[TVB-A] State of Divinity - 笑傲江湖

[uglyduckling]

Genre: Anicent Time
Year Release: 1996
Language: Cantonese
Cast: Jackie Liu, Fiona Leung, Chaerie Chan, Ho Mei Tin
Summary: Ling Hu Chong (Jackie Liu) is the eldest disciple of one of Yue Bu Qun, the head master of Hua San, among the top martial arts "good" sects in the ancient world. Naturally, a easy-going and carefree guy, he is popular among other disciples for his fun nature, which is symbolically characterized by his love for alcohol. Hu Chong is very loyal to Hua San, and because he was taken in by Yue Bu Qun as an orphan and sees the master and madam as his own parents. Ling grew up with their daughter, Yue Ling Shan (Cherie Chan), and at the beginning the two were extremely close, sharing what seemed like a perfect puppy love.

The story is very complicated and involves many twists, but the driving device is the burning desire of martial artist practitioners to come up on top & take over the world. Lin Ping Zhi is from a respectable middle-class family, who was rumored to carry extremely powerful martial arts in the Lin's family inheritance. Because of this his entire family + household was mysteriously massacred, and he took refuge in Hua San, carrying the all-important scrolls that everyone's after with him. There is a big secret involved with these scrolls, and all Lin descedants had sworn to keep it as heirloom, forbidden to read and learn what's in it. Ping Zhi & Ling Shan's relationships develops and Yue realizes that her adoration towards Ling was only brotherly affection, while she has fallen deeply for Ping Zhi. Ling suffers twofold--besides being deeply hurt by Yue's change of heart, he is also accused of trying to kill Ping Zhi in order to steals the scrolls. He is eventually disgracefully kicked out of the sect.

Around this time, Ling is seriously injured and precariously expects to die in the short run, therefore he gives up all hopes on Yue San and loses faith altogether. But he is emotionally and physically healed by the appearance of Ren Ying Ying (Fiona Leung), the beautiful daughter of the late leader of the "evil" Sun-Moon sect, whom comes to him in the guise of an old lady. The two develop a relationship without him knowing about her real identity...

The other core character worth mentioning is Dung Fang Bu Bai, the person who usurped the throne from Ren Ying Ying's father (unknown to her)--this character is the acknowledged villian here, although not the only one. Because he practiced a black martial art, which called for castration, he becomes feminine and a woman was chosen to play Dung Fang in this version.

[LittleKungFuGirl]

This was a rather light-hearted series -- maybe due to the soundtrack?
Anyway, I like Jacky as LingHu Chong, my favorite wuxia character. Good-natured, funny, and righteous.

[tvbblock]

a great series. too bad tvb didn't release this in vcd or dvd. maybe it because due to fact, all main leads is not with tvb anymore.

[freeminded]

This is a great series. It is even better than Richie Ren version. All the actors did a great job