Not 《山河令》 or 《陳情令》! Top 10 Most Dramatically Altered Chinese Dramas for Censorship, Champion Turns Ghosts into Sci-Fi, Original Fans Furious

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For the 10th place in the most altered Chinese dramas for censorship: Wu Lei and Zhao Lu Si's "Star Bright" "Star Bright" is adapted from Guan Xin Zhe's novel "Star Bright, Fortune Favors the Brave," with Zhao Lu Si playing Cheng Shao Shang, who lacked parental care from a young age, and Wu Lei playing Huo Wu Shang, who bears the blood feud of annihilation and goes by the name Ling Bu Yi. The two go from mutual testing to knowing and loving each other. Beyond the emotional line, it also intertwines Cheng family's filial piety, court struggles, and the old case of the lonely city, making it a family growth drama disguised as an ancient romance.

In the original novel, Cheng Shao Shang actually possesses the memory of a modern person, with a calm view of marriage, rebellion against feudal rituals, and mechanical knowledge far beyond her peers, all related to her reincarnated identity. The drama version removes the reincarnation setting and changes it to her being left with her grandmother since childhood, developing her precocious, rebellious, and mechanically skilled personality for self-preservation. Scenes such as proposal, betrothal, and Ling Bu Yi's revenge are also reorganized. Some book fans criticize the adaptation as too extensive, feeling that the female lead's many advanced ideas lose their source, and the character occasionally appears "like a modern person forcibly inserted into ancient times." Others praise "the betrothal scene is well adapted," "removing reincarnation, the plot can still be so smooth," believing that although the drama changes the underlying settings of the characters, the overall completion degree is higher than expected.

For the 9th place in the most altered Chinese dramas for censorship: Zhao Li Ying and Feng Shao Feng's "Knowing You, Knowing Me" "Knowing You, Knowing Me" stars Zhao Li Ying as the illegitimate daughter of the Sheng family, Sheng Ming Lan, and Feng Shao Feng as Gu Ting Yao, who appears carefree but is actually deep-thinking. Ming Lan, having witnessed her mother Wei Xiao Niang's death in childbirth as a child, was then raised by the Sheng grandmother, learning to retract her thorns and seize the moment. As an adult, she joins hands with Gu Ting Yao to face household struggles, marital trials, and courtly winds.

In the novel, Sheng Ming Lan was originally a modern legal worker Yao Yi Yi, who accidentally crossed over into the body of an ancient illegitimate daughter, thus possessing a mature way of dealing with the world and modern marriage views. The drama version completely removes the crossing over, attributing her calmness and restraint to her mother's death in childhood, and greatly expands the death of Wei Xiao Niang, Qi Heng's first love, and the contradictions within the Sheng family's inner courtyard. At the time of broadcast, there were original fans who frankly stated that the early part "differs greatly from the original," and criticized "there is no need to use so much space to talk about Ming Lan's mother, it is a bit tedious," feeling that after removing the crossing over and adding a large amount of original life story, the logic of the female lead's life has changed; another group of audiences said "the drama adaptation is good," feeling that the rewrite makes Ming Lan's growth more solid, and more historical texture than directly following the crossing over setting.

For the 8th place in the most altered Chinese dramas for censorship: Li Xian and Zhang Ming En's "River God" "River God" is adapted from Tian Xia Ba Chang's novel "River God: Ghost Water Tales," with Li Xian playing Guo De You, the leader of the corpse retrieval team who is skilled in underwater breath-holding and familiar with folk magic, and Zhang Ming En playing Ding Mao, who believes in scientific verification after returning from studying abroad. As strange water cases occur one after another in Tianjin, the two form an investigation team with Gu Ying and Xiao Lan Lan, gradually tracking the conspiracy behind the magical ancient path and serial murders.

The original work is filled with water ghosts, witchcraft, possessed treasures, folk taboos, and monstrous forces. To avoid the controversy of feudal superstition, many seemingly ghostly phenomena in the drama version are ultimately directed towards poison, hypnosis, psychological suggestion, or human crime. This "ghostly in the front, debunking superstition in the back" writing style is criticized by some book fans for weakening the most charming Tianjin ghost tale atmosphere of Tian Xia Ba Chang, directly saying "lacking the eerie power of Tian Xia Ba Chang," and even mocking "after going around in circles, it turns out to be just people pretending to be gods." Audiences who like the drama version praise it as "plot novel," "Li Xian's subsequent no Guo Er Ge," believing that even if the supernatural content is restrained, the visual style and character charm still support the entire work.

For the 7th place in the most altered Chinese dramas for censorship: Guan Hong and Fu Meng Bai's "The 14th Year of Chenghua" "The 14th Year of Chenghua" is adapted from Meng Xi Shi's novel of the same name, with Guan Hong playing Tang Fan, a food-loving and keenly observant magistrate, and Fu Meng Bai playing Hui Zhou, a calm and strong-willed Jin Yi Wei. The two begin cooperating from investigating the death of a marquis's son and, together with the West Factory supervisor Wang Zhi, pursue court conspiracies, solving one case after another in the Ming dynasty officialdom.

In the original work, Tang Fan and Hui Zhou have a complete emotional line, and their interactions carry home life and partner relationships. The drama version removes all love and changes them into friends who work together to solve cases, increases Wang Zhi's screen time significantly, and adds original characters such as Duo Er La and a large number of new cases. The most dissatisfied point of the original fans is that the three-person investigation group image almost replaces the original two main characters' relationship, and Tang Fan's personality is also changed to be more lively and reckless. Some audiences frankly said "except for the character names, it is almost unrecognizable from the original," and criticized "Tang Fan was changed into a silly and sweet character," "the emotional line was removed, and the character was also out of shape." There are also audiences who believe that the pace of the cases is gradually getting better, and Fu Meng Bai's performance of Hui Zhou is quite fitting, but the adaptation range is indeed large enough to seem like a new creation using the character settings.

For the 6th place in the most altered Chinese dramas for censorship: Huang Xiao Ming and Yin Zheng's "Not Sea Pink by the Temple" "Not Sea Pink by the Temple" stars Yin Zheng as Shang Xi Rui, a famous actor who is obsessed with Peking opera and has a pure and stubborn personality, and Huang Xiao Ming as Cheng Feng Tai, a businessman who studied abroad and is round on the outside and square on the inside. Cheng Feng Tai, who originally did not understand opera, was gradually moved by Shang Xi Rui's obsession with the stage, and the two support each other in the turbulent times of Beijing, jointly guarding the opera troupe and Peking opera culture.

In the original work, Shang Xi Rui and Cheng Feng Tai are lovers, but the drama version strengthens Cheng Feng Tai's marriage with his wife Fan Xiang Er, changing the two male leads into soulmates who know each other through opera. Some book fans criticize the adaptation for emptying out the love story and then using Fan Xiang Er's large amount of screen time to rebuild the family relationship, making the most core emotion of the original lose its foothold, directly saying "Shang Xi Rui seems to be squeezed out of Cheng Feng Tai's life," "after changing to friends, many plots don't make sense." On the other hand, there are audiences who say "the work level is enough, I can go crazy for it," praising Yin Zheng's performance of Shang Xi Rui as vivid, and Huang Xiao Ming also washes away his previous oily image; there are also voices saying that the two "lack CP feeling," and it is difficult to restore the strong attraction in the novel.

For the 5th place in the most altered Chinese dramas for censorship: Zhang Xin Cheng and Fu Xin Bo's "Light·Abyss" "Light·Abyss" is adapted from Priest's novel "Silent Reading," with Fu Xin Bo playing the police captain Luo Wei Zhao, and Zhang Xin Cheng playing Pei Su, who comes from a wealthy family and has childhood trauma. The character prototypes are respectively Luo Wen Zhou and Fei Du in the original work. The two reconnect due to a series of murders and gradually uncover the truth behind Pei Su's parents' death and childhood trauma while pursuing the criminal organization.

To reduce the sensitivity of BL and realistic criminal investigation topics, the drama version changes the names of the characters, makes the city fictional, shrinks the lover relationship in the original work into a male-male main lead duo, and re-packages the era background and criminal system. The most ironic thing is that the drama has already pressed the emotional line to the extreme light, but after broadcasting 8 episodes in China, it stopped updating, and it was not until overseas broadcasting that the subsequent content appeared. Original fans criticize Pei Su's setting, the age and interaction mode of the two male leads deviate from the novel, describing it as "like a fan-made version of 'Silent Reading'," "Fei Du's soul is gone"; there are also audiences who sympathize with the work, frankly saying "it didn't even touch the edge, don't know what to ban," and calling it "a wonderful suspense detective drama ruined by BL," feeling that the cases and acting are far more solid than expected.

For the 4th place in the most altered Chinese dramas for censorship: Zhang Zhe Han and Gong Jun's "Mountain and River Order" "Mountain and River Order" is adapted from Priest's novel "Sky Wanderer," with Zhang Zhe Han playing Zhou Zi Xu, who is struck by the Seven Orifices Three Autumn Nails and decides to leave the court, and Gong Jun playing Wen Ke Xing, who appears gentle and elegant but is actually the master of the Ghost Valley. The two meet in the Jianghu due to the Luli Armor incident, from mutual testing to life and death together, and also face their respective pasts that they cannot escape.

The original work clearly describes the love between Zhou Zi Xu and Wen Ke Xing, but the drama version changes the two into "friends," hiding their feelings in poetry and classical allusions, double-entendre lines, eye contact, and lip movements. To strengthen the Jianghu main line, the drama version also greatly rewrites the stories of Scorpion King, Zhao Jing, Gu Xiang, and Cao Wei Ning, and the ending is changed from the relatively satisfactory one in the original work to a version with sacrificial meaning. Some readers criticize that the character backgrounds and sect grudges are changed too complicatedly, criticizing "except for the main character names, the plot is another work"; however, drama fans particularly like the hidden words buried by the script under restrictions, saying "every line of dialogue is like dancing on the edge of censorship," "others act as friends, but they act as love that cannot be spoken," feeling that the more restrained it is, the more aftertaste it has.

For the 3rd place in the most altered Chinese dramas for censorship: Xiao Zhan and Wang Yi Bo's "The Untamed" "The Untamed" is adapted from Mo Xiang Tong Xiu's novel "Mo Dao Zu Shi," with Xiao Zhan playing Wei Wuxian, who is unrestrained and later practices the demonic path, and Wang Yi Bo playing Lan Wangji, who is cold and self-restrained, adhering to principles. The two studied together in their youth, then experienced immortal gate struggles, life and death separation, and many years of reunion, joining hands to pursue the truth buried many years ago.

In the novel, Wei Wuxian and Lan Wangji are formal partners, and Wei Wuxian returns to the human world through sacrifice. The drama version changes the love into friendship, weakens possession and ghost path, adds the main line of Yin Tie, and the warm scene screen time is said to be greatly increased, causing strong resistance from the original fans. At the beginning of the broadcast, it was said that the warm scene screen time was greatly increased, causing strong resistance from the original fans.

For the 2nd place in the most altered Chinese dramas for censorship:

For the 1st place in the most altered Chinese dramas for censorship: