Eternal Love

Synopsis

In Eternal Love, the female and male protagonists follow each other across time and space to change their destiny of becoming separated.

The story begins when Zhe Yan (Ken Chang) brings Bai Qian (Yang Mi), disguised as the male immortal Si Yin, to Kunlun Mountain, where she becomes the God of War, Mo Yuan's 17th disciple and receives the Jade Purity Fan of Kunlun, which becomes her weapon. For 20,000 years, Bai Qian (as Si Yin), trains and causes quite some trouble. One day, she gets kidnapped by a jealous goddess, Yao Guang, and is then rescued by Mo Yuan. Afterwards, she causes trouble again, this time dragging along the 9th disciple, Ling Yu, and getting captured by the Ghost Lord. After several weeks of being prisoners, they are finally rescued by Mo Yuan again, and this action provokes Qing Cang to declare war on the Celestial Tribe. During this stay in the Ghost Realm, Bai Qian (still as Si Yin) develops feelings for Li Jing, the second prince of the Ghost Tribe. Xuan Nü, who has been staying at Kunlun Mountain for a while, also develops feelings for Li Jing, and by using her ability to morph her appearance into Bai Qian's, she seduces Li Jing, which consequently enrages a heartbroken Bai Qian.

During the war, Bai Qian (still disguised as Si Yin) witnesses the Ghost Tribe breaking into the troop formation, and also witnesses Ling Yu getting killed. After a failed attempt to rescue him, Mo Yuan sends away Ling Yu's body back to Kunlun Mountain. Qing Cang, the Ghost Lord, then uses the Bell of the East Emperor to try and destroy heaven and earth, and so Mo Yuan sacrifices his spirit in order to stop the bell and seal Qing Cang's spirit in it. After seeing Mo Yuan's spiritless body, Bai Qian breaks down into tears. The disciples of Kunlun Mountain soon disperse back to their homes and families.

70,000 years later, Bai Qian, no longer in disguise, had been living in Qing Qiu for the past 70,000 years, not even taking a single step outside of it. Bai Qian, who knows that the seal will be lifted and that Qing Cang could break free at any moment, attempts to re-seal him, she will need more power. In order to ascend to High God she will need to go through a trial which will seal away Bai Qian's memories and powers, causing her to become a mortal woman and forget who she is.

As a mortal woman, she meets Ye Hua (Mark Chao) when he is sent to the mortal realm to take care of the Ghost Tribe's Golden Lion Beast who has been causing havoc. Bai Qian (as a mortal woman) mistakes Ye Hua for a snake, who is in his dragon form, and brings him home to fix his wounds. While she accidentally makes his wounds worse, she did it out of good intentions, and she had offered hospitality anyway, so Ye Hua felt it was necessary to repay her kindness. He goes into the mortal realm, in his human form, and pretended to be heavily wounded. The two unexpectedly fall in love, and Ye Hua gifts her the name of Su Su and they marry, despite the fact that he already had an arranged marriage with Bai Qian of Qing Qiu (who was, unbeknownst to him, in a trial as Su Su).

In order to prevent the same tragedy that happened to Sang Ji, who previously had an arranged marriage with Bai Qian, and Shao Xin, Bai Qian's servant, from befalling, Ye Hua attempts to fake his death while hiding Su Su from the Nine Heavens, especially after she became pregnant with his child. However, Ye Hua's plans were eventually thwarted and Su Su was brought to the Nine Heavens.

Su Jin (Huang Mengying), who is jealous of Ye Hua's love for Su Su, intentionally creates a series of misunderstanding between them and causes Su Su to lose her eyes. After giving birth to A Li, a devastated Su Su jumps off from the Zhu Xian Terrace, an act fatal to all mortals, thinking that Ye Hua had betrayed her. Instead of dying, the seal on her memories and powers is broken, restoring Su Su back to her new goddess status as Bai Qian. Unable to deal with the psychological trauma, Bai Qian asks Zhe Yan for his amnesia potion to erase all her memories of the events after her powers were sealed, and she forgets everything, including meeting Ye Hua.

Three hundred years later, Bai Qian receives an invite to a banquet, and she meets Ye Hua, who mistakes her for Su Su. Another lifetime, another world, Ye Hua recognizes Bai Qian as the woman he loves, but the latter remains indifferent as she does not recognise him. Ye Hua begins to pursue Bai Qian for the second time to regain her affections, and eventually succeeds when his love is requited. Qing Cang, who had gained more power after the death of his first son, attempts to release crimson hellfire onto heaven and earth when he would die via the Bell of the East Emperor, and Ye Hua battles with him and eventually manages to kill the Ghost Lord, but in turn this would unleash the crimson hellfire. Ye Hua sacrifices his spirit to the Bell to stop it from destroying heaven and earth, and Bai Qian is unconsolable after seeing his lifeless body. By this time, Mo Yuan had already awakened after spending 70,300 years trying to repair his spirit, which had been scattered into many pieces.

For three years, Bai Qian kept on seeing Ye Hua, only to realize that it had only been a dream or an illusion. Due to complicated reasons and being in a crystal coffin in the Restful Sea, Ye Hua awakens after only three years of slumber, and is reunited with Bai Qian.

Cast

Main

Yang Mi as Bai Qian/Si Yin/Su Su

Bai Qian: A white Nine-Tailed Fox. Youngest child of the Fox King and current female monarch of Qingqiu. A well-respected High Goddess in the heavenly realm, who is revered for her beauty. She has a sassy and forthright personality. Although her memories and affection for Ye Hua were erased, she fell in love with him once again when they met in the heavenly realm

Si Yin: Alias of Bai Qian when she was the disciple of Mo Yuan. During her times in Kunlun, she fell in love with Li Jing but was later betrayed by him and Xuan Nü. She also developed a deep bond with Mo Yuan as his disciple, and tried all sorts of methods in order to bring him back to life after his soul was destroyed by the Dong Huang bell. As Si Yin, nobody knew that she was a woman except for Zhe Yan, Mo Yuan, Li Jing, and Bai Qian

Su Su: Mortal identity of Bai Qian, with her memories and powers sealed by Qing Cang after she successfully re-seals Qing Cang in the Dong Huang bell. She unknowingly fell in love with Ye Hua, married him, and gave birth to their son, A Li. However, due to misunderstandings, she jumped off the Zhu Xian terrace and returned to her goddess identity.

Mark Chao (Shiyue Anxi (young) ) as Mo Yuan/Jin Lian/Ye Hua/Zhao Ge

Mo Yuan: The eldest son of Heavenly Father, and the undefeatable God of War. He is also the Master of Kunlun as well as Bai Qian (Si Yin)'s mentor and Ye Hua's older twin brother. Wise and mature, he is well-respected and revered by all the immortals in the Nine Heavens. Mo Yuan used his soul to seal Qing Cang in the Dong Huang bell and in doing so, shattered his soul. After he defeated Qing Cang, he spent the next 70,300 years piecing his soul back together.

Jin Lian: The Golden Lotus residing at Kunlun. Was taken care by Si Yin during her stay in Kun Lun.

Ye Hua: A black dragon. Crown Prince of the Nine Heavens. Having bore the responsibility of a future ruler since he was born, Ye Hua has a stoic personality and is more mature than his age. He hides his pain behind his calm exterior, choosing to sacrifice for his loved ones silently. Meeting and falling in love with Su Su during his trip to the mortal world changed his personality, and he becomes more exuberant. When Su Su was forced into the Nine Heavens, he appears to be cold to her in front of company to hide their relationship, believing it was the only way to protect her.

Supporting

Ken Chang as Zhe Yan

A phoenix immortal and one of the few remaining primordial High Gods. He is a good friend of the Bai family, and shares a special relationship with Bai Zhen. He keeps out of the affairs of the eight realms, choosing to guard and nurture the ten miles of peach blossoms he planted. He is good at wine brewing and also possesses remarkable medical skills.

Zhang Gong as Bai Zhi

Also known as Fox King, ruler of Qing Qiu Fox Tribe. Bai Qian, Bai Zhen and Bai Yi's father. He is a powerful god, once defeating the four mythical beasts that guard the Divine Fungal Grass.

Ma Rui as Fox Queen - Wife of Bai Zhi. Bai Qian, Bai Zhen and Bai Yi's mother.

Leng Haiming as Bai Yi

Second son of the Fox King, Bai Qian's elder brother and Feng Jiu's father. He is feared by the younger generation due to his strict and unyielding demeanor.

Yu Menglong as Bai Zhen

Fourth son of the Fox King, Bai Qian's elder brother. He loves to drink and wishes to live a carefree life. He shares a special relationship with Zhe Yan.

Dilraba Dilmurat as Bai Fengjiu

Bai Yi's daughter and Bai Qian's niece. She is the world's only nine-tailed red fox, and the next monarch of Qing Qiu. Feng Jiu fell in love with Dong Hua when he saved her from being killed by the Golden Lion beast, and thereafter moved into Tai Chen Palace to serve Dong Hua and repay his kindness.

Consort Chen: Feng Jiu's mortal identity, when she descended into the mortal realm to assist Dong Hua in completing his love trials.

Production

The series began production in 2015. Primarily crew members was announced; with Lam Yuk-fan as the director, Zhang Shuping as the style director, Chen Haozhong as the art director and Zhang Shijie as the costume designer. It was announced that Gcoo Entertainment (a subsidiary of Huace Studio) will produce the drama.

Principal photography began on February 10, 2016, at Xiangshan Movie & Television Town. The whole crew wrapped up filming on June 30, 2016. Filming also took place in Puzhehei, Yunnan. More than 80% of the sets were newly built in order to avoid replication.

Soundtrack

The Eternal Love OST was digitally released on February 18, 2017. The popularity of the series has led to the soundtrack, "Bracing the Chill" to become one of the most covered songs in 2017. The soundtracks and background music were released on three discs, with a total of 60 tracks.

Reception

Eternal Love is a commercial success in China, with over 50 billion views on Chinese streaming sites, making it the most viewed Chinese drama. The series also surpassed 1% in ratings on both television stations, averaging 1.288% on Dragon TV and 1.041% on Zhejiang TV.

The series has also attracted large number of foreign fans, which was said to mark a new renaissance for Chinese television. Its success factors were attributed to its beautiful scenes, poetic dialogues and popular stars; as well as the strong fanbase of its original novel.

Ratings

Highest ratings are marked in red, lowest ratings are marked in blue

International broadcast

Malaysia Astro Quan Jia HD (From Apr 5, Daily 7PM)

Singapore

VV Drama (From Apr 8, Sat 7:15 PM, After on Jun 10 Onwards, Sat-Sun 7:15 PM)

MediaCorp Channel 8 (From Sep 27, 2018, Weekdays 11 PM)

Hong Kong TVB Jade (U.S, Australia Version: From May 8, Weekday 8:30 PM, HK Version: From Jun 12, Weekday 7Pm)

South Korea Chunghwa TV (From May 22, Weekday 10Pm)

Taiwan CTV (From Jul 20, Weekday 8-10 PM)

Malaysia, Indonesia Oh!K (Coming Soon, Wed - Fri 6 PM MAL, 5PM JKT/BKK)

Vietnam VTV3 (From Jul 19, Weekday 12PM)

Cambodia CTV 8 HD (8 May 2017)

Thailand Channel 3 (From Mar 25, 2019, Mondays to Fridays 12:30PM)

Hong Kong myTV SUPER (22 May 2020)

Peru PANTEL (19 Jul 2020)