The Premise of Story of Kunning Palace Draws Similarities to An Ancient Love Song

Streaming giant iQIYI made a surprise decision to start airing the highly anticipated costume Chinese drama, Story of Kunning Palace, last night, November 7, without creating any fanfare and no teaser ahead of the broadcast.

This drama was supposed to be aired in May this year but hours before the scheduled broadcast, it was abruptly withdrawn for unknown reasons, other than due to technical issues, something they did not elaborate.

Zhou Jun Wei as Yan Lin

But later, rumors surfaced that the reason behind the broadcast cancellation was due to the controversy involving of one of the supporting cast members, Zhou Jun Wei. 

News claimed the production was ordered to remove his scenes from the drama which put the film crew in a challenging situation since Jun Wei is portraying a character that has a significant impact on the story. 

Zhou Jun Wei as Yan Lin

He plays Viscount Yan Lin, one of the major supporting characters in the story so his scenes cannot just be removed, otherwise the quality of the drama will be greatly impacted. Looks like the production won, as all scenes of Jun Wei were not edited out of the play.

Major cast of Story of Kunning Palace. From top: Zhou Jun Wei, Liu Xie Ning, Wang Xing Yue, Bai Lu, and Zhang Linghe 

Similarities to An Ancient Love Song

But what surprised me more upon watching the opening episodes was its glaring similarities to An Ancient Love Song, the highest-rated costume Chinese drama this year.

Zhang Yaqin and Guo Jianan in An Ancient Love Song

The marketing promotion of Story of Kunning Palace did not reveal the story's premise ahead of the broadcast so viewers are just surprised to find out that this is just a book written by a modern-day fiction writer, played by Bai Lu.

However, some netizens said that the modern-era arc where Bai Lu plays a book author (it's not part of the source novel) was just added to get through the censorship as authorities in China already banned the reincarnation plot in non-fantasy dramas.

Bai Lu as Jiang Xue Ning

Okay, going back to its similarities to An Ancient Love Song.

"Story of Kunning Palace" is adapted from Shi Jing's novel "A Lady's Tranquility". Have not read this novel but based on the comments from people who already read the novel, the book got mixed reactions. Not good or bad.

But the drama adaptation is directed by Zhu Ruibin. He is one of the directors of Chinese costume dramas I admired. I love his artistry and the way he set up plays so I am confident he can apply interesting tricks to make Story of Kunning Palace a compelling series to watch.

An Ancient Love Song is a riveting drama told in a reverse time with plenty of surprising plot twists that leave viewers in awe. 

Surprisingly, An Ancient Love Song was based on a fan-made video posted on Bilibili, China's video-sharing app similar to YouTube. But because it was beautifully written, it became an instant hit among costume drama viewers from mainland China, making it the highest-rated costume drama in Douban in 2023 with an excellent rating of 8.6.

Here are their similarities:

1. A book in contemporary times written by a modern fiction writer. 

In An Ancient Love Song, the modern-day fiction writer, Shen Buyan (played by Guo Jianan) is writing a historical novel, "The Southern Sheng Chronicles", which tackles the story of an ancient figure, Lu Yuan (Zhang Yaqin), known as the demon queen during the Great Sheng Dynasty.

Guo Jianan as Shen Buyan in An Ancient Love Song

In Story of Kunning Palace, a modern-day fiction writer played by Bai Lu is writing a historical novel, "Story of Kunning Palace", about an evil empress, Jiang Xue Ning (also played by Bai Lu).

2. Both main characters wanted to change the book's ending. 

In Ancient Love Song, Shen Buyan strangely time-traveled to the ancient Sheng kingdom where he met Lu Yuan and discovered that she's not after all evil as history tries to portray her. 

When he returned to modern times, Shen Buyan argued with his editor to change the ending of his book. His editor disagreed and insisted on following the original premise of the story because that kind of story is what made him famous.

Bai Lu as a modern-day writer in Story of Kunning Palace

In Story of Kunning Palace, Bai Lu's modern-day character argues with her editor because the ending of the book is not what she originally wanted. And wished to change it. Her editor disagreed and insisted on following the original premise of the story because that kind of story is what made her famous.

Then she fell asleep and switched the scenes to the story of the book where Jiang Xue Ning, after committing suicide during the palace mutiny, wakes up to find herself getting a second chance at life to correct her mistakes and set things right.

3. The book portrays them as evil empresses - In An Ancient Love Song, Lu Yuan is described as an evil empress during an ancient time in the book, "The Great Sheng Chronicles", however, Shen Buyan the modern-day author wants to change this perception.

Zhang Yaqin as Lu Yuan in An Ancient Love Song

In "Story of Kunning Palace", Jiang Xue Ning is described as an evil empress in the book, "Story of Kunning Palace", however, the modern-day author, played by Bai Lu, wants to change this perception.

Bai Lu as Jiang Xue Ning in Story of Kunning Palace

4. Differences: In An Ancient Love Song, Shen Buyan, the modern-day writer who travels back in time to the era in his book, became the lover of the demon empress. He saw in his eyes a different empress from the character he wrote in his book.

In "Story of Kunning Palace, Bai Lu's character as a modern-day fiction writer was not revealed in the story (but my instinct says she is Xue Ning lol!) but she drew similarities with the evil empress, Xue Ning. She would become the lover of the leader of the palace mutiny, Xie Wei (Zhang Linghe) who was her teacher when she entered the palace service.

Unlike Lu Yuan in An Ancient Love Song, Xue Ning in Story of Kunning Palace is really cunning and power-hungry but will have an opportunity to change her evil ways in her second lease of life. However, circumstances seem pushing her to repeat the same mistakes in her previous life.

Again, some people say that this modern-era arc of Bai Lu playing a contemporary book author was just inserted to get passed through censorship as Chinese authorities already banned the reincarnation plot in non-fantasy films and movies.

Initial Thoughts on Story of Kunning Palace

I finished watching the first three episodes of Story of Kunning Palace, don't know what comes next in the succeeding episodes, so it's hard to tell if director Zhu Ruibin managed to put captivating tweaks in the drama adaptation.

Zhang Linghe as Xie Wei in Story of Kunning Palace

Wang Xing Yue as Zhang Zhe in Story of Kunning Palace

But so far the first three episodes failed to capture my attention. I felt there was a huge hole in the play that needed to be filled in, messy things that needed brilliant plot development to tie loose ends.

So far, this drama lacks the spark and energy to pin me down to watch the whole story. It has a poor storytelling style, is super dull, and has no thrill whatsoever to keep me hooked. 

The heroine's narration technique and the memory flashbacks, plus the dull performances of the cast, not to mention the bland visual palette gave me reasons not to chase the drama.

I am surprised because it feels like it's not a normal Zhui Ruibin drama lol! He has been known for jaw-dropping opening episodes full of energy and intrigue which entice viewers to follow the play. The Long Ballad remains my favorite Zhui Ruibin non-fantasy costume drama.

Read Related Topics

An Ancient Love Song review

Reasons of Story of Kunning Palace airing cancellation

Plot Summary of Story of Kunning Palace from iQIYI:

Story of Kunning Palace is adapted from Shi Jing's novel A Lady's Tranquility. It is directed by Zhu Ruibin and starring Bai Lu, Zhang Linghe, and Wang Xingyue. 

The story follows Jiang Xue Ning (played by Bai Lu) who had gone to great lengths to become empress, but was forced to commit suicide during a palace mutiny. 

Now, Jiang Xue Ning's dream is to get away from power and have control over her own life. However, by mistake, she joined the palace as a tutor again and became a student of the imperial master Xie Wei (played by Zhang Linghe). 

While receiving Xie Wei's teachings, Jiang Xue Ning secretly plans to stop Yan Lin's (played by Zhou Junwei) upcoming "Blood Crown Ceremony." With Jiang Xue Ning and Xie Gui's plan, the Yan family's lives were saved. 

After the "Blood Crown Ceremony," Jiang Xue Ning is inadvertently involved in the imperial court's plan to eliminate those rebels against Pingnan King and infiltrates the enemy camp with Zhang Zhe (played by Wang Xingyue). 

When the enemy country Yue comes to invade, Princess Shen Zhi Yi (played by Liu Xiening) resolutely embarks on the road to peace. In order to save her friend Shen Zhi Yi, Jiang Xue Ning goes north with Xie Wei to invade Yue. 

In the midst of many crises, Xie Wei protects Jiang Xue Ning even at the risk of hurting himself, and the two of them grow to love each other. 

However, a bigger conspiracy gradually surfaced, which pointed to the truth of the Pingnan King incident twenty years ago. 

In the end, Jiang Xue Ning and Xie Wei teamed up to uncover the truth of that year, Jiang Xue Ning also used love to convert Xie Wei, and the two finally became a couple.