Since its premiere, The Litchi Road (长安的荔枝) has experienced a somewhat slow start.
So far, the show's share on Yunhe platform has stabilized around 10%, which suggests that the effective per-episode view count hasn't broken the 10 million mark. Meanwhile, social media discussions show the series lacks breakout topics and overall buzz remains limited.
Even on television, where historical dramas typically hold an advantage, The Litchi Road failed to ignite major interest. According to Kuyun statistics, after airing on CCTV-8, the daily ratings dropped from 1.4885 at debut to 1.2093 by June 10th.
This raises another question: can historical dramas still activate the market today?
Historical dramas—including both serious and legendary genres—have been frequently discussed in the industry over the past two years. Last spring's industry conference featured multiple remarks suggesting "historical dramas may make a comeback as a new market hotspot." A series of projects are also underway, positioning this genre as a key effort to solve current content challenges and boost the market.
The reason lies in the past super high popularity of historical dramas on TV, which made people see the potential for activating diverse audiences. But judging by recent project performances, this assumption deserves a question mark.
Do historical dramas really have a market? And if so, how can they be revitalized today?
Market Potential & Revival
Market Potential & RevivalSix years after The Longest Day in Chang'an, director Cao Dun, lead actor Lei Jiayin, and original author Ma Boyong reunited to create The Litchi Road, aiming to once again craft a "Chang'an" that fulfills the audience's varied imaginations.
The most intuitive nod to the previous work appears in the opening short film "Song Wuji (宋无忌)" of episode five, which recreates a long take almost identical to the first episode of The Longest Day in Chang'an, showcasing the bustling streets of the Tang capital.
More detailed is that, in the previous work, the shot showed a burning paper lantern drifting down from the sky, foreshadowing the fire during the Shangyuan Festival; this time, what falls is a scroll of the famous poem Qing Ping Yue allegedly written by Li Bai for Yang Guifei, crushed into the mud by a wheel, symbolizing a stance toward the "one horse red dust and the concubine's smile," and hinting at the tragic Mawei slope incident.
It must be said that Cao Dun fully leveraged his talent for creating authentic ancient scenes and atmosphere, delivering another audiovisual masterpiece portraying the Tang dynasty's grandeur.
The problem, perhaps, lies in the fact that today's audience sets a much higher bar for production quality than before, especially as costume, makeup, and props for period dramas have become increasingly realistic, which reduces the weight of production advantage on reputation.
By contrast, several narrative issues in the series become even more pronounced.
For example, the addition of a political intrigue subplot centered around Zheng Ping'an (played by Yue Yunpeng) is an idea that deserves some credit. However, there is a noticeable gap between the concept and its execution.
Zheng Ping'an's character serves two main functions: first, to act as the audience's mouthpiece alongside Li Shande (played by Lei Jiayin), preventing the story from becoming a solo performance like in the original novel, thus enhancing watchability; second, to connect the story to the broader historical context, revealing the characters' more complex and multidimensional identities.
Yet these dual roles suffer from logical inconsistencies within the drama. Zheng Ping'an, a commoner by nature, is unreasonably assigned by the Jing'an Office to impersonate the trusted aide of the Right Chancellor and spy in Lingnan. Meanwhile, Li Shande, portrayed as a representative of the Left Chancellor, frequently interacts with Zheng Ping'an—even conspiring in money-making schemes—which feels like forced comic relief at the expense of logical coherence. Side plots such as the cockfighting competition further detract from the main storyline.
Particularly controversial is the dramatic setup that Zheng Ping'an and Li Shande are at odds, justified by the plot point that Li Shande's wife died early. This has become a flashpoint for criticism of the adaptation, since in the original novel, the family backing was essential to Li Shande's miraculous success. The current character motivations simply don't feel convincing.
The Litchi Road hopes to replicate the success of The Longest Day in Chang'an's "building Chang'an" narrative, but with the market maturing, the challenge grows ever tougher.
As producer A Yi said: "Historical dramas are difficult to produce, and the key problem today is that audiences have a clearer and more emotional understanding of different historical periods, including diverse and often controversial evaluations. What historical dramas must do is strive to reconstruct as faithfully as possible the audience's perception of that history, which is obviously very hard."
In fact, much of the controversy surrounding recent historical dramas stems from this emotional and subjective audience perception. Recent examples include A Love Never Lost and, a bit further back, The Emperial Age (山河月明) and Riverside Code at Qingming Festival.
"Setting aside the basic dramaturgical issues, historical dramas may be among the genres most severely impacted in today's age of information overload," veteran industry figure Lao Zheng observes. "I find it hard to imagine how many past hit historical dramas would fare today without sparking fierce debates."
So, where does the industry's confidence in historical dramas come from?
Industry Confidence: Data-Driven Foundations
Industry Confidence: Data-Driven FoundationsHistorically, historical dramas have held an undeniable place in the landscape of Chinese television.
Starting with the 16-episode 1986 series Nurhaci, directed by Chen Jialin, historical dramas—including both serious dramas and legendary epics—have dominated the TV screens for years. For example, 1995's Wu Zetian achieved a massive 34.7% viewership share; more recently, Yongzheng Dynasty became a sensation on the internet, having once scored 19% ratings on CCTV in 1999, with northern regions reporting viewership exceeding 80% at its peak.
With the improvement of production capabilities, historical dramas entered a boom period in the 21st century. Serious dramas included titles such as Kangxi Dynasty, Towards the Republic, The Great Grain Warehouse, and Emperor Wu of Han; legendary historical dramas featured Iron Teeth Bronze Teeth Ji Xiaolan, The Palace of Desire, and Xiaozhuang Mishi.
Given this strong market influence, it is natural that with ongoing innovations in content, historical dramas have been brought back into focus in recent years.
Platform producer Bao Wei believes that this is indeed a good time to develop historical dramas.
"Firstly, there's a favorable market environment. Many don't realize that the past popularity of historical dramas was based on their family-friendly appeal: male viewers enjoyed political intrigue, female viewers followed stories of love and hatred, and children could get a cultural and historical education. So, with the growing diversity of online audiences today, historical dramas still have their space."
In recent years, many traditional TV drama genres have found new life online, supported by a wide range of age groups. Family dramas and period dramas like Romance In The Alley, Six Sisters (六姊妹), and The Road of Life (人生之路) have all enjoyed solid online numbers. This could well serve as a "tailwind" for historical dramas.
Bao Wei adds: "Another positive factor is production capabilities. Today's industrial-level production allows for much better recreation of historical eras—large-scale battle scenes and celebrations included—which is a key focus in this current wave of historical dramas."
Indeed, in the last two years, many platforms and companies have announced a surge of historical drama projects.
For example, mega historical epics like The Han Chronicles (大汉赋) and The Tang Chronicles (大唐赋) are in the works. Notably, The Tang Chronicles: Battle Music (大唐赋之破阵乐) has been officially listed for production, with rumors that Ren Jialun might portray Emperor Taizong (Li Shimin). Meanwhile, New Classics Media is producing The Winds Stirring Zhang Juzheng (风禾尽起张居正), with rumored stars such as Hu Ge and Chen Daoming attached.
There are also character-driven legends like Hu Shanwei and City of Wonders (天工之城). The latter is penned by Liu Heng with Zheng Xiaolong as chief director.
One of the fastest projects to reach audiences might be The Years of Peace (太平年), which recently wrapped filming. Directed by Yang Lei, it stars Bai Yu, Zhou Yutong, Yu Haoming, and Zhu Yawen, telling the story of the Wu-Yue Kingdom's submission to the Song Dynasty, painting the turbulent historical dust of the late Five Dynasties period.
Director Lao Ding points out that current historical drama creations are often heavily influenced by contemporary market understanding.
"Creating historical dramas can take a broad or narrow approach," explains Director Lao Ding. "If you're depicting princes and generals, that's a broad canvas showcasing the grand historical landscape. But if you focus on legendary figures or even the fates of ordinary people, that's a smaller, more intimate perspective. The former feels epic and grand, while the latter can better evoke empathy from the audience. Many of Ma Boyong's original works, for example, fall into this smaller scope."
This latter approach has been relatively rare in past historical storytelling, but according to Lao Ding, it reflects current creative progress. "It's about letting historical figures step down from the stage and live as ordinary people; sometimes even looking at history through the eyes of common folk. That's the trend in today's storytelling."
Recent well-received dramas like Tianxia Changhe and Tian Xingjian have actually validated this approach, though these shows have yet to recapture the massive market heat of the past.
The challenges facing historical dramas today are numerous.
Content & Commercial Pressures
Content & Commercial Pressures
Take production costs, for example. As mentioned earlier, many recent projects are key investments by major platforms. To achieve that epic quality, spending on costumes, sets, and special effects is indispensable—The Longest Day in Chang'an reportedly cost as much as 600 million yuan.
Thanks to technological advances, many productions may now deliver better quality for less money. Still, historical dramas remain a high-risk investment in the industry.
That risk also extends to whether a project even gets approved. Years of debates over historical dramas—accusations of "over-entertainment" or "historical nihilism"—have made it much harder to get such projects greenlit since around 2015.
Hence, recent creations try to avoid featuring real historical figures. The Longest Day in Chang'an, for example, changed the original character of He Luguang, the Military Commissioner of the Five Prefectures in Lingnan, to He Youguang, Governor of Gaozhou. Court officials are instead referred to by titles like Sage, Imperial Concubine, Left Chancellor, and Right Chancellor.
On top of these production challenges, the "cold reception" problem of historical dramas over the years has made efforts feel "thankless."
In serious historical dramas, there hasn't been a blockbuster since The Story of the Zhenguan (贞观长歌) in 2007. The recent "big canvas" epic The Qin Empire ended on a lukewarm note amid controversy.
After dramas like The Empress of China, Queen Dugu, and Legend of Lu Zhen presented history in a more entertainment-focused way—sparking many disputes—historical legends have leaned more toward mixing with suspense and detective elements, as seen in Wind from Longxi and Wind from Luoyang. Yet these too struggle to produce major hits.
So how can historical dramas truly become engaging?
Lao Ding believes it's crucial to strike a balance between entertaining content and serious expression. "It's been proven that overdoing entertainment doesn't work. But if the viewing threshold is too high, like in Ming Dynasty 1566, the market response won't be good either."
"Audiences want stories that are engaging—sometimes even a bit cheesy—but the themes and ideas must still hold weight. Historical narratives are special. If the theme is just romance, then it's really just a costume love drama. But viewers of historical dramas expect deeper spiritual values, such as patriotism and culture."
Producer A Yi agrees: "Audiences often have conflicting expectations for historical dramas. On one hand, they simply want to be entertained. On the other, some viewers demand accuracy in historical facts, character portrayal, and narrative depth. Creators find it very hard to satisfy both fully, but they have to try their best."
In today's age of information overload, historical dramas must present stories with texture and depth while meeting diverse audience expectations. The current controversies surrounding The Longest Day in Chang'an highlight just how difficult this balance is.
Still, in an industry undergoing content transformation, perhaps every opportunity to try should be seized.
