The Empress of China (2014)

Historical dramas centered on a woman (empress).

Empress Ki takes place in Korea while The Empress of China takes place in China.

In both dramas the mc goes through a lot of struggles before actually becoming empresses
ex. power struggles, revenge, jealousy, concubine bs, death of own child, love triangles
The costumes for each dramas are beautiful though EoC has a bigger range cuz of more production money.
Both show how the women obtain power and be independent.

Both are harem dramas and they share many similarities in the kind of schemings and tatics characters use to survive and also to get what they want. Empress Of China is set in the Tang Dynasty and Empresses In The Palace is set in the Qing Dynasty.

Both are the stories about how a woman (a princess in QSD and an aristocrat daughter in TEOC) becomes - after facing many obstacles - the ruler of a country. Both are based on real characters, however their stories are dramatised for the shows.

The main difference is that while in QSD the heroine climbs the ranks first as a cross-dressed boy and then as a princess, in TEOC, the main character has to climb through the emperor's harem (and so the story, especially the first part, is more heavily focused on harem intrigues and conflicts), which is then replaced with more political plots.

Both have tragedy as well as a fair dose of angst (more so for TEOC though), well developed characters, are exciting and completely suck you in.

After finishing both there's this feeling of melancholic bitterness.

if you are Fan Bing Bing fan and want to see her in Tang Dynasty clothes again, this is your drama. not much historical accuracy but plenty of harem plots and in the end heads will roll

Palace of Desire is one of the best palace dramas I've seen, with quite humane portrayal of Wu Zetian, her daughter Princess Taiping and many other renowned historical figures surrounding them and the struggles of life and politics surrounding them, with a dash of slice of life vibe. Empress of China is comparatively more extravagant, over the top and "dog bloody", filled with harem shenanigans, but if you enjoyed that one, definitely give Palace of Desire a try. This one shouldn't be missed especially if you are interested in Empress Wu Zetian and her legendary life.

Bloody Romance borrows heavily from Wu Ze Tian's influence and WanMei's character arcs draw loads of parallels between the two. the only difference being the different choices they make but the overall vibe and theme remains in accordance with each other. Empress of China is a proper historical drama while Bloody Romance is more of a Wu Xia/magical realism version of The Empress of China. Both have beautiful vibrant colors and scenery with bloody romance going for deeper colors well-suited to the assassin's guild while The Empress of China leans more on the bright eye-catching 'day' colors. the only harem drama ill ever support tbh.

- Father and son are in love with the same woman;
- FL is initially a good person;
- life in the palace;
- ML is younger than FL and used to call her "older sister"

- love between royalties,
- ML is crazy in love with FL,
- ML is a king who has other wives & concubines,
- FL does not tell ML that she loves him

In both, the famous historical character Wu Ze Tian is one of the main character

A courageous strong woman who comes from a prophecy and will have to fight.
Royalty.
Both will become empresses.

THIS STORY IS ANOTHER EPIC TANG HISTORICAL ABOUT EMPRESS WU ZETIAN, LATER KNOWN AS EMPEROR WUZHAO / TIAN HOU. A GREAT PERFORMANCE, EXCELLENT QUALITY SHOW WITH ONE OF THE HIGHEST BUDGET FILM EVER PRODUCED. IF YOU FOLLOW THE WHOLE ANCESTRY OF TANG DYNASTY'S HISTORY, YOU'LL UNDERSTAND WHY AND WHAT WAS SO GRAND AND GREAT OF TANG DYNASTY AMONGST SO MANY DYNASTIES OVER 5,000 YEARS OF CHINA AND BESIDES QIN DYNASTY.

Both are harem dramas. Empress Of China is set in the Tang Dynasty, in the reign of Tai Zong Li Shi Min. Ruyi's Royal Love In The Palace is set in Qing Dynasty and the emperor is Qianlong, the sixth emperor of Qing, son of emperor Yongzheng. Main female leads must survive the cruel harem life.

Fun fact: in both dramas the main character's name is Ruyi.

- FL was in love with somebody else before ML,
- ML loves FL only, but he has a harem,
- smart FL,
- palace struggles

It is about a lowly singer becoming Empress of Han dynasty
it is a good drama for those who like historical dramas