C-drama Swords into Plougshares rises to 8.2 on Douban – Zhu Ya Wen, Bai Yu and Zhou Yu Tong celebratory poster released
Michelle Topham 
8.2 is an excellent rating for a historical drama
If you have already watched the recently ended and absolutely superb Chinese historical drama Swords into Ploughshares (aka 太平年), you will probably be as unsurprised as me to learn it has just increased its Douban rating yet again.
This time from its previous 8.1 to a new high today of 8.2 out of 10 on the Chinese online database and review site.
That means, from February 8th when the Chinese drama’s initial Douban rating was 7.8, in just three weeks, it has already risen to an excellent 8.2.
That new Douban rating was announced by Tencent Video earlier today, along with a poster of three of its main cast — Zhu Ya Wen, Bai Yu and Zhou Yu Tong — and, no, the excellent rating isn’t surprising to most Chinese critics and fans either.
Not when most have been lauding the 48 episode C-drama for its writing, performances, cinematography and soundtrack since it premiered on January 23rd.
Anything above an 8.0 on Douban by the way, is an extremely good rating for a historical drama featuring many episodes.
Over 41 percent of viewers rating Swords into Ploughshares gave it a 5 out of 5 stars
To show just how popular the Chinese political themed drama has been, that excellent 8.2 out of 10 Douban rating for Swords into Ploughshares has been amassed from over 101,000 reviews left on the site in the last few weeks.
Out of those reviews, 41.1 percent of people gave the Chinese drama 5 stars, 39.3 percent awarded it a 4 out of 5, and 12.5 percent gave it a 3 out of 5 stars.
RELATED: Swords into Ploughshares releases 17 beautiful stills of main cast
In other words, over 80 percent of Chinese viewers who watched Swords into Ploughshares gave the drama either a 4 or a 5 out of 5 stars.
Douban then converts those ratings into a score out of 10 — in this case, 8.2 out of 10 in total.
Douban comments for Swords into Ploughshares
Thousands of comments were also published on Douban about the war-themed political drama.
One of my favorites is a Chinese viewer who, tongue-in-cheek, tells the Swords into Ploughshares “haters” where to shove their opinions:
Driven by some strange, masochistic mentality, they linger in discussion groups for TV dramas they dislike, relentlessly raving about a show that’s already filmed and aired, trying to turn back time so they can use their keyboards to interfere with the director and screenwriter’s creative power and reshape the work to their liking.
In reality, they’re futilely fighting for a voice they don’t even possess in real life. Douban isn’t a wishing well; have the wishes these haters made in their dedicated groups come true?
while another Chinese viewer had a very thoughtful response to what they had just finished watching, and apparently enjoyed the C-drama so much, they plan on watching it again:
The documentary-like costumes, props, carriages, houses, and food in Swords into Ploughshares ; the meticulously crafted dialogue; the rigorously researched and grand-scale war scenes (like the kneeling and kowtowing scenes in) are all superb.
Long passages of classical Chinese dialogue are delivered with nuanced intonation and personal understanding by the actors, often without needing subtitles. It’s truly a rare gem of a drama.
Some plot points are fictionalized, such as Qian Hongchu’s assassination of Zhang Yanzhe and Chai Rong personally handing the yellow robe to Zhao Kuangyin.
Personally though, I don’t think this detracts from the overall quality; the “converting rice paddies to mulberry fields” scene in the neighboring drama is also fictional.
But all the plot points serve the drama’s theme: the author’s reflections on right and wrong versus life, the people versus the nation, peace versus sovereignty, and under what circumstances which is more important.
While watching, I found myself sighing several times in almost every episode as, yes, “In chaotic times, people are worse off than dogs in prosperous times.”
My minor flaws include: the romance scenes feel abrupt, and Yu Hao Ming’s accent is a bit distracting (but it’s clear he put a lot of effort into his lines). These are my initial impressions. I will watch it again.
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