This TV drama has made me cry

I was very happy that such a series was filmed in China. To some extent, I was even surprised that it was made there. I would like to see more dramas like this not only in China, but all over the world.

This series is much better than the previous one I have watched, called Shang Yang Fu or The Rebel Princess (in what place that princess was a rebel, I have never understood О_о). You can immediately see the difference between good and bad drama. The Marvelous Women series is a strong cinema picture that looks like a single whole. The narrative in the series is consistent and relatively smooth. The story captures the viewer's interest from the very first frame.

Personally, I started liking thе drama literally from the first seconds of the opening title sequence along with its music track. The ending one, as well as the song to it, were no less good. The opening and ending songs here are very tender, but also a little sad. They made me cry more than once, just like the series itself. The artistic design of the screensavers themselves corresponded to the idea of the drama and immediately hinted at what it was about. I watched almost every episode from start to finish with those screensavers because I just didn't want to rewind or skip them.

I liked very much the story that was told in the drama. It was as if it had been made specially for me. I've always loved to embroider, especially landscapes, so I was very interested in the traditional Chinese method of weaving known as Kesi, as well as traditional Chinese embroidery. It was pleasant for me to observe the process itself and see the result. I saw so many beautiful woven fabrics and embroidery in the series that my eyes were running away from it.

However, this series is not only about weaving and embroidery. I would say that this is a secondary theme in which the main theme is elegantly wrapped. For me, this drama is, first and foremost, a story about women and women's fates... difficult women's fates. Each of the three main heroines is marvelous in her own way and each in her own way is unhappy. The same can be said for the secondary female characters.

The protagonist Shen Cui Xi for me is the ideal of harmony in everything. She is moderately strict, just, honest, intelligent and decent. She and I have both always been hardworking, diligent, and have lived “as the book states”. But other people, especially all sorts of scoundrels, consider such qualities not virtues but weaknesses that can be used to manipulate people, especially women, use them to their advantage, and even destroy.

The events in the drama take place during the Qing Dynasty, the last imperial dynasty in China. This is the first drama about that dynasty that I have watched. I've been wanting to watch something about that period for a long time, and I finally got to it. It feels like the decline of Chinese civilisation. That age cannot be compared to the period of the Tang Dynasty or even the Ming Dynasty. The difference in everything is quite large. The women looked good, but I didn't like the men's appearance. In my opinion, those pigtails only spoiled them.

The main thing that was emphasised in the series was the position of women in Chinese society at that time. And it was very simple: women were just not considered human beings. They could do almost nothing on their own, and were dependent on men: father, husband, brother or son. They could easily be sold into slavery, forced into marriage, given to wealthy families as concubines, or even beaten to death for disobedience. Men in drama are easily forgiven, while women are forgiven nothing. Men could easily ruin their reputation, and those unfortunate women had no choice but to commit suicide, because it was right according to the rules of that time, which were written for women.

The men in the drama are shown as they really are: either adult children who don't want to take responsibility for anything and throw everything on their wives, or moral freaks like that two who have attacked the protagonist and her family like jackals. But they are not even the worst. The worst among them is the main heroine's husband. His guilt was so easily forgotten, but because of him, she almost died. There are only two normal men in the whole series, and the fate of one of them is tragic.

Don't think I'm slandering men. I am writing all this from my own experience. I spent most of my life among people who were mostly men. I have studied them very well and know what they can be like. Believe me, they are even worse gossips than women, and they weave such intrigues that women have never dreamed of. They can easily ruin a woman's life or reputation, and all with a calm face expression and a cynical smirk.

Throughout my life, I have come to the conclusion that most men know how to “fight” only with women and trample on those who are weaker than them. When they meet an equal opponent, they immediately fall back and turn into affectionate, fluffy “bunnies”. The series shows it as it is, without embellishment.

I truly enjoyed the female cast and their acting. Jiang Qin Qin is certainly too old for this role. At first, I even mistook her heroine's husband for her son. But that's the only complaint I have about her, which is more about her age. I have no complaints about her acting. From the first shot of her appearance to the last, I saw from her exactly the emotions I wanted to see and that needed to be shown. I liked her character in the drama Shen Cui Xi the most. In addition to what I have mentioned above, I also like her because we have similar temperaments: if we have already decided something, even a tank won't stop us. In the end she made the right decision to leave the Ren family. After everything she had been through, she couldn't live the same way.

I was equally impressed by the acting of Yang Rong and Zhang Hui Wen, just like their characters. What can I say, even Kara Wai, who also has appeared in Shang Yang Fu, has performed much better in this drama. I have only one comment about the female caste. In the flashbacks, younger actresses should have been chosen to act as the characters at a younger age, because it looked unnatural. This applies not so much to leading actresses as to actresses of the older generation.

I would also like to focus on the female character Ru Yi, portrayed by Wang Xi. As for me, that girl was like a sunshine, as open, frank and direct as a child of God. She didn't need all those rules of behaviour, etiquettes and other nonsense. Jesus Christ said that we should all be like children, as pure, innocent, honest and direct as they were. Ru Yi is a vivid example of such a person. She did the right thing by not marrying the man she initially liked. She and he had different upbringings, different visions of the world, and most importantly, they didn’t understand each other. It is unlikely that such a marriage would have lasted long. The man she eventually chose as her husband was one of those two in the series I liked.

The male cast in the drama was worse. However, I would like to mention the acting of Mao Zi Jun and Wang Yu, especially the last one. Bad characters are always harder to act well than good ones, but Wang Yu has pulled it off. Li Zhao was not only good-looking, but his emotions, behaviour and actions were fully consistent with the concept of that character in the plot. He can be called a charismatic bastard. I didn't believe in his love for one of the heroines. It was a selfish feeling that had nothing to do with true love. Mao Zi Jun also performed well, and it was his hero that I liked the most.

The production in this series is not bad. It had much better, more elaborate episode endings than in Shang Yang Fu, although some of them still seemed a bit abrupt to me. Honestly, I'm not a fan of this type of episode endings, but I see that Chinese directors are increasingly inclined towards this format.

And now I would like to talk about what has surprised me the most and, at the same time, what I have liked the most about the drama. I had to admit that when I watched that Chinese series, I didn't expect to see so many quotes from the Bible in it. I will now explain what I mean.

In the third episode of the drama, one of the main heroines reads a letter written by her beloved man. In that letter, he wrote, among other things, the following phrase: “The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.”  And now I will quote you the words of Jesus Christ from the Gospel of the Apostle Matthew, chapter 26, verse 41: “Watch and pray that you don’t fall into temptation: the spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.”

I'll give you some more examples. In one of the episodes, the older brother tells the younger one that his wife has become like flesh and blood to him. In another episode, that younger brother tells his wife almost the same thing, that they are one flesh. In the Book of Genesis in the Bible, chapter 2, verses 22, 23, was written that when the first man Adam saw the first woman Eve that God had created for him, Adam said the following: “Behold, this is bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh.”

Do you think this is a coincidence? Not at all. There are no accidents. Nothing happens for nothing. God took care of me even in that case, because before the creation of the world, He already knew that I would watch the series, recognise those words from the Bible, and would write to you about it.

Jesus Christ is the second personality of the Holy Trinity, God the Son, also known as God the Logos, incarnated in man. He directly created the universe and everything in it. Through Him, God the Father gives people the grace of the Holy Spirit. The Lord Jesus Christ gives people talents, and He also gives people the inspiration to create. He gave the gift of creation only to people, no one else can do it, not even His angels. And He is in everything wonderful, lovely and just good that humanity has created. Or do you think that thoughts just come out of nowhere? This is not true. There are thoughts from God, and there are thoughts from the devil, and you need to be able to distinguish between them.

Have you ever wondered why many of the events described in science fiction books or films that were written and filmed long ago later came true in real life? God knows everything in advance, so He gives people clues and sends warnings. The scriptwriter of Marvelous Women didn't even know Who really suggested the words of the script that he or she wrote, which I quoted to you above.

I'll tell you more. There are beautiful drawings and embroidery with ducks in this drama. They are even in the opening screensaver. When I was watching the series, I took out the first towel I could find from the locker while eating. And it was a towel which depicted two ducks with a red heart between them. Don't tell me it is an accident! I won't believe it!

Despite the fact that I liked Marvelous Women, there were some flaws in the drama that I would like to draw your attention to. In my opinion, there are too many flashbacks. Some of them should have been made into full-fledged scenes, adding to the number of episodes; some scenes, if I were the director, altogether I would have deleted.

But what I didn't like the most was the so-called Chinese opera. To me, it's mediocre vulgarity. It cannot be compared to real Western opera, not to mention ballet, which is even better. And why did they have to distort their voice and paint themselves so disgustingly? You wouldn't dream of that even in a nightmare. The actors looked unnatural when they recreated lines from that opera. It was immediately obvious that they were not singing and that it was not their voice. Instead of Chinese opera, I advise everyone to listen to Celtic music, which I am listening to now. Search for “Celtic music” on YouTube and you'll feel like you're in a medieval Irish fairy tale.

To summarise everything I said above, I would like to elaborate on the plot of the series and the problems it reveals. One of the main heroines in the drama wonders whether it is women who are too vicious for this world, or vice versa, this world is too vicious for them. I think the answer is obvious. You just need to look at the statistics of crimes, especially serious ones, by gender in each country to understand who is really vicious. You can also look at statistics on domestic violence, which has increased especially during the coronavirus pandemic.

This world is really too cruel for women. It can be understood by tracing the history of mankind from ancient times to the present day. What men have not done to limit the freedom of the women, how they have not insulted them, what rules and prohibitions they have not written to silence them and obey them meekly, to take away their rights and freedoms, even the right to be called a human being. I did wanted to throw all the “waste paper” that one of the heroines was tearing up at the end of the series into the fire, so that no trace of that rubbish would remain.

The Chinese love, respect and brag of such their ancient philosopher as Confucius. He is traditionally considered the model of Chinese sages. He had many sayings from different spheres of life, but one of them “hooked” me the most. :) He once has said that an ordinary woman has as much intelligence as a chicken, and an extraordinary woman has as much intelligence as two chickens. 

Oh, what a pity that he doesn't live in our time, and I don't have the opportunity to discuss this with him! It just follows his logic that if a woman has as much intelligence as a chicken, then a man has as much intelligence as a rooster. :):):) It's easy to say that women are stupid, locking them with their children behind four walls and not letting them learn how to read, write and master the sciences. And that is the scientist who is admired all over the world. What a shame!

God has His own wisdom. People may not understand it, but it is higher than human wisdom. The Lord Jesus Christ became human by being born of a woman without the participation of a man. A woman was needed for that, but a man was not (and really, why should he be (?) :).

The first person to whom Christ revealed that He was the Messiah, who had come to earth to save people and to suffer for their sins, was not the Roman procurator, nor the Jewish priests and scribes, nor the Jewish nobility, nor even His apostles. That person was a Samaritan woman whom He had met at the well where He had sat down to rest from the road. The woman had a reputation that was, to put it mildly, not very good and her life was hardly righteous. But Jesus never looked at a person's status, reputation or even way of life. He always looked at the heart of a person because He saw the souls and hearts of people.

By the way, to those who think I am old-fashioned because I consider cohabitation without marriage to be fornication, I advise to read the entire dialogue between Christ and that woman. She understood everything perfectly and answered Him truthfully. Be sure to read what He has said to her. It is found in the Gospel of the Apostle John.

The Lord Jesus Christ came to earth as a human being more than two thousand years ago, at the time when women were treated worse than cattle and things. But He always treated them as human beings. Many women were His disciples, serving and following Him. Here are the names of just a few of them that we know about from the Bible: Mary Magdalene, Martha and Mary, the sisters of Lazarus, Salome, the wife of Zebedee.

After His resurrection, the first person to whom He appeared was a woman, His disciple Mary Magdalene. She announced that good news to the apostles, in effect becoming an apostle to the apostles. There is one good film on this topic, Mary Magdalene, 2018, starring Rooney Mara, Joaquin Phoenix and Chiwetel Ejiofor. Although it doesn't accurately describe the events according to the four Gospels, but it shows very well what Jesus Christ has been and still is for all women: hope, comfort and protection. But before watching any film about Christ, I advise you to read the original source — the four Gospels.

And finally, before the fall, the first man Adam, seeing his woman created for him by God (sit down or you will fall), established the correct and only possible matriarchy, saying that a man shall leave his father and mother, cleave to his wife and the two shall become one flesh (the Book of Genesis, chapter 2, verse 24). In other words, it's not a woman who leaves her family and cleaves to her husband, but vice versa.

Jesus Christ repeated that words when He came to earth (the Gospel of the Apostle Matthew, chapter 19, verses 5, 6). Patriarchy was not originally conceived by God as a proper form of human coexistence, but was the result of the first humans' fall, after which the whole world became distorted and lost its original nature.

The first time I found out that the custom of bride price still existed in China, I was very surprised. It's an archaic tradition that has long outlived itself. It is similar to buying and selling a commodity, which here is a woman. But a woman is not a commodity or a thing, but a living person with a heart and soul. The Bible tells us that God has created everything in the world, from the simplest to the most complex and perfect. A woman is the last, and at the same time, the most perfect creature that God has created. It was only after her creation He finally finished that work.

The two main heroines in Marvelous Women, and not only they, made the right choice, choosing life over death, because life was the greatest gift of God given to every person. Life should be valued and cherished. While a person is alive, everything can still be fixed, but when he or she is gone, nothing can be done. Reputation is a relative concept. In this world, it is so easy to spoil or destroy the reputation of an innocent person, especially a woman. But it doesn't mean that he or she should commit suicide. Why and for what?! For being slandered?!

While I was watching the series, I remembered one good biographical drama by the cult American director Clint Eastwood called Richard Jewell, released in 2019. I advise you to watch it. That’s a real story about how an innocent man, a loyal citizen of his country, was made enemy of the country number one. There are many such stories around the world and not enough human life to count them all.

Despite some flaws, I liked the Chinese drama Marvelous Women. Among other things, it can also be called a story about the fact that women's solidarity does exist. I watched it very attentively, rewatched some shots several times, and also read some phrases several times. This series is worth watching more than once, and I will definitely rewatch it after a while.

And in conclusion, I’ll tell you my story. Recently, there was a premiere of a Chinese series called Warm and Sweet, with Song Qian (Victoria Song) in the lead female role. I used to want to watch it, but later I changed my mind.

First of all, there is a hypocrite acting there (hint: his character is in a white robe and glasses) who has stood up for one panda. Honestly, I wish he had kept quiet. For some reason, he didn't care how many children died in Ukraine from the war, and how many were forcibly abducted and deported to russia. But he stood up for some lousy panda. Let him open the Bible and read that animals should serve humans, not vice versa. Is any panda worth people from different countries quarreling with each other?!

And secondly, no matter how good the plot is, I don't want to watch a series with Huang Xuan's mistress in the female lead. Yes, don't be surprised, I think Huang Xuan and Song Qian are secret lovers, and have been for many years. This is evidenced by the way they behave with each other, and their natal chart compatibility horoscope indicates it.

Moreover, I believe that she is not the only one who is his mistress. His natal chart says that men like him have many mistresses. It also says he likes to have affairs with married women because he likes to have a certain amount of mystery in his relationships. This implies that the rumours about his affair with married actress Jiang Wenli, who could be his mother, are not rumours but the truth. Yeah, the woman Huang Xuan officially is dating now, in fact, is a “deer” with “horns” nine floors high. :) But it's probably fair, because she uses him, too. 

In general, I recommend that you take a closer look at his natal chart to understand what a big difference between who he pretends to be and who he really is. His fans complain on Weibo that he looks vulgar in some photos and videos and blame the stylist and photographer for it. Believe me, it's not the stylist and photographer's fault, this is exactly who he is. I very much doubt that he has ever read the books he likes to shoot with. It's just an image he performs for the public, hiding his true self.

Huang Xuan is a very good actor, too good, and that's not a compliment. While observing his life and activities, I came to the conclusion that everything bad that was written about him on Weibo and on the Internet was true: that he was an “escort lover”, that he led a promiscuous lifestyle, that he didn’t understand women's difficulties (despite the fact that his mother had a difficult life), that he was constantly lying and groveled before the authorities to gain more popularity and power.

You could ask me why I didn't see that earlier, when I watched TV dramas with him and wrote him laudatory reviews. In fact, I saw everything. I saw how big the gap was between Huang Xuan and his character Huang Xie from Legend of Mi Yue, and even that wonderful character the screenwriter spoiled with drinking.

I saw through such goats as him all my life and always stayed away from them. I was “breaking” their “horns” with my intelligence and talents, and they hated me because I was smarter than all of them put together. I saw that something was wrong with him, but some invisible force seemed to push me towards him and made me continue watching films and TV series with his participation. As a result, it made me fall in love with him like no one else before.

My mind saw everything, but was silent because the heart spoke. It was like a veil over my eyes. It is true that love is blind. A loving heart can close the eyes to many things, forgive many things, but there is a limit to everything. I can give a lot to a man who will be with me. He will be coddled and pampered, because I'm not used to doing things half-heartedly, and this applies to love. But such a trait can be used by men in their mercantile interests. I was always afraid of it, and in the end, I was used.

He read my reviews on the site (not only he, all the actors I wrote reviews for, and even the others), used me, wiped his feet on me and calmly shot in new dramas while I hid in the bathroom with my cat from missile attacks during the air raid and cried thinking about him. He played with me like a cat with a mouse, giving false hope and forcing me to keep writing him reviews and comments.

In early November last year, he confessed his love to me, but in such a way that no one  knew who was it for except me. Most people probably thought he was confessing to his girlfriend. You will understand what I mean if you look at his posts and those of the girls on his behalf on Weibo after 8 November last year (if they have not been deleted yet). What a sly one! In fact, a coward and womaniser! He wrote that I brought him great luck. And what did he bring me in return? Tears, disappointment, despair…

But it was all for a reason. I would never have fallen in love with someone like him if it hadn't been God's will. God has appointed me to teach him. And I will teach him, “with a rod of iron”, as it is written in the Apocalypse of the Apostle John... on the ass. :) But I doubt I will ever watch another drama with him. He has inflicted such a mental and heart wound on me that it is unlikely to ever fully heal.

And why should I?! Who needs him?! An alcoholic, a liar, a stubborn and narcissistic egoist with mental disorders. No one had ever written him such good reviews before me, and no one would write them after me. It's true what people say: to appreciate Paradise you have to go to hell. I almost sank there. And for whom?!

The Lord Jesus Christ pulled me out of there, restored my faith, which I had almost lost, and changed my life for the better. In fact, He continues to change it for the better every day. And most importantly, He gave me the opportunity to do what I have long wanted to do —preach and praise Him.

As you might have guessed, it was a test for me.  Everything I saw, heard, read and watched throughout my life was to prepare me for it. I had a choice to make. Who do you think I have chosen? That's right, Jesus Christ. Because I realised that no matter how much I loved Huang Xuan, I loved Christ much more — as God, Father, Teacher and Saviour. When God comes first, everything falls into place. That's why I have deleted my previous account on this site with all the reviews and comments. That fool Huang Xuan never realised that he had almost ruined my life, but he could have done it. If not for my values, principles, my patriotism, and most importantly, my faith in God, I would have been lost for sure.

Life is not a journey, but a destination, and the Lord gives each person his or her own. Life is hard work, a bumpy road full of traps and obstacles. Satan sets snares wherever he can to destroy, if possible, even those who are faithful to God. If you really consider life to be just a journey and live it carelessly, you could not only ruin your life, but also the lives of other people.

I don't believe in reincarnation. I believe there are two lives, the temporary life we live now and the eternal one. The way we live our temporary life determines where we will be in eternity: with God in the Kingdom of Heaven, or in hell where there is “weeping and gnashing of teeth”.

I hope that one day Huang Xuan will understand something and change himself. Because if he continues to use whatever methods he can for the sake of wealth and fame, he will never succeed. The more he will persist, the more God will punish him. Our natal chart compatibility horoscope says that he will think for a long time who I am, that I know what he really needs; when he will be worthy, it will be shown to him. Towards the end of that year, God showed him how many yellow and blue colours there were in his life. Judging by what he posts on Weibo now, he still reads my reviews.

Regarding the Chinese actor Sun Jian, life has shown that he is not much better than Huang Xuan. He is the same narcissistic, puffed-up turkey, except he is more handsome and looks more presentable (and maybe drinks less).

I would like to recommend to all girls and women to watch a Turkish TV drama called Aşk-ı Memnu. The main female roles in it were acted by my favourite Turkish actresses such as Beren Saat, Nebahat Çehre and Nur Fettahoğlu. It is long, has two seasons and sometimes resembles a soap opera. But I definitely advise you to watch it to the end and understand what you should never do.  

That is an adaptation of one famous Turkish novel. Do you know how the title of this drama sounds in translation? “Forbidden Love. A story about love in search of love”. The main heroine in it made a terrible mistake because of unhappy love that could not be corrected. And the main male character reminds me a lot of Huang Xuan. You can guess what the ending of this TV drama is by listening to the OST to this series. It is so insightful that it still makes my blood run cold when I listen to it.

Do you think I have watched it once by accident? Nothing was accidental. The Lord has been preparing me for this test all my life. I only hope that in His eyes I have passed it with dignity and He will forgive me for all the mistakes I have made during it.

You know, I think the Lord has sent this terrible war to Ukraine for a specific purpose: to teach us, Ukrainians, to stop kneel before everyone and learn to love and appreciate our country, our language and culture. For the same purpose, He sent me that test of love. All my life I have been modest, polite, and have never proud of my intelligence, knowledge and talents in front of people. I thought that people would appreciate me anyway, but no one did, except God. I was naive to think so. On the contrary, I needed to show it, to advertise myself. That was why the Lord intervened so much in my life to teach me to love and honour myself.

Now it's like I've been reborn. Life seems to have started over for me. I feel God's presence with me all the time. I don't get upset or lose hope. First love is almost never successful. I  read enough books and watched enough dramas in my life to understand it. So I hope that I will meet my soul mate in the future, someone like Wei Liang Gong or Weng Jin from Marvelous Women, or even better, someone like Xiao Qi from Shang Yang Fu. Because, as you might have guessed, the blue water tigress is the real rebel princess, whose figure, like everything else, is in perfect order.

To those who mocked, amused me, reading my reviews, and still continue to do so, I would like to say that they are soulless and heartless, they have no conscience and no honour. They're not even worthy of my little finger, not to mention the reviews. God will deal with each of them individually and each of them will get what they deserve. They don’t know yet how God protects His faithful children.

Well, “kitty cats”, have you not believed in Jesus Christ yet? Then we’ll continue with Him.