Season 2 • Episode 32
LatestThis Chinese period drama series follows the fortunes of a prominent merchant family engaged in Traditional Chinese Medicine during the waning years of the Ching dynasty. The affairs of this family of doctors/pharmacists (which in those days were one and the same) are intimately linked with social upheavals of the time such as the encroachment of Christian missionaries and foreign imperialism as well as conflicts that inevitably emerge in a large upper class family. Comparable in scope and production value to such recent titles as "Downton Abbey", the lives and character of both masters and servants intertwine in plot lines that spans more than a generation.
Production
Imperial-era sets that probably cost more than your house.
Acting
Chen Baoguo's patriarch: magnificent bastard energy for 40+ years.
Writing
Multi-generational plotting so tight you need genealogy software.
Creator
Guo Baochang
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Director Guo Baochang based much on his own family's pharmacy history; the Bai family recipes are authentic 19th-century formulations.
Chen Baoguo spent months learning traditional medicine preparation on set—the crushing, grinding, and boiling you see is largely real.
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