The Time Traveling Princess reflects the changes in costume dramas

What if you could turn your life back 20 years? How would you experience it the second time?

This premise of the popular online novel The Princess Royal, fascinated producer Yuan Yumei when she first came across the story and inspired her to produce a 40-episode TV series of the same name.

Starring Zhao Jinmai as the titular heroine and the emperor’s eldest daughter, the series spans two tumultuous decades and takes place when the princess is poisoned after living in a cold, loveless marriage to a high-ranking official who is later murdered himself. The pair travel back in time to when they were both young and embark on a journey to uncover their intertwined fates and together solve the mystery behind their deaths.

During a recent symposium in Beijing, Yuan revealed that the costume drama aims to engage with contemporary audiences by prompting them to re-evaluate their own relationships and encouraging them to consider how broken bonds can be repaired can be.

Since airing on Zhejiang Television and streaming on Youku earlier this year, the show has enjoyed great popularity, as evidenced by reaching over 18 percent of the audience on Youku and topping the list of most-watched shows on the online platform seven times led.

Li Jingsheng, deputy head of the China Federation of Radio and Television Associations, said “The Princess Royal” reflects a new trend in costume dramas that focuses more on stories set in a different history but still drawing on centuries-old traditions can be inspired.

He explained that the drama was clearly influenced by the aesthetics and temperament of the Southern and Northern Dynasties (420–581), exemplified by the fact that the official’s journey depicts the struggle of individuals from humble backgrounds to rise in a dynasty Era dominated by aristocrats symbolize families.