本月《经济学人》讨论宫斗剧
作者觉得高点击率是因为宫斗剧与当下中国人不平等的社会生活产生了共鸣，他认为古代的宫斗和将军征战类似…还觉得高贵妃没有人权，没有挑战规则，交代了延禧女主的性格等
很多人可能试图从宫斗剧中学习政治经验，或者职场考核，这里提到了如懿传
戏剧的流行反映了当时的政治……这里提到了雍正王朝和大明王朝播出时候的相关政治事件
很多中国学者争议延禧这样的剧目到底是讲了女权主义者强大的故事，还是取悦男性女权倒退的故事，作者认为一个沙文主义的地方充满了坚强的女性
在快速发展的中国，生活又焦虑又艰苦，爱奇艺的老总表示“老百姓和爬梯喜欢讲述下属忠诚，善有善报，努力工作的青年能成功的故事”
延禧攻略反复出现一个主题是紫禁城有残酷的规则而且搅乱生活，这种顺从的辞职方式很适合现代统治者？？因此高点击率绝对不会到此为止
很多人可能试图从宫斗剧中学习政治经验，或者职场考核，这里提到了如懿传
戏剧的流行反映了当时的政治……这里提到了雍正王朝和大明王朝播出时候的相关政治事件
很多中国学者争议延禧这样的剧目到底是讲了女权主义者强大的故事，还是取悦男性女权倒退的故事，作者认为一个沙文主义的地方充满了坚强的女性
在快速发展的中国，生活又焦虑又艰苦，爱奇艺的老总表示“老百姓和爬梯喜欢讲述下属忠诚，善有善报，努力工作的青年能成功的故事”
延禧攻略反复出现一个主题是紫禁城有残酷的规则而且搅乱生活，这种顺从的辞职方式很适合现代统治者？？因此高点击率绝对不会到此为止
《经济学人》茶馆栏目中关于延禧宫略的内容
Glencora (北京) 2018-10-16 17:24:42
10.11这周发的文。
标题：Stressed-out Chinese love melodrama about courtly life
摘要：If you can handle a bossy eunuch, you can survive in today’s China
正文：
A BIT surprisingly, one of the best things about the “Story of Yanxi Palace”, a television drama about an 18th-century emperor that has broken Chinese viewing records this year, is watching concubines being rude to eunuchs. Even less predictably, the particular rudeness—combining scorn, resentment and a dash of fear—offers insights into how Chinese people cope with life in today’s ruthless and unequal society. An early scene shows the Qianlong emperor’s chief eunuch, a tubby, squeaky dimwit, bustling into a silk-draped waiting-room with an order for the harem. Return to your quarters, he announces, the emperor is working late. “What? His majesty is sleeping alone again?” grumbles Noble Consort Gao, a boo-hiss villain. “Let’s go,” she tells her fellow concubines, stalking past the eunuch without a glance. “What else is there to wait for?”
（这段子主要讲剧情， 就是第一集里大家在燕喜堂等候侍寝的内容。黑体第一句是说，剧打破今年的收视记录了。第二句是说，这剧里高低尊卑反映了中国人日常生活如何应对当今粗暴不公平的社会。）
Glencora (北京) 2018-10-16 17:24:42
10.11这周发的文。
标题：Stressed-out Chinese love melodrama about courtly life
摘要：If you can handle a bossy eunuch, you can survive in today’s China
正文：
A BIT surprisingly, one of the best things about the “Story of Yanxi Palace”, a television drama about an 18th-century emperor that has broken Chinese viewing records this year, is watching concubines being rude to eunuchs. Even less predictably, the particular rudeness—combining scorn, resentment and a dash of fear—offers insights into how Chinese people cope with life in today’s ruthless and unequal society. An early scene shows the Qianlong emperor’s chief eunuch, a tubby, squeaky dimwit, bustling into a silk-draped waiting-room with an order for the harem. Return to your quarters, he announces, the emperor is working late. “What? His majesty is sleeping alone again?” grumbles Noble Consort Gao, a boo-hiss villain. “Let’s go,” she tells her fellow concubines, stalking past the eunuch without a glance. “What else is there to wait for?”
（这段子主要讲剧情， 就是第一集里大家在燕喜堂等候侍寝的内容。黑体第一句是说，剧打破今年的收视记录了。第二句是说，这剧里高低尊卑反映了中国人日常生活如何应对当今粗暴不公平的社会。）
“Yanxi Palace” is a gorgeously costumed fantasy, filled with poisonings, betrayals and young women competing for the Forbidden City’s great prize: being bedded by the emperor. “Join the army, you might as well become a general,” as one ambitious recruit to the harem chirps. The show is driven by female characters, including a kind but sickly empress, murderous concubines and—at the heart of the 70-episode epic—Wei Yingluo, a quick-witted, justice-seeking maid, who rises to become Qianlong’s beloved consort. The formula is wildly popular, drawing 700m live-streaming views on the drama’s best single day, in August.
（这段介绍了这剧的类型，毒杀、背叛、年轻女性竞争等主要情节，女性角色为主，以及女主的特点。最后的黑体是夸这剧：这种组合很受欢迎啦，在八月份创下单日700m观众直播收视率的成绩！）
（这段介绍了这剧的类型，毒杀、背叛、年轻女性竞争等主要情节，女性角色为主，以及女主的特点。最后的黑体是夸这剧：这种组合很受欢迎啦，在八月份创下单日700m观众直播收视率的成绩！）
Yet that night-time scene in the harem reflects some bleak realities of court life. The eunuch is ridiculous, and obsequious to high-ranking concubines. But he is also terrifying. For the concubines live only to please his master, the emperor, an absolute ruler in whose name the guilty and innocent alike are shown being jailed, executed or exiled without hope of appeal. The Forbidden City is a crimson-walled tyranny, filled with spies. Noble Consort Gao’s drawling insolence in the face of rejection is, in the end, bravado. She is privileged, cosseted and ready to hurt those below her in the pecking order. But in this system she has no individual rights. And she does not challenge its rules.（这段主要讲桂芬女士的悲惨命运。呼应本文第一段里她欺负太监。虽然她身居高位，但是紫禁城的女人都以皇上为天，女人无法撼动紫禁城的规则。可怜……黑体1：侍寝反映了宫廷生活一些凄惨的现实。黑体2：紫禁城就是猩红色宫墙的独裁者，到处都是耳目。）
Many Chinese might mock attempts to extract political lessons from “Yanxi Palace” or other recent Qing dramas drawing huge audiences, such as “Ruyi’s Royal Love in thePalace”. Yet Chaguan quizzed visitors to a museum in the city of Changchun, housed in a palace built by Japanese occupiers when they installed the last Qing emperor as the puppet ruler of north-east China from 1932-45. Such dramas just use history as a backdrop, scoffed two students, Taylor Wu and Linda Zhang. They are really stories about “modern life”, they added, whether that means love stories or concubines seeking promotions.（这段主要讲清宫剧的现象：以去长春伪满皇宫对两个学生的采访为例，说明这种剧其实以清宫为背景，实则描写现代生活，比如爱情和职场。不太懂为什么去长春这里……黑体提到了很多中国人嘲笑“看清宫剧学政治手腕”的现象，然而本段后面大部分其实是对这种嘲笑不以为然。）
The students are on to something. Watching bored, paranoid concubines waiting for the emperor’s summons, the penny drops: this is a workplace drama, and these employees are failing a performance review. Young maids in a palace dormitory, torn between small acts of kindness and infighting, could be teenage workers at an electronics plant. Even bejewelled dowagers sound like scolding parents from 2018, with one calling a daughter “gutless” for failing to ask Qianlong for a promotion.（本段主要说明，作者认同这两位学生的观点。看剧其实从中看出了职场生态。）
Imperial dramas have reflected the politics of their time since they first hit Chinese TV screens in the 1980s. Film-makers study what Communist Party ideologues call the “main melody”, a musical term they have borrowed to describe the core political ideas upon which creative sorts are encouraged to riff. “TV Drama in China”, a study published by the Hong Kong University Press, elegantly catalogues permitted themes. Historical dramas from the 1980s stressed the weakness of the last Qing rulers. In the authoritarian aftermath of the Tiananmen democracy protests, such shows praised 18th-century emperors as stern patriots whose ruthlessness supposedly preserved national unity. “Yongzheng Dynasty”, a drama from 1999, recast the unpopular Yongzheng emperor as a flinty corruption-fighter. That reminded contemporary viewers of Zhu Rongji, a crusty reformer who was prime minister at the time, Ying Zhu of the City University of New York has noted. By 2007 viewers were glued to “The Great Ming Dynasty 1566”, a cynical drama about rampant corruption.
As years passed market forces joined Communist propaganda chiefs as a second boss. Early shows were dominated by male characters and mostly watched by men. Today’s TV drama audience is 70-80% female and mainly from smaller cities, says Lei Ming of ABD Entertainment, an audience-analysis firm. Viewers typically watch on smartphones, he adds. Their favourite part about the show is talking it over afterwards with friends.
The leading man in “Yanxi Palace”, Qianlong, is something of a cipher: a stern autocrat who finds his harem a chore. Chinese pundits have debated whether the show is a feminist tale about strong women, or a retrograde saga about women who survive by obeying and pleasing bossy men. It is both. It is a reflection of the country today, a chauvinist place full of strong women.
Just trying to make a living
In a fast-rising China, life is hard and filled with obstacles and anxiety, says Wang Xiaohui, chief content officer at iQiyi, the Netflix-like entertainment company behind “Yanxi Palace”. Mr Wang describes today’s main melody. The masses (and the party) like stories in which subordinates are loyal, kindness is rewarded and wickedness punished, and in which young people who work hard can succeed. Mr Wang hails the women in his drama for an “independent spirit” that resonates with viewers. Outsiders may note that such spirits do not always seek to reform or change a society. Getting ahead can be enough.
A recurring theme of “Yanxi Palace” is that the Forbidden City is a place of harsh rules, but that rules keep chaos at bay. Such obedient resignation suits China’s modern rulers well. With 15bn cumulative downloads, this will not be the last of its kind.
As years passed market forces joined Communist propaganda chiefs as a second boss. Early shows were dominated by male characters and mostly watched by men. Today’s TV drama audience is 70-80% female and mainly from smaller cities, says Lei Ming of ABD Entertainment, an audience-analysis firm. Viewers typically watch on smartphones, he adds. Their favourite part about the show is talking it over afterwards with friends.
The leading man in “Yanxi Palace”, Qianlong, is something of a cipher: a stern autocrat who finds his harem a chore. Chinese pundits have debated whether the show is a feminist tale about strong women, or a retrograde saga about women who survive by obeying and pleasing bossy men. It is both. It is a reflection of the country today, a chauvinist place full of strong women.
Just trying to make a living
In a fast-rising China, life is hard and filled with obstacles and anxiety, says Wang Xiaohui, chief content officer at iQiyi, the Netflix-like entertainment company behind “Yanxi Palace”. Mr Wang describes today’s main melody. The masses (and the party) like stories in which subordinates are loyal, kindness is rewarded and wickedness punished, and in which young people who work hard can succeed. Mr Wang hails the women in his drama for an “independent spirit” that resonates with viewers. Outsiders may note that such spirits do not always seek to reform or change a society. Getting ahead can be enough.
A recurring theme of “Yanxi Palace” is that the Forbidden City is a place of harsh rules, but that rules keep chaos at bay. Such obedient resignation suits China’s modern rulers well. With 15bn cumulative downloads, this will not be the last of its kind.