To Live to Love

To Live to Love
North American DVD cover
Genre	period drama romantic drama
Based on	The Song of Everlasting Sorrow by Wang Anyi
Written by	Jiang Liping Zhao Yaomin
Directed by	Ding Hei
Starring	Maggie Cheung Ho-yee Huang Yi Tse Kwan-ho Wu Hsing-kuo Xu Zheng Chen Lina Gu Yan Jin Meng
Music by	Zhao Lin
Opening theme	"Ruguo Meiyou Ni" (如果没有你) performed by Bai Guang
Ending theme	"Wuxin Dengdai" (无心等待) performed by Janice Yan
Country of origin	China
Original languages	Mandarin some Shanghainese, English, French, Russian
No. of episodes	35
Production
Executive producer	Ding Hei
Producer	He Zizhuang
Cinematography	Huang Wei Wang Tianlin
Running time	45 minutes
Production companies	Wenhui–Xinmin United Press Group Shanghai Film Group Corporation Hairun Movies & TV Production Eastern Shanghai Culture, Movies & TV Zuo'an Movies & TV Production
Original release
Network	Shanghai Television
Release	March 28, 2006 (2006-03-28)

To Live to Love is a 2006 Chinese period TV drama series directed by Ding Hei, based on Wang Anyi's 1995 award-winning novel The Song of Everlasting Sorrow.

Filming began in July 2004 in Soochow University, and moved to Shanghai, where the story is set, in August 2004. The series was first broadcast on March 28, 2006 on Shanghai Television.

Cast and characters

Episodes 1-14 deal with the years 1947–1950. These episodes correspond to roughly Part I and Part II, Chapter 1 of the novel. Episodes 14–35 deal with the years from 1958 to 1979.

Actor	Character	Notes
Main cast
Huang Yi (ep. 1–14)	Wang Qiyao
Maggie Cheung Ho-yee (ep. 14–35)
Tse Kwan-ho	Cheng Shidi	"Mr. Cheng"
Chen Lina	Jiang Lili
Gu Yan	Wang Qiyao's mother	died of illness in 1968
Episodes 1–14
Ding Danni	Wu Peizhen
Wei Li	Wang Jingtang	Wang Qiyao's father, died of illness in 1948
Zhang Junwei	Wang Qiming (teenaged)	Wang Qiyao's younger brother
Xu Yulan	Mama Zheng	Wang family's maidservant
Liu Changwei	Mr. Xu	Wang Jingtang's colleague
Song Linlin	Captain Jason	captain of a European ship
Jiang Shizhuo	Fugui	Wu Peizhen's cousin
Qu Cheng	Yang Biao	film director
Yan Xiaopin	Jiang Lili's mother
Li Ying	Su San	film actress, also Li Puzhi's mistress
Wu Hsing-kuo	Li Puzhi	"Director Li"
Liu Jie	Xiaoyanhong	Li Puzhi's wife, also sworn sister of Jiang Lili's mother
Liao Jinfeng	"eldest sworn sister"	sworn sisters of Xiaoyanhong and Jiang Lili's mother
Song Ruhui	"second sworn sister"
Sun Min	"fourth sworn sister"
Ye Qing	"fifth sworn sister"
Yuan Ping	"sixth sworn sister"
Zhou Xiaoli	"seventh sworn sister"
Zhao Zhenzhong	Li Puzhi's adjutant	actually a Communist spy
Tan Zengwei	"Mugen"	Jiang family's butler
Li Daojun	Jiang family's tailor
Xiang Mei	Wang Qiyao's grandma
Sun Qixin	Yu Qing	servant and lover of Wang Qiyao's grandma
Si Xiao	Wang Hongcai	"Deuce"
Episodes 14–35
Chen Qing	Wang Qiming (older)
Liu Xiao	Cuifen	Wang Qiming's wife
Zhang Dongwei (child)	Maomao	Wang Qiming's son
Zhang Hongming	Mr. Zhang	Jiang Lili's leader and eventual husband
Ni Hongjie	Gu Mali	Cheng Shidi's neighbor who likes him
Wang Yin	Liu Mei	Cheng Shidi's colleague in the library
Wang Guojing	Yan Shande	"Mr. Yan"
Jin Meng	Lu Yunying	"Madame Yan"
Li Shuai (child)	Yan Xiaodi (Lu Yunying's son)
Yu Cunshi (teen)		led Red Guards to ransack Wang Qiyao's apartment
Zhou Hao		dated Weiwei before realizing they were related
Fang Ling	Fengdi	Yan family's maidservant
Dai Zhao'an	Aliu	a neighbour in Peace Lane
Huang Lijuan	Qian Yingying	Aliu's wife
Xu Zheng	Kang Mingxun
Xu Chengxian	Kang Mingxun's father
Chen Hongmei	Kang Mingxun's "Mother"	not his real mother
Chen Jianfei	Kang Mingxun's "Second Mother"	his real mother
Shi Tingting	Kang Mingni	Kang Mingxun's younger half-sisters
Wang Yun	Kang Mingshan
Zhao Rongrong	Kang family's maidservant
Ji Xueping	Xu Yuanyuan	Kang Mingxun's date and eventual wife
Bahtiyar Aziz	Sasha
Sheng Zhao (child)	Wang Weiwei
Gao Si		dated both Yan Xiaodi and Feng Yongli
Shen Yue	Zhang Yonghong	dated Feng Yongli
Liu Lei	Feng Yongli	"Old Colour"
Xu Fu	Feng Yongli's father	Cheng Shidi's colleague in the library