A Step into the Past
| A Step into the Past | |
|---|---|
 Official poster |
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| Genre | Time travel, historical fiction, wuxia |
| Format | Serial drama |
| Written by | Huang Yi (original story) Wong Kwok-fai Tong Kin-ping Lau Choi-wun Cheung Siu-fong Ho Kwan-ngo |
| Directed by | Mun Wai-hung Shek Ming-chuen Lau Shun-on Lam Tze-yan Ng Kam-yuen |
| Starring | Louis Koo Kwong Wa Jessica Hsuan Sonija Kwok Raymond Lam Joyce Tang Michelle Saram Waise Lee Eileen Yeow Sicney Yim Kwok Fung |
| Theme music composer | Chiu Tsang-hei |
| Opening theme | Tin Ming Jui Ko (天命最高) by Louis Koo |
| Ending theme | Ngo Yuen Oi (我願愛) by Louis Koo |
| Country of origin | Hong Kong |
| Original language(s) | Cantonese |
| No. of episodes | 40 |
| Production | |
| Producer(s) | Chong Wai-kin |
| Editor(s) | Wong Kwok-fai Tong Kin-ping |
| Location(s) | Hong Kong Hengdian World Studios |
| Camera setup | Multi camera |
| Running time | 45 minutes per episode |
| Production company(s) | TVB |
| Broadcast | |
| Original channel | TVB Jade |
| Picture format | 576i (SDTV) |
| Original run | 15 October – 7 December 2001 |
| External links | |
| Website | |
| A Step into the Past | |||||||||||
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| Traditional Chinese | 尋秦記 | ||||||||||
| Simplified Chinese | 寻秦记 | ||||||||||
| Literal meaning | The Chronicles of Finding Qin | ||||||||||
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A Step into the Past is a 2001 Hong Kong television series produced by TVB and based on Huang Yi's novel of the same Chinese title. The series tells the story of a 21st century Hong Kong VIPPU officer who travels back in time to the Warring States Period of ancient China. He is involved in a number of important historical events that leads to the first unification of China under the Qin Dynasty. The series' first original broadcast ran from 15 October to 7 December 2001 on the TVB Jade network in Hong Kong.
Contents |
Plot [edit]
21st century Hong Kong [edit]
Hong Siu-lung is a 21st century VIPPU special agent in Hong Kong. In the first episode, Hong and his colleagues stand guard at an exhibition of the First Emperor's Terracotta Army. One of Hong's colleagues notices that one of the terracotta warriors bears a striking resemblance to Hong. Moments later, wealthy businessman Lee Siu-chiu is attacked and held hostage at the museum by a madman who had suffered losses in the stock market. Hong rescues Lee and defuses the crisis.
Hong is unhappy despite his success in his career. He has just broken up with his girlfriend, Chun Ching, after a seven-year long relationship. She insisted that they tie the knot but he preferred to continue their relationship without a proper marriage. Chun married another man and Hong becomes depressed.
Time travelling [edit]
Impressed with Hong's rescue attempt earlier, Lee Siu-chiu and Doctor Wu Yau recruit him for a secret time-travelling experiment. Hong agrees to help them in exchange for an opportunity to travel back in time to salvage his failed relationship with Chun Ching. He is tasked to travel back more than two thousand years in time to China's Qin Dynasty era, half an hour prior to the coronation of Ying Ching in 247 BC, and document the event with a digital camera before a swift departure. However, a critical error occurs during the traveling stage and Hong returns further back in time by three years than originally planned. He is now trapped in the Zhao state of the Warring States Period in 250 BC.
In order to return to the future, Hong has to make an arduous journey across thousands of miles in ancient China to activate a device at a specific location and time. He was warned that making even a slight change in the grand scheme of events will trigger a chain reaction of catastrophes that will alter history.
Warring States Period [edit]
Hong enjoys a series of adventures in history. His knowledge of the 21st century, intelligence and experience as an elite special agent, as well as his prowess in martial arts, enables him to make a strong stand in history. He enters the service of various lords and nobles, and becomes a valuable ally to them. Concurrently, he becomes involved in romantic relationships with four women. The first, Sin-yau, is a wandering female assassin and the first person he meets after travelling back in time. The second, Wu Ting-fong, is the beautiful but spoiled daughter of a wealthy noble. The third is a pretty female scholar named Kam Ching, who resembles his 21st century girlfriend Chun Ching in appearance and shares a similar name (completely homophonic in Standard Mandarin). The last is Princess Chiu Sin, the daughter of the king of Zhao, who dies in a tragic incident later. He also befriends the king's sister Chiu Nga and her son Chiu Poon. Meanwhile, he foils the evil plans of Chiu Muk, a secret agent from the Chu state, and becomes Chiu's enemy. Chiu Muk's henchman Lin Chun also sees Hong as his greatest rival.
Helping Ying Ching rise to power [edit]
As Hong's future is dependent on Ying Ching's succession to the throne of the Qin state, it is imperative that he makes the event a success. Hong tracks down Ying, who is held hostage in Zhao, and Ying's mother, Lady Chu Kei. However, he is shocked to discover that the real Ying has died. As Lady Chu had never seen her son after his birth, she mistakes Chiu Poon as her son. Desperate to return to the 21st century, he forces Chiu to impersonate the deceased Ying Ching.
They return to Qin together and face new threats from the chancellor Lui But-wai and his right-hand man, Lo Oi. Lui believes that he is Ying Ching's biological father and he schemes to place his son on the throne and secure his power over the empire. Lo Oi, on the other hand, is actually Lin Chun, and he is aware of Ying Ching's true identity. Hong helps Ying clear all obstacles to the path to the throne and Ying eventually becomes the king of Qin.
Although having accomplished his mission, Hong's hope of returning to the 21st century is ruined when the time signalling device fails to work as the battery has expired. In panic, Hong recalls some lessons at school about electricity and he enlists the help of his friends to build a new power source. The experiment is successful but Hong hesitates to return home at the last minute because he has already developed true feelings for Kam Ching and Wu Ting-fong.
Hong stays behind and continues to aid Ying Ching in building the new Qin Dynasty through the annexation of the other seven states and reunification of China. Ying holds absolute power and gradually becomes more corruptedy, morphing from the original naive and kind Chiu Poon into the ruthless tyrant Chun Chi Wong.
Destiny [edit]
Ying sees Hong as a valuable ally in his future endeavours and wants to retain him as an adviser. However, Hong begins to feel sorry when he sees the evil creation of his efforts, fulfilling the predestination paradox. He is aware that he is not destined to leave his mark in history and refuses to stay in the imperial court. He leaves with Wu Ting-fong and Kam Ching, who are both happily married to him at last. Ying sends his troops to pursue Hong, based on the notion that "if you're not with me, then you're against me". Eventually, Ying decides to send Hong into exile and he decrees that the name "Hong Siu-lung" shall henceforth be extinct. All books and historical records pertaining to Hong are ordered to be destroyed, which leads to Chun Chi Wong's notorious practice of the burning of books and burying of scholars.
Hong and his family find paradise in the plains far away from the urban regions. Hong and Wu Ting-fong have a son. In the final moments of the last episode, Hong's son tells him he wants to change his name to Hong Yu, a man who, in history become a prominent military general who overthrow the Qin Dynasty. Hong then exclaims in English "Oh, shit!"
Cast [edit]
- Note: Some of the characters' names are in Cantonese romanisation.
Main characters [edit]
- Louis Koo as Hong Siu-lung (Chinese: 項少龍; pinyin: Xiàng Shàolóng), the protagonist of the story. Born in 1975, Hong was orphaned at the age of three and spent most of his childhood in an orphanage. He becomes a VIPPU officer after spending one year in training, owing to his excellent social skills, diligence and intelligence. After separating with his girlfriend of seven years, Hong agrees on a time travelling project organised by Lee Siu-chiu on the condition that he will see his girlfriend again when he returns.
- Kwong Wa as Lin Chun / Lo Oi (Chinese: 連晉 / 嫪毐; pinyin: Lián Jìn / Lào Ǎi), a swordsman who used to serve Chiu Muk. He is abandoned by Chiu after Hong injures his right arm in a duel. During his banishment, Lin meets Lo Oi, a left-handed swordsman. After convincing Lo to teach him left-handed swordplay, he kills Lo and takes his identity.
- Raymond Lam as Chiu Poon / Ying Ching (Chinese: 趙盤 / 嬴政; pinyin: Zhào Pán / Yíng Zhèng), the son of Princess Chiu Nga. He is despised and often bullied by the other nobles because his mother behaves like a prostitute. After Hong successfully rescues Lady Chu from the Zhao state, Chu mistakes Chiu for her deceased son, Ying Ching. Through Hong's coercion, also compounded by his personal lust for power and vengeance, Chiu becomes the crown prince of Qin and ascends to the throne, subsequently, becoming Chun Chi Wong, the Great but despotic First Emperor of a unified China.
- Sonija Kwok as Chun Ching / Kam Ching (Chinese: 秦青 / 琴清; pinyin: Qín Qīng / Qín Qīng). Chun Ching was Hong's girlfriend of seven years, but broke up with him after he reneges the wedding promise. Hong agrees to participate in a time-travelling project after he was assured that Chun Ching would return to him. After Hong is transported to two thousand years back, he meets Kam Ching, a female scholar who resembles Chun Ching in appearance and they develop a romantic relationship.
- Jessica Hsuan as Wu Ting-fong (Chinese: 烏廷芳; pinyin: Wū Tíngfāng), the impulsive and spoiled daughter of the Qin loyalist Wu Ying-yuen. Although disgusted by Hong's flirtatious nature, she gradually becomes jealous of her own accord when she sees him with other maidens. Nonetheless, Wu develops a close friendship with Princess Chiu Sin and often visits her.
- Joyce Tang as Sin-yau (Chinese: 善柔; pinyin: Shànróu), a female assassin. She was the daughter of a noble from the Qi state, but later flees the state after her parents were killed by Chiu Muk. She becomes the apprentice of Mohist practitioner Cho Chau-to, also becoming an assassin who kills people for money. She is the first person Hong meets after he is transported back in time.
- Michelle Saram as Princess Chiu Sin (Chinese: 趙倩; pinyin: Zhào Qiàn), the daughter of King Hao-sing of Zhao. She develops feelings for Hong after he "rescues" her from the palace. She is also Hong's first love after he returns in time.
- Waise Lee as Chiu Muk (Chinese: 趙穆; pinyin: Zhào Mù), a secret agent who works for the Chu state as a spy in Zhao.
- Sicney Yim as Chiu Nga (Chinese: 趙雅; pinyin: Zhào Yǎ), the younger sister of the king of Zhao. She is Chiu Poon's mother and a close friend of Hong Siu-lung.
Minor characters [edit]
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Production and reception [edit]
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This section needs additional citations for verification. (September 2010) |
A Step into the Past received high ratings during its initial run in 2001, and continued to be successful during its midnight re-runs in the summer of 2005, leading to another trend of late-night television watching after At the Threshold of an Era.[citation needed]
This was the last television drama that Louis Koo acted in, as he had decided to concentrate on his film career.[citation needed] He has since worked on films such as Election and its sequel.
Raymond Lam, in his first major role, was highly praised for his breakthrough performance as Ying Ching, and rose to fame quickly.[citation needed] He has starred in numerous leading roles ever since.
While filming in Zhuozhou, Hebei, Jessica Hsuan was stricken with cholera, causing her to enter a local hospital.[1] She remained in bed for over a month until she was able to leave and start filming again. This caused Hsuan's character to be absent for a while in the series. During her hospital stay, many of her co-stars, including Koo, visited her regularly.
After its 2005 midnight re-run, TVB decided to release the complete series on DVD and VCD for the first time on November 18 in the same year. It also became the second TVB drama to be released on DVD after War and Beauty, and the first to receive a non-limited release.[citation needed]
See also [edit]
References [edit]
- ^ Straight Times Life, August 15, 2005, article title Jessica Hsuan is Single and Loving it, Author:Sandra Leong
