Celebrating 5 years Xukai's drama Ancient Love Poetry
Ancient Love Poetry officially first aired on June 17, 2021 on Tencent Video (WeTv)
Things You Should Know 🧐
Last-Minute Casting:
After wrapping up a previous project, the production team approached him for the role of Bai Jue. He accepted immediately but had only 3 to 4 days to study the script before cameras started rolling. (You did great career history) 😎😎😎
-------------------🧚♂️🧚♂️🧚♂️🧚♂️----------------------
Ancient Love Poetry executed one of the most dramatic rating and viewership rebounds in modern C-drama history after hitting an incredibly rough milestone at launch.
When the drama premiered, it opened to an abysmal 4.8 rating on Douban (China's equivalent to IMDb). By the time the show concluded, this score steadily climbed—a rare feat for a heavily criticized show—climaxing in billions of views and an overwhelming critical shift.
The show successfully turned its fate around through four major shifts:
1. The Pacing Pivot (Transition to the Second Lifetime)
The earliest episodes were heavily dragged down by world-building and showing Shang Gu as a naive, weak disciple.
Around episode 13, the plot hit a massive milestone: the cataclysmic "Tribulation of Chaos," which wiped out the gods and forced the characters to reincarnate. The tone shifted instantly from a generic romantic comedy to a high-stakes, tragic melodrama. This narrative shift gripped audiences who had initially dismissed the show.
2. The Introduction of Qing Mu
A massive portion of the initial backlash was aimed at the lack of romantic chemistry between the leads. However, when Xu Kai’s secondary character, Qing Mu, was introduced in the second arc, the dynamic changed completely.
Unlike the stoic, icy Bai Jue, Qing Mu was charming, fiercely loyal, and overtly affectionate. Audiences fell in love with his personality and his intense chemistry with Hou Chi (Shang Gu's reincarnation), causing a massive surge in positive word-of-mouth. 🤗🤗🥰🥰
3. Zhou Dongyu Silencing the Critics
Initial reviewers review-bombed the drama, complaining that movie actress Zhou Dongyu lacked the traditional, ethereal look of a xianxia goddess.
However, as the plot demanded heavier emotional heavy-lifting—grief, betrayal, and devastating sacrifices—her elite, award-winning acting skills shone through. Viewers who originally mocked her appearance admitted that her raw, tear-jerking crying scenes outclassed standard television performances, earning her WIDESPREAD RESPECT. 👍👍
4. Jaw-Dropping CGI Word-of-Mouth
As the massive, high-budget celestial war sequences began airing in the later halves of the show, clips of the visual effects went viral on Douban, Weibo, and TikTok.
Viewers who had dropped the show early on returned out of curiosity just to witness the cinematic-quality computer graphics, which were hailed as a milestone benchmark for the xianxia genre.👏👏👏
Sc.Google AI, Vid.Weibo
