Lang ya bang

The literal translation for this series title is LuoYang List, which is a list of the best martial artists in China at any given time during the 5th century. The dialogue is not dumbed down or forced like almost all Asian TV dramas. It is painted with classic four character Chinese metaphors/colloquialisms. Native speakers will enjoy the intricate writing.

If you only speak English, know that much of the beauty is lost in translation. Try to watch it with a native speaker who can give you the beautiful literal translations for each phrase.

There is an ever evolving story line of political intrigue and martial arts fights. There are dozens of complex characters who are a part of the succession struggle for the throne of the sitting emperor. Game of Thrones without the sex, dragons, and zombies.

There are also implicit parallels when compared to modern Chinese politics. Historical Chinese dramas are one of the very few avenues where the common man can still levy criticisms of present day Chinese government.

I am proud that the Chinese entertainment industry has finally graduated to the next level. I truly hope that there will be more dramas of this caliber.

This is my favourite drama of all times, even after watching it three times, this drama still puts me through a spectrum of emotions.

Hu Ge's acting was just amazing (as well as other casts). He himself experienced a serious accident which probably made him feel his character better. Cinematography and music in this drama is outstanding as well

What I liked most of this drama is that they trust their audiences to get what they are talking about (and to feel their emotions), without saying everything out plain. This is unlike a lot of other dramas, which treats their audience like retards. For me, this actually adds on to the beauty of the drama. That being said, it is advantageous to know the language and some Chinese culture, or have someone who is a native speaker to watch it with you. The language used in this drama is indeed poetic, and adds on to the beauty of the drama.

In addition, this drama has a reputation of being strict on detains such as the etiquette, courtesy and costumes, which matches actual history.

To me, this drama represents a warm ideal of the author, with regards to politics, loyalty and friendship and unity, which myself also has, yet not to expect in real life. Really, this will be the best Chinese drama you will ever see.

I rank Nirvana in Fire up with the best of the best: writing, camera, production - it's a damn near flawless presentation of story and ideas. While sets and costuming are noteworthy, it's amazing how few locations Nirvana in Fire uses through 50+ episodes. All the power is in the dialog, characters and acting. Individuals make choices for an empire, and generally the dialog itself has multiple levels of meaning - some apparent to the characters, some aimed directly at the viewer. It's media that makes you think, made all the more rewarding due to a high level of entertainment.

10/10

It's a complicated story. Different audiences may see different key: loyalty, trickery, friendship, love, revenge, of course, a little bit of humor.

At beginning, I was attracted by its delicate and concise dress, calm and elegant slow lives. The characters' etiquette and the gave me a feeling of release pressure. Because of this, I fantasy I can live in ancient China.

But beneath the surface of slow tempo, undercurrent was terrible. As the story go, I felt the author's unprecedented courage. Original author Hai Yan (a female author, not that famous male entrepreneur also an author named Hai Yan) seems to convey a kind of the power of justice through this ancient Chinese story. Even if only to see her conception , the story and this series' art height is far more than those similar ones . In my opinion, previous produced ancient Chinese dramas just told audience what Chinese did and what they experienced, but in this series ,it seems to want to tell audience what Chinese should do in the future for seeking justice and truth.

An authoritarian government, the struggle of the two forces, a group of people full of justice, in order to a grievance of 13 years ago,finally, the leading role spoke out stirring line: "The purpose of review the case, just for the truth!" Yes, the truth! Even authoritarian Emperor Liang (Yongdai Ding played) refused to review the case because of various reasons , but in the end, he had to kneel down in front of the truth. His final confession is based on the goodness of human nature, I think it is the return of the family emotion cause. This kind of mood generated long before Mei Changsu (Ge Hu played) last stood in front of him. The most touching in this paragraph give me a chance to reflect: confession is the base of exposing truth and maybe result in seeking justice.

Of course, the process of seeking justice may be a very long time such as 13 years in this series, it takes patience, perseverance, teamwork and wisdom. The power of justice will be successful finally.

The whole series is a journey of understanding for me. The overall story arc is revealed in bits and pieces. Imagine a huge garden in spring. Once the flowers start to bloom, one begins to see a pattern and the viewer starts to think that "Ah-ha, that is what the picture looks like." As more flowers bloom, more patterns are revealed which congregate to create an even bigger pattern. Each episode is like a single flower blooming. The main character is faced with a seemingly impossible task and he is comparable to the legendary Kong MIng of the Three Kingdoms era. Each step, each solution is logical without any "contrived" situations that insult my intelligence.

I've watched the whole series twice through and through and more when it comes to certain "emotional," "triumphant," "ah-ha" segments. Clues are littered everywhere for the audience to catch and these become obvious on the second run through. I highly recommend it to everyone who likes an insightful experience. This is not for "heavy Kung Fu" action movie afficionados although there are some action scenes sprinkled throughout the series.