In Fiction and Popular Culture
- The Yongzheng Emperor is mentioned in Qing Dynasty writer Wenkang (文康)'s wuxia novel Ernü Yingxiong Zhuan (兒女英雄傳). It was adapted into the 1983 Hong Kong television series The Legend of the Unknowns (十三妹), and the 1986 Chinese film Lucky 13 (侠女十三妹).
- A popular legend tells of the Yongzheng Emperor's death at the hands of a female assassin Lü Siniang (呂四娘), a fictitious granddaughter (or daughter, in some accounts) of Lü Liuliang. She did so to avenge her grandfather (or father), who was wrongly put to death by Yongzheng. The legend was adapted into many films and television series.
- There were two legends about the origins of the Yongzheng Emperor's son and successor, the Qianlong Emperor. The first, more widely circulated in southern China, says that Qianlong is actually the son of Chen Shiguan (陳世倌), a Qing minister from Haining, Zhejiang. Shortly after birth, Qianlong was exchanged with one of Yongzheng's daughters and raised as Yongzheng's son and eventually succeeded to the throne. Wuxia writer Louis Cha (Jin Yong) adapted this legend for his novel The Book and the Sword. The second legend on Qianlong's origins, more popular in northern China, stated that during a trip to the Mulan Hunting Ground (木蘭圍場) in Rehe Province, Yongzheng had an illegitimate affair with a palace maid and they conceived a son, who would become the Qianlong Emperor.
- The Yongzheng Emperor is featured as an important character in Tong Hua's novel Bu Bu Jing Xin and he had a romantic relationship with the protagonist Ma'ertai Ruoxi. In 2011 the novel was adapted into the Chinese television series Scarlet Heart.
- The Yongzheng Emperor appears in the romance fantasy novel series Meng Hui Da Qing (梦回大清) by Yaoye (妖叶).
| Year | Region | Title | Type | Yongzheng Emperor actor | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1975 | Hong Kong | The Flying Guillotine 血滴子 |
Film | Chiang Yang | Produced by the Shaw Brothers Studio |
| 1980 | Hong Kong | Dynasty 大內群英 |
Television series | Alex Man | 57 episodes |
| 1988 | Hong Kong | The Rise and Fall of Qing Dynasty Season 2 滿清十三皇朝2 |
Television series | Wai Lit | 50 episodes |
| 1994 | Mainland China | The Book and the Sword 书剑恩仇录 |
Television series | Liu Dagang | 32 episodes |
| 1995 | Hong Kong | Secret Battle of the Majesty 九王奪位 |
Television series | Kwong Wa | 40 episodes |
| 1996 | Taiwan | 雍正大帝 | Television series | Tou Chung-hua | |
| 1997 | Taiwan | Legend of YungChing 江湖奇俠傳 |
Television series | Adam Cheng | 58 / 59 episodes |
| 1997 | Hong Kong | The Hitman Chronicles 大刺客 |
Television series | Eddie Cheung | 35 episodes |
| 1997 | Mainland China | Yongzheng Dynasty 雍正王朝 |
Television series | Tang Guoqiang | 44 episodes |
| 2001 | Taiwan | 玉指環 | Television series | Chin Han | alternative Chinese title 才子佳人乾隆皇 |
| 2001 | Mainland China | Emperor Yong Zheng 雍正皇帝 |
Television series | Liu Xinyi | 31 episodes |
| 2002 | Mainland China | Li Wei the Magistrate 李卫当官 |
Television series | Tang Guoqiang | 30 episodes; also known as Li Wei Becomes an Official |
| 2002 | Mainland China | Jiangshan Weizhong 江山为重 |
Television series | Liu Guanxiong | 31 episodes; alternative Chinese title 大清帝国 |
| 2003 | Mainland China | Palace Painter Master Castiglione 宫廷画师郎世宁 |
Television series | Kenny Bee | 24 episodes |
| 2003 | Hong Kong | The King of Yesterday and Tomorrow 九五至尊 |
Television series | Kwong Wa | 20 episodes |
| 2004 | Mainland China | 36th Chamber of Southern Shaolin 南少林三十六房 |
Television series | Zhang Tielin | 32 episodes |
| 2004 | Mainland China | Huang Taizi Mishi 皇太子秘史 |
Television series | Zhao Hongfei | 32 episodes |
| 2004 | Mainland China | Li Wei the Magistrate 2 李卫当官2 |
Television series | Tang Guoqiang | 32 episodes |
| 2005 | Mainland China | Shang Shu Fang 上书房 |
Television series | Kou Zhenhai | 52 episodes |
| 2005 | Mainland China | The Juvenile Qianlong Emperor 少年宝亲王 |
Television series | Zhang Guoli | 40 episodes |
| 2008 | Mainland China | The Book and the Sword 书剑恩仇录 |
Television series | Shen Baoping | 40 episodes |
| 2010 | Mainland China | Hou Gong Zhen Huan Zhuan 后宫甄嬛传 |
Television series | Chen Jianbin | 76 episodes |
| 2011 | Mainland China | Scarlet Heart 步步惊心 |
Television series | Nicky Wu | 35 episodes |
| 2011 | Mainland China | Palace 宫锁心玉 |
Television series | Mickey He | 35 episodes |
| 2012 | Mainland China | Palace II 宫锁珠帘 |
Television series | Mickey He | 35 episodes |
Read more about this topic: Yongzheng Emperor
Famous quotes containing the words popular culture, fiction, popular and/or culture:
“Like other secret lovers, many speak mockingly about popular culture to conceal their passion for it.”
—Mason Cooley (b. 1927)
“We can never safely exceed the actual facts in our narratives. Of pure invention, such as some suppose, there is no instance. To write a true work of fiction even is only to take leisure and liberty to describe some things more exactly as they are.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
“But popular rage,
Hysterica passio dragged this quarry down.
None shared our guilt; nor did we play a part
Upon a painted stage when we devoured his heart.”
—William Butler Yeats (1865–1939)
“As the traveler who has once been from home is wiser than he who has never left his own doorstep, so a knowledge of one other culture should sharpen our ability to scrutinize more steadily, to appreciate more lovingly, our own.”
—Margaret Mead (1901–1978)