The Insight Series from 2014 continues into 2015! This series introduces excellent Chinese movies and encourages movie appreciation with focused themes.
Our series consists of four themes: Chinese History, Chinese Kung Fu, Chinese Cartoons, and China Today. For each theme, three movies will be introduced.
For the first theme, Chinese History, we will introduce: The Founding of A Republic, City of Life and Death, and Red Cliff.
For the second theme, Chinese Kung Fu, we will introduce: The Grandmaster, Hero, and Reign of Assassins.
For the third theme, Chinese Cartoons, we will introduce: The Legend of Qin, Lotus Lantern, and Havoc in Heaven.
The Legend of Qin
The Legend of Qin, aka Qin's Moon is a CG Chinese animated TV series written and directed by Shen Leping. The story is based on the novel of the same name by Taiwanese writer and entrepreneur Wen Shiren. It is China's first 3D wuxia animation, produced by Sparkly Key Animation Studio (Sparkly Key) in Hangzhou, Zhejiang. The Chinese title Qin Shi Ming Yue means "The bright moon of Qin Dynasty", quoted from a famous poem. Here it also contains the names of the two heroes. Ming (bright) is the hero Tianming, Yue (moon) is the heroine Yue-er.
The background of this TV series begins from the building of the first Chinese empire: Qin to the end of the Capital of Qin which named Xianyang which has been compromised by the soldiers from Chu. The span of this series is 30 years (including memories). It is an inspirational TV series which combines martial arts, fantasy, history together with each other, and leads the audience to witness the surging, magnificent and beautiful ancient Chinese world two thousand years ago.
The Legend of Qin follow through the Qin dynasty time when the Emperor of the Qin, King Zheng conquers the other 6 nations and unified the whole of China to the rise of the king of Western Chu, Xiang Yu, who capture the capital city, Xianyang.
The story circles around a young protagonist, Jing Tianming who carries the blood of a hero turning from a weak and ignorant young boy into a great hero, who single-handedly changes the process of history.
Following the story, different moments of history and folk's myth will be re-light, heroes and swordsman that causes the change of history will appear in the land of unrest and chaotic times of great china. Young protagonist, Tianming whose life is as strong as weeds that survive in the era of change, among the chaos, the face of violence in the regime, dangerous enemies, difficult family relationships, friendship, love, the profound changes, reincarnation of sorrows and joys, eventually the end of this era became the start of a new era of decisive force, the brilliant achievements of a romantic legend.
Main Characters
- Jing Tianming: He is a bright and cheerful boy, at the age of 12. He is playful and mischievous though protective of his friends. He has a crush on Gao Yue (Yue-er), a girl under the care of Mohists, though he thinks that her big sister, Duanmu Rong, is a cold person whose face is 'stiff as a board'. He treats Ge Nie as his father, and aspires to become a swordsman just like him. He also has a continuous rivalry with Xiang Shaoyu, and a playful relationship with Master Ban. He has a 'passionate' love for food and immediately goes berserk if someone eats his food or destroys it. Although quite shallow in certain aspects, his loyalty, braveness and innocence stand out as some of his more positive traits. Perhaps the most driving aspect of his character is his belief that his father will return to him one day, thus motivating him to become one of the most famous swordsmen in the world.
- Gao Yue: She is quite cheerful, playful and generous, as well as kind and innocent. She often gets along easy with almost everyone. She and Tianming are good friends, and she treats Duanmu Rong as her sister, often referring her as "Sister Rong". She is extremely bright and intelligent and can analyse things very accurately. She solved many mysteries in the forbidden ground when nobody else knew the answer. She seems to have powers in seeing stars and a complicated relationship with Moon Goddess.
- Xiang Shaoyu: Shaoyu is from the royal tribe of Chu. He is very proud of his tribe and will constantly praise and speak of how powerful his tribe is. He is extremely strong and has excellent Kung Fu skills. He is a very friendly character and loves Tianming to call him Da Ge aka Big Brother. He has a very cheerful and warm personality and is very knowledgeable in many areas. He is usually the logical thinker, and is good at analysing situations and events.
- Shi Lan: A very mysterious character who is quiet. She works in Chief Ding's restaurant, but she is actually extremely skilled in martial arts and lightness skills. She is also good at magic arts and once saves Shaoyu and Tianming. Shaoyu seems to have fallen for her. She's real name is Xiao Yu from Shu tribe. It's highly possible that she's inspired by the historical figure Yu Ji, Xiang Yu's most loved consort. In season 4, she is mentioned as a Miao princess.
