My thoughts on The Story of Yanxi Palace and the Relationship to Tea

This is a very odd post for me to write as it's not the type of post I'd usually feel inclined to write but I had quite a bit of thoughts about this and finally decided to put it out there after watching it late 2018.  And just so you're aware, I may ramble on on bit.

This post is about  a Chinese period drama called The Story of Yanxi Palace (延禧攻略).  It aired in 2018 and was extremely popular in China and Hong Kong.  There are many reviews out there on the story line and the costume and set design. But I'm not really going to talk about these aspects.  There are 2 parts to this post.  The first part will be on the topic of tea in the story line.  The second part will include a few thoughts about one of the themes coming out of this drama - the various challenges on what it means to be female and expectations of females back then and even today.

Part one.

I noticed that the drama referenced tea more than any drama I've watched.  Maybe this is common in dramas made in China as I haven't seen many; most of the dramas I've watched are TVB (Hong Kong) or Taiwanese.  The link with tea was such a surprise! There were several scenes where tea was mentioned: one in which various types of teas were identified, a tea party was held by the Empress, the Emperor while meeting with his siblings and uncles of the imperial family had shared a tea that was a mixture of items, and there was a scene where the Empress was drinking and describing a tissane.  Also, I don't think there is much science behind this, but one of the doctors stated drinking tea and eating grapes together in larger quantities would result in diarrhea!

Anyway, once I looked up some information about the Emperor Qianlong, I quickly found out he was a tea lover and avid learner of tea.  In the drama, they mention he prefers Dragonwell green tea but upon reading some info from the blog Cha-dao, they state his favourite kind of tea was in fact milk tea, strong milk tea to be exact. Qianlong would also have a tea master make his tea every day and also held many tea parties.  The post also mentions that it's likely the English way of adding milk to tea was started because merchants that visited China during this time would bring back such information affecting trends back home.  However, over at the blog Tea Happiness, Sara suggests there are another reasons for why milk was added to tea in Britain.  Getting back to the Emperor Qianlong, the milk tea the Emperor made was made with half water, half milk and salt, instead of the splash that is added in the western world today.  Half milk, half water is how I make it too and just reading about it made me want to drink a hot milk tea!

This really peaked my interest in what was served at these tea parties.  So besides being entertained for several weeks (there are 70 chapters to this drama), it also led me to learn more about the Qing Dynasty Emperors and want to seek out info about tea in the Imperial Palace. 

Part two.

Note:  There will be spoilers.

This is why the story was a little more interesting because sometimes  the back stabbing can  be too much at times!  The story revolves around the female character Weiyingluo who enters the Imperial Palace (or known as the Forbidden City) as a seamstress but her ulterior motive was to uncover the truth behind the death of her older sister who she believed was murdered in the Imperial Palace.  The interesting part is that she is not like other females during that time; she is outspoken, will stand up for what is right, is very clever, and unlike other heroes, definitely believes in an eye for an eye.  She is who she is and does not hide it or will change to be someone else to please others.

I read one review that mentioned they think these period dramas are sending the wrong message to females and promoting the idea that females need to vie for the attention of the male to be wealthy.  I agree that back then it was the thinking and a period piece must portray this fact, but with the writing of the main character and various subtle incidences in the drama, it is quite apparent that this drama is subtly attempting to challenge those notions.

One important scene is when the Empress (while trying to protect Weiyingluo) explains to the Emperor that she is trying to preserve herself by protecting Weiyingluo.  She sees Weiyingluo as a person who is straightforward and what you see is what you get.  She is who she is and will not change herself while the Empress feels that once she became his wife, she no longer could be herself.  She needed to be the "Empress" that is expected of her by everyone in the palace and by the country. She has lost herself essentially.  Although she is the Empress it is a cage to her and she goes on to say that no matter where women are, they are in a cage and that cage was made by men.  The Emperor of course does not understand this thinking, but from this statement the topic of the expectations put upon women is broached.

Other examples include child birth and back then the risk to a woman's health or even life would be higher than now but bearing a male offspring was often a goal or THE only goal.  Weiyingluo would often question why is it so imperative that even when the Empress was not in full health she intended to get pregnant. 

Women fighting over men is also a topic that is touched upon.  Weiyingluo is one of the Empress' maids or woman companions but she also has 2 others.  They all have fallen for one of the highest imperial guards who also happens to be the Empress' brother.  He has fallen for Weiyingluo.  She doesn't openly admit she likes him too, but when one of the other maids finds out he is interested in Weiyingluo, she goes to Weiyingluo to accuse her of stealing him away.  Weiyingluo calmly says, he is not some object that she could steal.  He is a person that makes his own choices.  Why don't you go confront him?  Often women will be unkind to each other when in fact they should be confronting the male.

Often in these palace dramas the concubines would be fighting for the attention of the Emperor.  Later in the drama Weiyingluo does too, however she does so not by harming other concubines to bring them down, but does things to make herself be different and shine above the rest.  Of course unless one of the concubines had hurt her or set her up, she will in turn hurt them back or at least turn their plot back against them.

She also stands strong on the belief that she is Weiyingluo and no one else and cannot pretend to be someone else.  When there is a new concubine that has the Emperor seemingly smitten, she acknowledges that this new female has the look of purity and innocence and any man would be attracted.  When her maid/friend tells Weiyingluo that maybe she should be less strong headed with the Emperor to win him back, but she quickly says, I'm Weiyingluo and that is who I am.

She also challenges the place women are put, essentially behind the man.  During that time, none of the concubines or even the Empress was allowed to sit down at the table while the Emperor was eating, they would just stand by him.  However, at one point when she comes to visit him while eating, she states she feels tired and uncomfortable to stand and must sit with him; if not she will leave.  The Emperor because he was troubled with a decision and wanted her to stay agrees.  He later confides in her what is his worry.  You slowly see as their relationship matures that they have become so much closer when they see each other as a true partner and acknowledge each other.

It is not to say any of the other women in the drama were weak, quite the contrary.  There were strong characters each with their own issues and motives.  Many of them were strong, but had to live and act within the confines of their position as a female during that time.  There were also female characters that I just did not like very much and they never realized the err in their way!

I believe you can find the series with English subs now.  Overall, a very good series and I'm glad tea was part of it!