King's War


King's War, also known as Legend of Chu and Han, is a Chinese television series based on the events of the late Qin dynasty and the Chu–Han Contention leading to the establishment of the Han dynasty in ancient China. Directed by Gao Xixi, the series starred Chen Daoming as Liu Bang, the founding emperor of the Han dynasty, and Peter Ho as Liu Bang's rival Xiang Yu. It started airing on Anhui TV, Zhejiang TV, Jiangxi TV and Tianjin TV on 28 December 2012.
The show began streaming on Netflix in 2017.

Plot

The series is set in China in the late third century BC during the Qin dynasty, which had conquered the other six Warring States and unified China under the rule of the First Emperor in 221 BC. As the Qin dynasty governed with brutal and oppressive policies, it had incurred much resentment from the common people, so rebellions broke out in 209 BC shortly after the First Emperor's death. Among the rebels, two prominent leaders – Liu Bang and Xiang Yu – emerged and worked together to overthrow the Qin dynasty by 206 BC. After the fall of the Qin dynasty, Liu Bang and Xiang Yu engaged in a power struggle, historically known as the Chu–Han Contention, for supremacy over China. The war ended in 202 BC with victory for Liu Bang, who became the emperor and established the Han dynasty as the ruling dynasty in China.

Cast

Production

King's War is the second historical drama television series directed by Gao Xixi after Three Kingdoms. The production cost for King's War was expected to break records as Bona Film Group announced on 8 June 2011 that it would provide Gao with a budget of 1.7 billion yuan for the project, excluding the costs for possible future expansions.
Shooting started on 25 August 2011 and ended on 5 May 2012.

Set construction

According to reports, apart from its huge budget, one of the highlights of the series is its realistic sets. The palace, along with other important locations in the television series, had to be totally reconstructed in accordance with the requirements stated in the script. The sets were expected to be completed by July 2011.

Casting

Chen Daoming formally signed on to portray Liu Bang. On 25 August 2011, Gao Xixi appeared in public with six confirmed members of the cast, including Chen, Peter Ho and Hu Dong. Chen had been confirmed as Liu Bang while Ho was a likely choice for Xiang Yu.

Script

Wang Peigong spent years creating the script for King's War. Gao Xixi said in an interview, "Peigong and I would discuss about King's War when we have time. It has been four years, I believe the time is ripe now. The story will begin from Liu Bang starting off as a patrol officer in Pei County, until he established the Han dynasty and became the emperor. This series will not follow the narrative style of historical dramas. The clever part about Legend of Chu and Han lies in the word Legend."

English dub

On 15 August 2015, an English dub of all 80 episodes was completed for release on South African Cable Television.

Reception

When the series received average ratings, Gao Xixi claimed that it was attracting a highly educated audience.