Title
Lady Warriors Of The Yang Family aka Legendary Fighter-Yang Heroines
How Long
40 episodes
Year
2001
Prologue
Please note that "Lady Warriors Of The Yang Family" and "Heroines of the Yang" are 2 different serials. The former is a Taiwan cum Singapore production produced in 2001, the latter was a production of ATV in 1998.
WARNING
Spoilers are sprawled all over the review, DO NOT read the review at all if u do not want me to spoil the serial for u coz I really don't know how to write a review without revealing all the important scenes of the serial. Please note that any negative comments about the character written is aimed at the character itself and not the artiste playing them!
Storyline
Jiang Bin <---> Bamei <--->Yang An<---Paifeng Well, as you can see from the the arrows, it's a typical rectangular love story. Bamei, Yang An and Paifeng are childhood buddies. Yang An and Bamei loves to bicker and never see eye to eye on every incident. Yang An feels that Bamei is willful and beyond reason, while Bamei feels that Yang An is stubborn and a block of wood. Paifeng always plays the role of a mediator. However some incidents caused Bamei and Yang An to became closer and they also realized that they work together very well. Bamei was shot by Jiang Bin during the war with the Liaos and Yang An saved her life. He was very worried about her and discovered that he has indeed fell for her. Bamei pulled through and her relation with Yang An deepens. Bamei met Jiang Bin and became friends with him. She didn't know he's a lackey of the Liao with ulterior motives. Jiang Bin tried to court Bamei and Yang An is very jealous. Yang An and Bamei has some misunderstanding and Jiang Bin seized the chance to come between them. Bamei later fell for Jiang Bin. Yang An was devastated by wished the best for Bamei. He later feel that Jiang Bin's background is a bit suspicious and became wary of him. Jiang Bin revealed his true colors to Yang An and Yang An arranged for a duel with Jiang Bin. The one who lose will have to leave Bamei. Jiang Bin injured Yang An before the duel and hence Yang An lost during the duel in front of Bamei. Bamei asked him how he got injured and he said Jiang Bin did it. Bamei did not believe in that and decided to test Jiang Bin. She told Jiang Bin that Yang An had decoded the name list containing the traitor's name. Jiang Bin thus drugged Bamei and went to stopped Yang An. Bamei was devastated and shock to find out the truth and she accidentally killed Jiang Bin with her own hands. This was a great blow for her and she took quite some time to recover. Just when she was recovering, she killed Jingling accidentally again and this time she became despondent. No matter how hard Yang An and Paifeng tried to console her, she felt guilty for killing them. She felt that her hands are stained with blood. Lady She sent her to the temple her brother is in, hoping that Wulang would help Bamei tie over this crisis. Yang An showed her support for Bamei. Finally Bamei sorted out her thoughts and accepted Yang An. Si Niang(1st wife) <---> Si Lang <--->Princess Yingjing(2nd wife)
Silang is the 4th son of Lady She, everyone thought he was killed in that battle with the Liaos at Jing Sa Tang. His 1st wife, together with the wives of his brothers took up the responsibilities of fighting off the Liaos again at Jing Sa Tang. Siniang was thinking of Silang and looking at their love memento (scarf) when the scarf flew down the cliff, she jumped to get the scarf without thinking and was saved by Princess Yingjing. Both of them like each other at first sight. Yingjing dropped her pouch and Siniang picked up for her. The pouch was a love memento from her husband. They didn't know they were supposed to be enemies. Yingjing's husband came and fetch her. Siniang seems to hear Silang's voice......
Lady She asked Siniang to deliver a peace letter to Empress Xiao (ruler of Liao Empire). Princess Yingjing saw her and was shocked that she's a Yang warrior. Out of respect and admiration, she invited Siniang to dine with her. Silang saw Siniang and wanted to avoid her but was too late. Siniang saw that he was not dead and even became the consort of the Liao Empire, was thus devastated and disappointed. Silang explained to her that Princess Yingjing saved his life and the Empress forced him to be her consort. He has no choice but to agree. Later Siniang brought him back to the Song camp to see Lady She. Lady She is happy that he's alive, but was sad that he became the Liao's consort.
Princess Yingjing felt that Silang was hiding something from her and forced to truth from him. She did not know he was formerly a Yang warrior. Empress Xiao too learn about the truth and wanted to kill him, but after repeated pleas from Yingjing she relented and asked them to get out of their sight. Silang was to choose between Yingjing and Siniang.
Princess Yingjing asked Siniang out and both of them had a duel, the winner would be able to be with Silang. Halfway through the fight, both of them started laughing at their own silliness and said that the ultimate decision should lie in Silang's hands, there's no point in them fighting over him now. Silang finally came out with a decision. He decided to leave with Princess Yingjing. Siniang, though sad about his decision, wished them happiness and thanked Silang for giving her and identity, a goal in life and a family.
Later Yingjing and Silang returned to the Liao Empire upon Jingling's death. Empress Xiao blamed Bamei for killing her daughter. Yingjing hope that Empress Xiao would not make things difficult for Silang. Paifeng was poisoned when she helped Jingling sucked the poison out. In order to save her, they have to get Empress Xiao's hair to make the antidote. Qiniang, Wuniang and Yang An came to the Liao to get Empress Xiao's hair. Silang learnt about this matter and decided to help them. He failed and was injuried. Yingjing, upon learning what Paifeng did for her sister, decided to help them get her mother's hair. Empress Xiao was infuriated when she discovered that Yingjing had betrayed her. She gave Yingjing her hair and disowned her. Yingjing, Silang and their son left the Liao and lead a peaceful life together.
Emperor<--->Princess Jingling aka Lady Wang <--->Beimengduo
Lady Wang is the most doted concubine of the Emperor. She's the daughter of a high ranking official Wang Qin. They are worried about the strength of the Yang family and decided to get rid of them. Once the Emperor was out of the palace and was almost assassinated, Bamei happen to save the Emperor. The Emperor fell for Bamei after this and wanted to make her his concubine. But he's afraid that the Yangs would not be happy, so he asked Bamei to come to the palace to accompany him first. Bamei agreed because she wanted to investigate about the namelist containing the traitors' names. The Emperor began to neglect and avoid Lady Wang after that. Bamei sniggered at Lady Wang. Once Bamei, Paifeng, Lady Wang, Emperor and Beimengduo went horse riding together. Paifeng encouraged Lady Wang to try horse riding and the horse got out of control later. Luckily Beimengduo saved her. They seems to have some special feelings for each other. The Yangs finally managed to decode the namelist and found out that Wang Qin is the traitor and Lady Wang is actually a Liao Princess. Jingling and Beimengduo thus tried to fled from the Palace and they took the Emperor as the hostage. Wang Qin, in order to save his own life, decided to help the Yangs to save the Emperor. Jingling was injured by a poison dart. She did not want to burden Beimengduo and wanted to run away from him while he was fetching some water for her. Paifeng tracked her down and wanted to bring her back to the Songs. Beimengduo came in time and wanted to kill Paifeng. Jingling stopped him, saying that Paifeng is her friend. Paifeng, touched by her sincerity decided to help them flee the city and even helped Jingling sucked the poison out. Bamei and Yang An found their whereabouts and Jingling, feeling that she owned Paifeng, decided to surrender. Paifeng agree to release them for a day to let them spend the day together as they like it. Dawn came but Jingling and Beimengduo are still not back. The Yangs decided to look for them and met them in the forest. Wang Qin claimed that they are trying to run away. Jingling explained that they were actually on their way back but was stopped by Wang Qin who wanted to claim credit for capturing them. Bamei, Yang An and Beimengduo began fighting and in an effort to save Beimengduo, Jingling was stabbed by Bamei and she died. Beimengduo, devastated, carried Jingling and jumped down the cliff.
Seagull's checklist (in order of priority)
The LIKE List: Jingling, Paifeng, Siniang, Qiniang, Yang An
The sometimes like sometimes hate list: Bamei
The HATE List: Empress Xiao, Wang Qin, Jiang Bin, Si Lang, Song Emperor
The Wimp List: Si Lang, Song Emperor
Favorite Couple
Jingling and Beimengduo. I guess it's because they didn't have a good ending and I think they deserve a good ending. haizzzzz.
The second couple is definitely Bamei and Yang An!
Least Favorite Couple
Funn please don't kill me, coz I am going to say...........YUELING AND ROGER hahahaha. I mean I don't like the couple Yingjing and Silang, coz I'm on Siniang's side hahahaha. I think she's so pathetic! I seriously wonder who would Silang choose if he didn't have a son with Yingjing. I always think he chose Yingjing because they had a son. ARGH....I hate it when children comes in the way in such decisions. But come to think of it, even if Silang were to choose Siniang, if I'm Siniang, I wouldn't want him anymore.
Another couple is Jiang Bin and Bamei, but luckily they didn't end up together in the end. Whew!
The memorable scenes
1. Bamei offended the Emperor who then order Xie Jing Wu to tear down "Wu Ning Lou", a stone sculpture the Emperor gave the Yangs as a commemoration of their patriotism to the country. Paifeng pleaded Xie Jing Wu to give them a few day's grace. Xie agreed, on the condition that Paifeng would act as a horse and pull the cart with him and his soldiers standing on it to the end of the streets. I think this is the first classic scene of the serial.
2. Yang An was trying to train Bamei for the upcoming contest. He repeatedly beat Bamei to the floor and said:" Yang Ba Mei, stand up, you cannot afford to fall, you must be strong." And when Bamei was fighting Beimengdou, she thought of Yang An's words. This is the time when their feelings grew for each other.
3. Liu Lang was taken hostage by Wang Qin and Wang Qin proposed the Yangs to use the name list which contains the names of the traitors to exchange for Liu Lang. Liu Niang was begging Lady She to use the name list, but Lady She rejected the proposal. She said:" When I think of all the mothers who will lost their sons if a war between Song and Liao were to break out, I couldn't bring myself to handover the name list. My son is a son, other's people's sons are also sons, I cannot use their lives to exchange for my son's life......."
4. I like the scene where Yingjing and Siniang were fighting over Silang, though I think this guy is not worth their breath. I find these 2 woman really adorable and it's through this scene that I love Siniang. She said:" When we were together, I'm Silang's ONLY wife, does your husband dare to say the same thing to you?" After hearing that, I was clapping my hands so hard hahaha. This shows that though Siniang looks weak and delicate, she's strong at heart and when time requires, she can give a great speech hahaha.
5. The scene where Wuniang went to Mt Wutai to look for Wulang. I love the scene where she's scolding all the monks. She was saying all these monks never practice what they preach, and in their quest for their so called holy spiritual world, they have hurt their most beloved ones. They always say that Buddha has a merciful heart but how many of them truly practice what Buddha taught?
Well, actually I don't really understand when monks teach people not to indulge in worldly affairs and to seek enlightenment. I'm watching Madam White Snake at the moment also and if u remember Fa Hai tried to separate White Snake and Xu Xian because they belong to different species. But why? What's their business when they didn't hinder you or harm anyone? Why can't the monks mind their own business? I always believe that if someone did something that hurt the welfare of the public, then it's time to intervene, otherwise, let them be, let them do what they want to do. Don't start enforcing your own moral beliefs and own set of thinking on others just because they think differently from you. Don't try to be morally upright and self righteous. Why bother and poke a nose into people's affair? Humans are born differently, we have our own thinking, believes etc. If everyone were to think and act the same, aren't we just mere robots living a mere existences? The immortals and monks in the serials always tell people not to get entangled with love affairs and to seek enlightenment, this is something that baffled me. What's the point of being able to live for thousands of years when you are void of happiness, sorrows, love etc? Aren't humans born to love and hate? I agree sometimes hate and love can grow out of hand, but isn't that what makes life worth living? I guess I just don't have the so called "Hui Gen" so I'll never understand how those monks and nuns feel.
6. The scene where Jingling died. Beimengduo was devastated and started to raved at everyone: "You killers, you all killed her! We are on our way back, why can't you believe us? She's such a kind hearted girl, why did you kill her! I'll make you all pay for this!" Then he started to carry Jingling and run towards the cliff and jumped down. Very sad. I cried. I cried really hard. Very nicely done.
7. Paifeng released Jingling and Beimengduo to let them spend a day together alone. Jingling and Beimengduo spent a peaceful day together. The next day, when Jingling woke up, she murmured:" It's dawn already, we should go back." Beimengduo asked her if she's sure, because they can run away now, and live the life they have always longed for. But Jingling rejected his idea and said:" Yesterday was a gift from Paifeng, I am happy to have a day that I can live as I like, Paifeng is my friend, I cannot do something that would cause her trouble." I truly respect her from the bottom of my heart because despite knowing she would most probably die if she go back, she still insist in going back because of a promise.
The "I don't get it" factor
This is a nonsensical thing. The Liaos had a name list, listing the names of the people who are the Liao's lackey in the Palace. Later the Yangs found the name list and then manage to decode it. All they find is Wang Qin's name in the list?!?!?! What's that?!? Why do u need a name list when there's only one name in it?!!? It doesn't make any sense to me! Actually in the first place, why is there a need for such a list when most of them know who they are?!?! --STUPID--
The second thing that baffled me was why Wulang wanted to be a monk. He said that he wanted to be a monk to atone for the sins that the Yang family committed, because they killed a lot of people during the war. I can understand him for feeling guilty and wanting to atone for the sins, but MUST HE BE A MONK to do that? Must he abandon his wife to do that? I mean u can still chant and pray if u are not a monk right? Praying comes from the heart, not from your identity. Praying as a monk or a normal person doesn't make a difference does it? I just don't understand his insistence in becoming a monk. And he mentioned that he has intention of becoming a monk before war broke up. Then why in the first place did he get married? Aren't u hurting your wife in this way? And from the talk with Wuniang, he seems to still love her. WHYYYYYYYYYYY???
The Performance Rated
Actually everyone did their part really well. In fact this is one of the few serials I had watched and can't find some one who's fake in their acting. The only one perhaps is the girl who acted as Cuiping. She's the daughter of Zheng Pei Pei, I think this is her debut so she pale in comparison.
I want to specially mention the Singaporean actress Michelle Chia who acted as Princess Jingling. I think she did a magnificent job. Do you know that she's actually a host and not really an actress in Singapore? I'm taken aback by her great performance! I never really like her as an artiste but this serial totally changed my mind and she's very very pretty in the serial. Impressive crying skills also. Bravo!
One thing I want to mention. I seriously and sincerely hope Roger would take some other kind of roles and not this kind of act noble and act good and a bit wimpy roles. I HATE IT TO THE CORE! I hate it hate it hate it hate it! Now I just hate the sight of Roger. ARGH. Seeing him reminds me of the word WIMPY. That bad! I really think he was better back then when he acted as villain.
Seagull's recommendation
Frankly speaking, I actually dropped this serial halfway because I find it a bit dry and boring. But later because Funn is begging me to capture screen captures of her Yueling in this serial, I am "forced" to watch it again and I got hooked up again. Well, to conclude, this is a serial that'll be worth your time if you are someone who likes ancient serials with a lot of fightings and politics involved and not so much love stories. I admit I'm someone who cannot survive watching a serial without any love stories. Any serial I watch and like 99.9999999% is because of the love story, so the fact that Seagull actually continued watching this not so romantic, very serious and sometimes boring serial shows that this is a good serial. There are quite some touching scenes that make tears welled up in your eyes suddenly. Another thing, there is not a single artiste in the serial that I like, maybe I can say Carmen and Lian Kai but I'm really not their fan, only remotely like them. I guess that's another reason why I dropped the serial halfway.
Okok enough of crap, rent this serial if you are looking for some good dialogues, awesome fighting, great costumes. The best thing about this serial is the fighting. Very brilliantly done, each move is swift and elegantly done. This is very rare indeed when nowadays a lot of stations are using computer effects and animations to dupe the audience. I HATE fightings with no real substance except computer effects. The best example I can think of is that very highly talked about movie "Legend of Zu". This movie is really lousy and was so "exciting" that I actually zzzzzz while I was watching.
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