him how he got injured and he said Jiang Bin did it. Bamei did not believe in that and decided to test Jiang Bin. She told Jiang Bin that Yang An had decoded the name list containing the traitor's name. Jiang Bin thus drugged Bamei and went to stopped Yang An. Bamei was devastated and shock to find out the truth and she accidentally killed Jiang Bin with her own hands. This was a great blow for her and she took quite some time to recover. Just when she was recovering, she killed Jingling accidentally again and this time she became despondent. No matter how hard Yang An and Paifeng tried to console her, she felt guilty for killing them. She felt that her hands are stained with blood. Lady She sent her to the temple her brother is in, hoping that Wulang would help Bamei tie over this crisis. Yang An showed her support for Bamei. Finally Bamei sorted out her thoughts and accepted Yang An.

Si Niang(1st wife) <---> Si Lang <--->Princess Yingjing(2nd wife)
Silang is the 4th son of Lady She, everyone thought he was killed in that battle with the Liaos at Jing Sa Tang. His 1st wife, together with the wives of his brothers took up the responsibilities of fighting off the Liaos again at Jing Sa Tang. Siniang was thinking of Silang and looking at their love memento (scarf) when the scarf flew down the cliff, she jumped to get the scarf without thinking and was saved by Princess Yingjing. Both of them like each other at first sight. Yingjing dropped her pouch and Siniang picked up for her. The pouch was a love memento from her husband. They didn't know they were supposed to be enemies. Yingjing's husband came and fetch her. Siniang seems to hear Silang's voice......

Lady She asked Siniang to deliver a peace letter to Empress Xiao (ruler of Liao Empire). Princess Yingjing saw her and was shocked that she's a Yang warrior. Out of respect and admiration, she invited Siniang to dine with her. Silang saw Siniang and wanted to avoid her but was too late. Siniang saw that he was not dead and even became the consort of the Liao Empire, was thus devastated and disappointed. Silang explained to her that Princess Yingjing saved his life and the Empress forced him to be her consort. He has no choice but to agree. Later Siniang brought him back to the Song camp to see Lady She. Lady She is happy that he's alive, but was sad that he became the Liao's consort. 

Princess Yingjing felt that Silang was hiding something from her and forced to truth from him. She did not know he was formerly a Yang warrior. Empress Xiao too learn about the truth and wanted to kill him, but after repeated pleas from Yingjing she relented and asked them to get out of their sight. Silang was to choose between Yingjing and Siniang.

Princess Yingjing asked Siniang out and both of them had a duel, the winner would be able to be with Silang. Halfway through the fight, both of them started laughing at their own silliness and said that the ultimate decision should lie in Silang's hands, there's no point in them fighting over him now. Silang finally came out with a decision. He decided to leave with Princess Yingjing. Siniang, though sad about his decision, wished them happiness and thanked Silang for giving her and identity, a goal in life and a family. 

Later Yingjing and Silang returned to the Liao Empire upon Jingling's death. Empress Xiao blamed Bamei for killing her daughter. Yingjing hope that Empress Xiao would not make things difficult for Silang. Paifeng was poisoned when she helped Jingling sucked the poison out. In order to save her, they have to get Empress Xiao's hair to make the antidote. Qiniang, Wuniang and Yang An came to the Liao to get Empress Xiao's hair. Silang learnt about this matter and decided to help them. He failed and was injuried. Yingjing, upon learning what Paifeng did for her sister, decided to help them get her mother's hair. Empress Xiao was infuriated when she discovered that Yingjing had betrayed her. She gave Yingjing her hair and disowned her. Yingjing, Silang and their son left the Liao and lead a peaceful life together.

Emperor<--->Princess Jingling aka Lady Wang <--->Beimengduo
Lady Wang is the most doted concubine of the Emperor. She's the daughter of a high ranking official Wang Qin. They are worried about the strength of the Yang family and decided to get rid of them. Once the Emperor was out of the palace and was almost assassinated, Bamei happen to save the Emperor. The Emperor fell for Bamei after this and wanted to make her his concubine. But he's afraid that the Yangs would not be happy, so he asked Bamei to come to the palace to accompany him first. Bamei agreed because she wanted to investigate about the namelist containing the traitors' names. The Emperor began to neglect and avoid Lady Wang after that. Bamei sniggered at Lady Wang. Once Bamei, Paifeng, Lady Wang, Emperor and Beimengduo went horse riding together. Paifeng encouraged Lady Wang to try horse riding and the horse got out of control later. Luckily Beimengduo saved her. They seems to have some special feelings for each other. The Yangs finally managed to decode the namelist and found out that Wang Qin is the traitor and Lady Wang is actually a Liao Princess. Jingling and Beimengduo thus tried to fled from the Palace and they took the Emperor as the hostage. Wang Qin, in order to save his own life, decided to help the Yangs to save the Emperor. Jingling was injured by a poison dart. She did not want to burden Beimengduo and wanted to run away from him while he was fetching some water for her. Paifeng tracked her down and wanted to bring her back to the Songs. Beimengduo came in time and wanted to kill Paifeng. Jingling stopped him, saying that Paifeng is her friend. Paifeng, touched by her sincerity decided to help them flee the city and even helped Jingling sucked the poison out. Bamei and Yang An found their whereabouts and Jingling, feeling that she owned Paifeng, decided to surrender. Paifeng agree to release them for a day to let them spend the day together as they like it. Dawn came but Jingling and Beimengduo are still not back. The Yangs decided to look for them and met them in the forest. Wang Qin claimed that they are trying to run away. Jingling explained that they were actually on their way back but was stopped by Wang Qin who wanted to claim credit for capturing them. Bamei, Yang An and Beimengduo began fighting and in an effort to save Beimengduo, Jingling was stabbed by Bamei and she died. Beimengduo, devastated, carried Jingling and jumped down the cliff.

Seagull's checklist (in order of priority)
The LIKE List: Jingling, Paifeng, Siniang, Qiniang, Yang An
The sometimes like sometimes hate list: Bamei
The HATE List: Empress Xiao, Wang Qin, Jiang Bin, Si Lang, Song Emperor
The Wimp List: Si Lang, Song Emperor

Favorite Couple
Jingling and Beimengduo. I guess it's because they didn't have a good ending and I think they deserve a good ending. haizzzzz. 

The second couple is definitely Bamei and Yang An!

Least Favorite Couple
Funn please don't kill me, coz I am going to say...........YUELING AND ROGER hahahaha. I mean I don't like the couple Yingjing and Silang, coz I'm on Siniang's side hahahaha. I think she's so pathetic! I seriously wonder who would Silang choose if he didn't have a son with Yingjing. I always think he chose Yingjing because they had a son. ARGH....I hate it when children comes in the way in such decisions. But come to think of it, even if Silang were to choose Siniang, if I'm Siniang, I wouldn't want him anymore.

Another couple is Jiang Bin and Bamei, but luckily they didn't end up together in the end. Whew!

The memorable scenes
1. Bamei offended the Emperor who then order  Xie Jing Wu to tear down "Wu Ning Lou", a stone sculpture the Emperor gave the Yangs as a commemoration of their patriotism to the country. Paifeng pleaded Xie Jing Wu to give them a few day's grace. Xie agreed, on the condition that Paifeng would act as a horse and pull the cart with him and his soldiers standing on it to the end of the streets. I think this is the first classic scene of the serial. 

2. Yang An was trying to train Bamei for the upcoming contest. He repeatedly beat Bamei to the floor and said:" Yang Ba Mei, stand up, you cannot afford to fall, you must be strong." And when Bamei was fighting Beimengdou, she thought of Yang An's words. This is the time when their feelings grew for each other.

3. Liu Lang was taken hostage by Wang Qin and Wang Qin proposed the Yangs to use the name list which contains the names of the traitors to exchange for Liu Lang. Liu Niang was begging Lady She to use the name list, but Lady She rejected the proposal. She said:" When I think of all the mothers who will lost their sons if a war between Song and Liao were to break out, I couldn't bring myself to handover the name list. My son is a son, other's people's sons are also sons, I cannot use their lives to exchange for my son's life......."

4. I like the scene where Yingjing and Siniang were fighting over Silang, though I think this guy is not worth their breath. I find these 2 woman really adorable and it's through this scene that I love Siniang. She said:" When we were together, I'm Silang's ONLY wife, does your husband dare to say the same thing to you?" After hearing that, I was clapping my hands so hard hahaha. This shows that though Siniang looks weak and delicate, she's strong at heart and when time requires, she can give a great speech hahaha.

5. The scene where Wuniang went to Mt Wutai to look for Wulang. I love the scene where she's scolding all the monks. She was saying all these monks never practice what they preach, and in their quest for their so called holy spiritual world, they have hurt their most beloved ones. They always say that Buddha has a merciful heart but how many of them truly practice what Buddha taught? 

Well, actually I don't really understand when monks teach people not to indulge in worldly affairs and to seek enlightenment. I'm watching Madam White Snake at the moment also and if u remember Fa Hai tried to separate White Snake and Xu Xian because they belong to different species. But why? What's their business when they didn't hinder you or harm anyone? Why can't the monks mind their own business? I always believe that if someone did something that hurt the welfare of the public, then it's time to intervene, otherwise, let them be, let them do what they want to do. Don't start enforcing your own moral beliefs and own set of thinking on others just because they think differently from you. Don't try to be morally upright and self righteous. Why bother and poke a nose into people's affair? Humans are born differently, we have our own thinking, believes etc. If everyone were to think and act the same, aren't we just mere robots living a mere existences? The immortals and monks in the serials always tell people not to get entangled with love affairs and to seek enlightenment, this is something that baffled me. What's the point of being able to live for thousands of years when you are void of happiness, sorrows, love etc? Aren't humans born to love and hate? I agree sometimes hate and love can grow out of hand, but isn't that what makes life worth living? I guess I just don't have the so called "Hui Gen" so I'll never understand how those monks and nuns feel.

6. The scene where Jingling died. Beimengduo was devastated and started to raved at everyone: "You killers, you all killed her! We are on our way back, why can't you believe us? She's such a kind hearted girl, why did you kill her! I'll make you all pay for this!" Then he started to carry Jingling and run towards the cliff and jumped down. Very sad. I cried. I cried really hard. Very nicely done.

7. Paifeng released Jingling and Beimengduo to let them spend a day together alone. Jingling and Beimengduo spent a peaceful day together. The next day, when Jingling woke up, she murmured:" It's dawn already, we should go back." Beimengduo asked her if she's sure, because they can run away now, and live the life they have always longed for. But Jingling rejected his idea and said:" Yesterday was a gift from Paifeng, I am happy to have a day that I can live as I like, Paifeng is my friend, I cannot do something that would cause her trouble." I truly respect her from the bottom of my heart because despite knowing she would most probably die if she go back, she still insist in going back because of a promise.

The "I don't get it" factor
This is a nonsensical thing. The Liaos had a name list, listing the names of the people who are the Liao's lackey in the Palace. Later the Yangs found the name list and then manage to decode it. All they find is Wang Qin's name in the list?!?!?! What's that?!? Why do u need a name list when there's only one name in it?!!? It doesn't make any sense to me! Actually in the first place, why is there a need for such a list when most of them know who they are?!?! --STUPID--

The second thing that baffled me was why Wulang wanted to be a monk. He said that he wanted to be a monk to atone for the sins that the Yang family committed, because they killed a lot of people during the war. I can understand him for feeling guilty and wanting to atone for the sins, but MUST HE BE A MONK to do that? Must he abandon his wife to do that? I mean u can still chant and pray if u are not a monk right? Praying comes from the heart, not from your identity. Praying as a monk or a normal person doesn't make a difference does it? I just don't understand his insistence in becoming a monk. And he mentioned that he has intention of becoming a monk before war broke up. Then why in the first place did he get married? Aren't u hurting your wife in this way? And from the talk with Wuniang, he seems to still love her. WHYYYYYYYYYYY???

The Performance Rated
Actually everyone did their part really well. In fact this is one of the few serials I had watched and can't find some one who's fake in their acting. The only one perhaps is the girl who acted as Cuiping. She's the daughter of Zheng Pei Pei, I think this is her debut so she pale in comparison.

I want to specially mention the Singaporean actress Michelle Chia who acted as Princess Jingling. I think she did a magnificent job. Do you know that she's actually a host and not really an actress in Singapore? I'm taken aback by her great performance! I never really like her as an artiste but this serial totally changed my mind and she's very very pretty in the serial. Impressive crying skills also. Bravo! 

One thing I want to mention. I seriously and sincerely hope Roger would take some other kind of roles and not this kind of act noble and act good and a bit wimpy roles. I HATE IT TO THE CORE! I hate it hate it hate it hate it! Now I just hate the sight of Roger. ARGH. Seeing him reminds me of the word WIMPY. That bad! I really think he was better back then when he acted as villain.

Seagull's recommendation
Frankly speaking, I actually dropped this serial halfway because I find it a bit dry and boring. But later because Funn is begging me to capture screen captures of her Yueling in this serial, I am "forced" to watch it again and I got hooked up again. Well, to conclude, this is a serial that'll be worth your time if you are someone who likes ancient serials with a lot of fightings and politics involved and not so much love stories. I admit I'm someone who cannot survive watching a serial without any love stories. Any serial I watch and like 99.9999999% is because of the love story, so the fact that Seagull actually continued watching this not so romantic, very serious and sometimes boring serial shows that this is a good serial. There are quite some touching scenes that make tears welled up in your eyes suddenly. Another thing, there is not a single artiste in the serial that I like, maybe I can say Carmen and Lian Kai but I'm really not their fan, only remotely like them. I guess that's another reason why I dropped the serial halfway.

Okok enough of crap, rent this serial if you are looking for some good dialogues, awesome fighting, great costumes. The best thing about this serial is the fighting. Very brilliantly done, each move is swift and elegantly done. This is very rare indeed when nowadays a lot of stations are using computer effects and animations to dupe the audience. I HATE fightings with no real substance except computer effects. The best example I can think of is that very highly talked about movie "Legend of Zu". This movie is really lousy and was so "exciting" that I actually zzzzzz while I was watching.

Related Links
For screen captures, maybe you can drop by my screen captures section at ebuzz by clicking here.

For a more detailed website about this serial in Chinese, click here.

*THE END*

Copyright 2000 Seagull. All Rights Reserved.