There has been a rise in popularity of palace dramas since Legend of Zhen Huan. Scarlet Heart (Bu Bu Jing Xin), Legend of Miyue and the recent Story of Yanxi Palace and Ruyi’s Royal Love have all proved to be a great hit with audiences.

However, this trend might soon change. The Chinese state media have just declared the “5 sins of Palace Dramas” in a latest release. Reruns of recent hits Ruyi’s Royal Love and Story of Yanxi Palace has been removed from various television channels in China.

The “5 sins” of palace drama includes :

1. Making the pursue of the extravagant and luxurious lifestyle of the emperor a trend
2. Imitation of ‘infighting’ & scheming scenes, deteriorating social values
3. Putting past rulers & officials in a good light, diminishing the wisdom and value brought about by the present day government
4. Promotes lavish and decadent lifestyle, contradicting the merits of hard work and frugality
5. Focuses on commercial profits and ignores the spreading of positive messages

I don’t know whether I can agree with the Chinese state media’s ruling. While I must admit, I have been influenced and do “imitate infighting and scheming scenes” at times, I am doubtful of some of the other points it mentions. All I can say is, I am terribly saddened by this news because I do love the palace infighting genre. I hope producers find some ways to work around this and continue to create trashy palace dramas that I can’t help but love.