The Empress of China

The Empress of China aired on mainland Chinese satellite channel Hunan TV from 21 December 2014. However it was abruptly taken off air from 28 December, with the state-run news agency Xinhua citing “technical reasons”. The historical drama was China’s most expensive TV production, starring Chinese actress Fan Bingbing as the 7-8th Tang dynasty ruler Wu Zetian, China’s only female Emperor. The extensive use of period costumes was both a major source of audience pleasure and the reason for the show’s broadcast disruption. When The Empress of China returned to screens on 1 January the formerly visible cleavage of female characters had disappeared.

Although the show continued to rate well, Chinese viewers expressed their outrage online at what some claimed was now a historically inaccurate portrayal of Chinese fashion. For example, Tang dynasty women wore the ruqun, which combined a top jacket with a long gown and skirt, with the collar opened to expose cleavage. Following 1 January, wide angle and close-up shots had replaced many mid- and full-length shots throughout The Empress of China to crop and hide the skin that such costumes made visible. Scenes portraying intimacy between characters were also cut. While China’s State Administration of Press, Publication, Radio, Film and Television (SARFT) had previously claimed the show’s broadcast was halted under regulations that limited historical dramas to not exceed fifteen per cent of prime time television, the Deputy Director, Tian Jin, subsequently stated that the show contained “unhealthy images” and that a “lack of editing” meant that “punishment was given in accordance with the law”. SARFT had announced a new set of regulations in November 2014 requiring content providers to censor scenes depicting adultery, excessive nudity, and references to rape and masturbation, among many other things.

The Empress of China aired on TVB in Hong Kong in April 2015. While the station originally announced it would air an uncensored version it subsequently employed a CGI team to edit the plunging necklines and produce a “moderate version”. Rather than the much-criticised use of close-up shots in mainland China, which viewers noted cut much of the action from various scenes, digital fabric was added to costumes throughout the series. This digitally “enhanced” version was also broadcast in Singapore, while Taiwan’s CTI TV broadcast the original, uncensored version. In mainland China, the episode prompted further calls for a classification system that would allow such content to be screened, following those made in relation to Zhang Yimou’s Curse of the Golden Flower and its own cleavage controversy. – Liam Grealy