Types of Chinese dramas: modern, period and ancient

It is common knowledge that Chinese TV series or Chinese dramas or C-dramas offer various options and categories. However, most of us do not know what the varieties imply.

To speak comprehensively, C dramas fall into three main groups. Each of them can have several genres.

In this article, let’s see what are the types of Chinese dramas.

modern theater:

As the name itself suggests, modern Chinese dramas depict stories set in the current progressive ages. They cover various aspects of contemporary times, including the positive and negative aspects of adolescent life, political dominance, corporate society, the family sphere, etc. It can also represent global issues like human influence on flora and fauna, mental health issues like depression, and factors that could spawn wars.

Modern dramas can be based on both real and imagined stories and generally cover every genre one can find on the market. The most common are romance, slice of life, action, adventure, horror, documentary, comedy, sports, suspense, and thriller. Using these, they can also talk about discrimination and stigmas like homosexuality and black rights. They can spread awareness on various issues, such as rising student suicide rates.

Some well-known modern Chinese dramas include ‘The Mystic Nine’, ‘I Love My Family’, ‘Dancing in the Storm’, ‘The First Half of My Life’ and ‘Love Weaves Through a Millennium’. Some others are ‘Shall I Compare You To a Spring Day’, ‘Ping Pong Life’, ‘Our Glamorous Time’ etc.

Drama period:

These dramas represent the past and have a historical background of a wave or a fixed era. They represent incidents that happened or could have happened in ancient times. The most frequent Chinese drama genres of the period are historical warfare, romance, suspense, horror, comedy, etc.

In period dramas, actors must wear costumes to accurately represent the historical setting. As such, these dramas are also known as period dramas due to the attraction of the cast.

Some examples include ‘The Spring River Flows East’, ‘Wu Xin: The Monster Killer’, ‘Too Late to Say I Love You’, ‘Arrows In A Bowstring’, ‘My Roommate Is A Detective’, etc.

ancient theater:

Although they are similar to period dramas, these dramas differ in the fact that they can portray concrete and real events from the past. Ancient Chinese dramas span various genres ranging from romance to war. They show the glory and fall of kingdoms, the achievements of generals and war strategists, the functioning of the inner court or harem, etc. in explicit details.

There are two main subdivisions or varieties of ancient dramas. They are:

• wuxia: Wuxia dramas depict the adventure of Chinese martial artists on the stage of ancient China. This genre is primarily fiction, featuring the superhuman feats and acts of duelists.
• Xianxia: Xianxia dramas are closely related to Wuxia dramas, but depict immortals. Influenced by Chinese martial arts and mythology, Xianxia dramas have a touch of fantasy. In them, the characters can even fly on swords.

Some examples include ‘To the Republic’, ‘The Romance of the Three Kingdoms’, ‘The Ming Dynasty Detective’, ‘Novoland: The Castle in the Sky’, ‘Palace’, ‘The Three Heroes and the Five Gallants’ . Some others include ‘How Much Pain You Are’, ‘Li Wei the Magistrate’, ‘Heavenly Sword and Killer Saber’, ‘Battle Across the Skies’, ‘Swordsman’ etc.