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Melancholic Princess

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Melancholic Princess
Cover of the second original edition volume 1 published by Da Ran Culture, featuring the main character Li Ying.
古鏡奇譚第一章：傾國怨伶
Chʻing-kuo Yüen-ling;
Qīng guó yuàn líng
GenreAction
Adventure
Contemporary fantasy
Historical fantasy
Romance
Supernatural
AuthorYou Su-lan
IllustratorYou Su-lan
PublisherTaiwan Hua Shang Culture (1990)
Da Ran Culture (1991)
Kung Long Int. (2001)[1][2]
Rye Field Publishing (2012, box set)
Other publishers
MagazineTaiwan Weekend Comics
Original run1989
Collected
volumes		4 (first edition)
5 (new edition)

Melancholic Princess (Chinese: 傾國怨伶; pinyin: Qīng guó yuàn líng; Wade–Giles: Ching1-kuo2 Yüen4-ling2; Zhuyin Fuhao: ㄑㄧㄥ ㄍㄨㄛˊ ㄩㄢˋ ㄌㄧㄥˊ; lit. 'Melancholic Beauty in the Han-ling Palace Hall') is a Taiwanese comic book series (called manhua in Taiwan) written and illustrated by the comic artist You Su-lan [zh], serialized in Weekend Comics since 1989 and published by Da Ran Culture [zh] in 1991. The series is the 1st installment of The Seven Mirrors' Stories collection, followed by The King of Blaze.

Plot summary

Ling-ling Mausoleum (唐靈陵), an untouched Tʻang dynasty (7th century) tomb is discovered by Robert, an American journalist and a close friend of Wei Yung-chʻien's father, who is a Taiwanese-American archaeologist living in New York City. Joined by another friend, the four travel to mainland China to inspect the mausoleum. The occupant is a mysterious princess whose name has never been recorded in any historical documents, and who appears in Yung-chʻien's recurring dreams. The resurrection of the princess leads to a series of other startling revelations which put Yung-chʻien in unpredictable danger.

Main characters

Hua Chʻêng (嫿琤)

Goddess of Water, the love of Shang Hsüan. She is the only female among the seven gods.

Li Ying (李盈)

Hua Chêng's first reincarnation in the Tang dynasty, princess of Kuang-yü (廣玉公主), fictional daughter of Emperor Kao-tsung and Empress Wu Tsê-tʻien, who falls in love with Hao Yüeh. She has supernatural abilities such as making flowers or other objects fly in the air, also she herself can fly, walk on water, go through walls, etc.

Wei Yung-chʻien (蔚詠倩)

Hua Chêng's second reincarnation (Li Ying's reincarnation) in present day, a 16-year-old Taiwanese-American girl living in New York City, falls in love with Shang Hsüan.

Hao Yüeh (昊玥)

God of Thunder, reincarnated in the Tʻang dynasty as an imperial general and bodyguard of princess Li Ying, the two fall in love with each other.

Shang Hsüan (尙軒)

God of Creation and Universe, the leader of the seven gods. He has a romantic relationship with Hua Chêng.

Robert (勞勃特)

An American journalist and a good friend of Wei Yung-chien's father, who discovered the mausoleum of princess Li Ying.

List of volumes

Second original edition
No. Original title Taiwan Da Ran Culture
Publication date ISBN
Volume 1 傾國怨伶1 25 September 1991 ISBN 957-25-0910-1
Volume 2 傾國怨伶2 5 October 1991 ISBN 957-25-0911-X
Volume 3 傾國怨伶3 15 October 1991 ISBN 957-25-0912-8
Volume 4 傾國怨伶4 25 July 1991 ISBN 957-25-0913-6
New edition
No. Original title Chapter Taiwan Kung Long International Publishing Co.
Publication date ISBN
Volume 1 傾國怨伶1 1.Dark Underground Palace
2.Silhouette in Moon Lights
3.Surprising Attack
4.Prophet Shang Hsüan
5.Confusion 		1 January 2001 ISBN 957-0498-15-3
Volume 2 傾國怨伶2 6.A Light Sign
7.Crying Blue Lotus
8.The Underground Palace
9.Dancing with Flowers
10.The General with a Sword
10.5.Extra: Be Your Vanguard 		1 February 2001 ISBN 957-0498-16-1
Volume 3 傾國怨伶3 11.Anguish Roar
12.Intermingling
13.Palace Romance
14.The Bodyguard
15.Magic Axes
15.5.Extra: Look Back Somewhere Quiet 		1 March 2001 ISBN 957-0498-17-X
Volume 4 傾國怨伶4 16.Feeling
17.Love and Death
18.Waiting Fate
19.Past
20.A Broken Dream
20.5.Extra: Kids Never Lie 		1 April 2001 ISBN 957-0498-18-8
Volume 5 傾國怨伶5 21.Dust in Wind
22.An Ancient Tune
23.Morning Tide
24.Long Come and Gone
25.The Last Chapter: Far and Away+Extra [End] 		1 May 2001 ISBN 957-0498-19-6

Sidequel

Cover of Dream of the Tʻang Dynasty Palace, published by Da Ran Culture, featuring Hao Yüeh and Li Ying.

A sidequel of Melancholic Princess titled Dream of the Tʻang Dynasty Palace (Chinese: 唐宮夢) which written and illustrated by the same comic artist and published by Da Ran Culture in 1994, printed in colour. This is a short side story that tells the lonely princess Li Ying felt bored in the palace, so she sneaked out and encountered the shih-kan-tang. The latter thought she is a demoness and ready to kill her, but the general Hao Yüeh saved her just in time.

Adaptations

TV series adaptation

The main characters and portions of Melancholic Princess were used and loosely interpreted, in the 2018 television series adaptation of The King of Blaze.[5] The adaptation is seen to be unsuccessful, and disappointed a number of viewers. It has been questioned by the audience if the series is anything like the manhua except the names of some main characters.[6]

Novel

A novel of the same name written and adapted by Taiwanese author Nalan Chên (納蘭真), was published in 1992.

Original title Translation Story Novel Taiwan Da Ran Culture
Publication date ISBN
小說傾國怨伶 上 'Novel Version of Melancholic Princess, vol. 1' You Su-lan Nalan Chên 1 November 1992 ISBN 957-72-5187-0
小說傾國怨伶 下 'Novel Version of Melancholic Princess, vol. 2' You Su-lan Nalan Chên 1 May 1993 ISBN 957-72-5188-9

References

  1. ^ "Copyright about Comic: 傾國怨伶" (in Chinese (Taiwan)). Kung-long International. Retrieved 5 September 2017.
  2. ^ "傾國怨伶1". Books.com.tw (in Chinese (Taiwan)). Kung-long International. Retrieved 5 September 2017.
  3. ^ "Melancholic Princess, vol. 2 (Hong Kong edition)". goodreads.com. Retrieved 13 September 2019.
  4. ^ "Qing guo yuan ling = The Seven Mirrors' Stories / You Su Lan". nlb.gov.sg. 1995. Retrieved 27 August 2019.
  5. ^ Chên, Chien-hsiu (4 June 2017). "陳柏霖《火王》演員陣容公開　《傾國怨伶》詠倩是她". star.ettoday.net (in Chinese (Taiwan)). Retrieved 29 August 2019.
  6. ^ Qing, Dai (28 November 2018). "《火王》首播收視0.3：從BL到BG，漫改劇的四大困局". tech.ikanchai.com (in Chinese (China)). Retrieved 29 August 2019.
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