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*The Song of Glory*
The Song of Glory
	Promotional poster
Traditional Chinese	錦繡南歌
Simplified Chinese	锦绣南歌
Hanyu Pinyin	Jǐnxiù Nángē
Genre	Historical fiction; Romance; Wuxia;
Based on	The Concubine's Daughter is Poisonous (庶女有毒); by Qin Jian (秦简)
Written by	Wu Mengzhang
Directed by	Huang Bin; Li Huizhu;
Starring	Li Qin; Qin Hao; Gu Jiacheng;
Country of origin	China
Original language	Mandarin
No. of seasons	1
No. of episodes	53
Production
Executive producers	Fang Fang; Huang Xingchen; Xue Ni;
Producers	Wang Ying; Zhang Zhiwei; Jiang Weiqin; Wang Weiyi;
Cinematography	Dong Yong
Camera setup	Multi-camera
Running time	45 minutes
Production companies	Tencent Penguin Pictures; Huace Film & Media; Croton Entertainment; Oasis Studio;
Original release
Network	Tencent Video; Viki (international);
Release	July 1 –; August 28, 2020
Related
	The Princess Weiyoung

The Song of Glory (Chinese: 锦绣南歌; pinyin: Jǐnxiù Nángē) is a 2020 Chinese television series. It is directed by Huang Bin and Li Huizhu, and stars Li Qin, Qin Hao and Gu Jiacheng. It originally aired from July 1 to August 28, 2020 on streaming platform Tencent Video, and is based on the same source material as The Princess Weiyoung.^[1] On November 22, 2021, the series won the International Emmy Award for Best Telenovela,^[2]^[3] becoming the first Chinese production to do so.

Synopsis

During the Liu Song dynasty, powerful aristocrats have taken control of the government, throwing the country into chaos. To change this, Liu Yikang, the Prince of Pengcheng (Qin Hao), the son of the late Emperor Wu, introduces new policies for reform. To break the alliance between the aristocrats, Liu Yikang enters into a marriage alliance with the Shen family, who has roots in the military. His fiancé turns out to be Shen Lige (Li Qin), whom he had previously met at a dance house. Li Ge actually took on the identity of her martial arts sister A'Nu. A'Nu was kidnapped as an infant from the Shen family. However, because Li Ge was wearing A'Nu's bracelet, Madame Shen and the rest of the family come to believe she is their long lost daughter, Shen Jia. General Shen, allows her to officially enter the family as Shen Lige rather than Shen Jia. After marriage, Li Ge assists Liu Yikang in dealing with their political opponents and implementing new policies. When General Shen is framed for treason she tries to defend the family and later finds out from her master that she is actually their daughter. However, in response, the aristocrats form an alliance to suppress Li Ge and the Shen family, which is massacred. Pained by the loss, Li Ge vows to take revenge for her family.^[4]

Note that in actual history Emperor Wen had the personal name of Liu Yilong and the Prince of Pengcheng or Liu Yikang was his younger brother whom historically was a prime minister instead of the sovereign. Liu Yilong was married to Consort Shen, who later became Empress Dowager Xuan. The Song of Glory appears to partially emulate the life of Emperor Wen, but instead uses the name of Liu Yikang.

Cast

Main

Li Qin as Shen Lige
Qin Hao as Liu Yikang
Gu Jiacheng as Liu Yixuan

Supporting

Qi Ji as Lu Yuan
Zhang Yameng as Consort Sun
Guan Xueying as Shen Leqing
Eddie Cheung as Shen Tingzhang^[5]
Deng Ying as Madame Shen
Li He as Shen Zhi
Ren Yunjie as Shen Feng
Long Zhengxuan as Wang Zijin
Cai Yida as Chen Shaoxun
Tan Jianchang as Xu Lin
Lu Zhanxiang as Kong Cheng
Wang Cha as Wang Mian
Li Guangfu as Cui Taifu
Li Jianyi as Mrs. Xie
Li Taiyan as Xie Hao
Du Yuchen as Xie Yunzhi
Chen Lianping as Lu Yandi
Tian Xiwei as Lu Wan
Gao Guangze as Xue Dai
Cheng Shuonan as San Bao
Yang Zhen as Xu Zhan
Liu Hanyang as Ji Shu
Hu Bo as Huo Yun
Liu Shu as Fang Qing
Guan Yue as Xiao Xin
Li Zhao as A'Nu
Wang Xiao as A'Ling
Li Jiayao as Ling Xi
Tu Liman as Chun Fang
Furou Meiqi as Hong Dan
Zhang Xinyue as Yu Yan
Qian Qianyi as Yu Chan
Wen Zhu as Mei Qi
Wei Yibo as Ting Wei
Du Ziming as Wan Jingsheng
Chen Qianduo as Yue Mei

Production

Development

The series was created by the same producers and headed by the same crew behind The Princess Weiyoung.^[1] It's based on the second part of the novel The Concubine's Daughter is Poisonous (庶女有毒; Shùnǚ Yǒudú) by Qin Jian, the same source material as The Princess Weiyoung.

Filming

On March 15, 2019 principal photography started.^[6]^[7] Wen Weiji and Wang Deming acted as martial arts directors. Shen Zhi, Shen Tingzhang and Shen Mu, together with Song Zhiyan and Yuan Bin, senior group special administrators of Hengdian Actors Guild, organized more than 200 Hengdian actors/extras for filming.^[6] The series finished filming in Hengdian Studios on July 27, 2019 and entered post-production.^[8]

Original soundtrack

No.	Title	Lyrics	Music	Singer	Length
1.	"Shadow (影)" (Opening theme)	Chen Xi	Dong Dongdong	Zhou Shen	4:06
2.	"Hidden Heart (藏心)" (Ending theme)	Chen Xi	Chen Xi	Bibi Zhou	4:02
3.	"Unforgettable (莫失莫忘)"	Chen Xi	Dong Dongdong	Zheng Yunlong
4.	"Recount (叙)"	Xiao Ximei	Chen Xi Dong Dongdong	Duan Aojuan
5.	"Continuous obsession (念念相续)"	Chen Xi	Dong Dongdong	Zhang Liange

Hong Kong

No.	Title	Lyrics	Music	Singer	Length
1.	"Said to let go (說過放下)" (Opening and ending theme)	Zhang Meixian	Zhang Jiacheng	Hana Kuk

Reception

Critical response

Upon its release, The Song of Glory has received mixed reviews. In an article published by Sohu, the plot was described as "weak" and "cliché", although the performances of the lead actors were described as "unflawed".^[9] Some scenes were described as "nonsensical".^[9] The female lead was described as lacking character development, making her hard to empathize with.^[9] The article concludes by saying that "the series failed to show the process of how the outcomes are achieved", adding that "there is no logical reasoning behind emotions to support viewers' understanding [of the characters]".^[9]

A review published by Soompi, on the other hand, was more favourable. It described the plot as "captivating" and "with a dreamy love story", while also praising the series's "gorgeous production values".^[10] The review also complimented the series for its costumes, which are "memorable without crossing into ostentatious", and its sets, which have "very distinctive decor and atmosphere".^[10] The fighting scenes and several points of the plot, such as female friendship, and family dynamics were also singled out for praise.^[10]

Ratings

The combined weekly ratings of The Song of Glory on TVB channels Jade and myTV SUPER is the following:

Week	Episodes	Date	Average ratings (%)	Highest ratings (%)
1	1–7	September 14 – September 19, 2020	20.3	22.7
2	8–12	September 21 – September 25, 2020	19.9	21.0
3	13–19	September 28 – October 3, 2020	18.2	20.3
4	20–26	October 5 – October 10, 2020	19.8	21.0
5	27-31	October 12 – October 16, 2020	21.3	22.7
6	32–38	October 19 – October 24, 2020	19.7	22.2
7	39–43	October 26 – October 30, 2020	20.4	21.9
8	44–48	November 2 – November 6, 2020	21.3	21.5
Full series			19.8	22.7

Highest ratings are marked in red, lowest ratings are marked in blue.

Awards and nominations

Award	Category	Recipient	Result	Ref.
49th International Emmy Awards	Best Telenovela	The Song of Glory	Won	^[3]^[2]
2020 Hengdian Film Festival	Best TV Series		Nominated	^[11]
2020 Tencent Video TV & Movie Awards	Jury Award – TV Series of the Year		Won
2020 China Television Drama Production Industry Association Awards	Outstanding Young Director	Huang Bin	Nominated

International broadcast

Country	Channel	Date	Time slot
Hong Kong	Jade	September 14 – November 6, 2020	Monday to Friday 20:30–21:30 Saturdays 20:30–22:30
Malaysia	Astro TV	July 9 – August 30, 2020	Daily 19:00–20:00
South Korea	Chunghwa TV	October 12 – December 23, 2020	Monday to Friday <s6mall>22:00–23:00
Taiwan	CTi Entertainment	July 26 – October 6, 2021	Monday to Friday 21:00–22:00
India	MX Player	APR 20,2023 - Present	20 April 5 Episodes Aired And Few Episodes Aired on Friday Weekly