Pursuit of Jade: C-Drama Demands Your Attention—And Delivers

There are shows you can half-watch while folding laundry. Pursuit of Jade is not one of them.

This is a 40-episode Chinese drama that expects you to pay attention—subtitles, politics, a flood of characters—and in return, gives you action, romance, and plenty of intrigue to keep you hooked.

I picked it up after seeing it pop up again and again in my feed, and this time, the hype held up.

Found on Netflix and iQIYI, Pursuit of Jade is an epic historical tale of the love between a general, hiding his identity, Zheng, and the ultra-strong butcher girl who found him injured in the snow, Changyu.

Besides the need to read subtitles, this 40-episode tale requires close concentration. The action is compelling, the interlinking storylines are so interesting, and the romance is beautiful to see unfold—but there are a lot of characters in this C-drama.

Because so many of them are complex, you struggle to see a clear villain. That guy is “bad,” but is he all bad?

Part of that is because where we begin in the story is somewhat in the middle of the intrigue that has been going on for some time. In an effort to avoid spoilers, I will just say that there was once a bad king, and the fallout of his decisions is now reflected a generation or two later.

If you’re someone who has seen previous historic Chinese TV, you might recognize some of the effects they use for swordplay. Impressive. This show didn’t have some of the issues I’ve had with previous C-dramas—there weren’t a lot of problems with dubbing, which made it easier to stay immersed.

The production value of this show is gorgeous. Costumes, scenery, styling—I’m not sure what was created and what was CG, but it is seamlessly beautiful.

The lead male was played by the gorgeous Zhang Linghe. I saw him in last year’s modern romance The Best Thing, available on iQIYI, where he played a kind traditional medicine doctor. He deftly plays both gentle and fierce, depending on if he’s dealing with his girl or his army. After watching these two shows of his, I’d like to see more of his work.

The lead female is played by Tian Xiwei. That’s one pretty girl playing a badass—those of you who love a strong woman will love everything about her. She’s about protecting her family, her village, her people, and even random children who need help. She fights because she has to, she wins because she’s awesome.

She also has a rough charm—she just doesn’t care about impressing anyone. And her man isn’t trying to change her or make her anything less than she is.

This show dropped its last episode on Monday, March 30, so by the time you read this, all the episodes will have dropped on Netflix. iQIYI loaded them earlier, so I did finish this series there. Netflix gave me better picture quality, but if you absolutely fall in love with this show, iQIYI has a whole slew of behind-the-scenes footage you may want to check out.

Plus, you can go watch The Best Thing, which was a truly lovely romance, too.

Who do I think will like Pursuit of Jade the most?

• People who love action—it’s nearly nonstop. Every episode has some, including some really impressive fight scenes and clever military tactics.

• People who like historical shows. If you get into costumes and a lifestyle that takes you into a feudal society with palace intrigue, this is the kind of thing you’ll enjoy.

• People who love romance. Not only do the lead characters have a good thread of romance, there are also several side plots that are worth seeing.

In terms of appropriate audience, this show passed Chinese broadcast standards, so that means there’s no bad language, no nudity, and even scenes that allude to sex are pretty covered and G-rated. So this show is safe to watch with your kids—provided you don’t mind them watching animals and people slaughtered, because she is a butcher, and this is a war-based show.

I loved Pursuit of Jade. Now that I’ve seen it once, I would probably understand who all the side officials and generals are without getting as confused, which is really my only criticism.

It’s still worth watching.

Complex characters, vivid action, lush scenery, stunning costumes, funny banter, and people to root for—Pursuit of Jadeis worth the approximately 30 hours it takes to view.

Just maybe don’t try to binge it all in one weekend.

Even I didn’t.