Top Five Chinese Novel Adaptations (Part 3)
ANNYEONGHASEYO & NI HAO!
Welcome one, welcome all to my continual descent into madness. Yes, my Chinese novel obsession still lives on after part one of this article in which I chronicled my humble beginnings in both Chinese novels and dramas. So today I will cut to the chase and take you on another journey of great adaptions of Chinese novels to dramas.
(Warning: I went with novels and adaptations which I have read and watched to some degree. I did not count any currently airing or about to air dramas for obvious reasons.)
THE STORY OF MING LAN
- Book Title: Legend of Concubine's Daughter
by Gu Xin Ze Luan - Genre: Historical, Political, Romance
- MDL Rating: 9.0
- Differences: Minimal
- Other Adaptions: None
- Which is better?: Hands down, this is the best adaptation of a Chinese novel (fight me on this)
- EVER! I love both the novel and drama equally. You have outstanding female and male leads, and an untouchable power couple.
ETERNAL LOVE
- Book Title:
Ten Miles of Peach Blossoms by Tang Qi Gong Zi - Genre: Fantasy, Drama, Romance, Historical
- MDL Rating: 9.0
- Differences: Minimal
- Other Adaptions: SO MANY
- Which is better?: As times flies by, my liking of this drama wanes, but that is to be expected. In general, it is fun. The book does a better job of explaining this Wuxia world.
ODE TO JOY
- Book Title: Ode to Joy by A Nai
- Genre: Friendship, Comedy, Life, Youth
- MDL Rating: 8.5
- Differences: Minimal
- Other Adaptions: Ode to Joy 2; Ode to Joy 3
- Which is better?: Both are enjoyable because the premise is just about following the lives of these five modern women and all that life throws at them.
PRINCESS AGENTS
- Book Title: The Legend of Chu Qiao
by Xiao Xiang Dong'er - Genre: Action, Historical, Tragedy, Romance
- MDL Rating: 8.3
- Differences: Good Amount
- Other Adaptions: None
- Which is better?: The novel still holds up compared to the drama, mainly because there were moments where they didn't do the story any justice.
BOSS & ME
- Book Title: Come and Eat, Shan Shan by Gu Man
- Genre: Friendship, Business, Comedy, Romance
- MDL Rating: 8.3
- Differences: Good Amount
- Other Adaptions: None
- Which is better?: I really love the novel more compared to the drama. I wish they had stuck to how the novel portrays each character, especially because they made the female lead the classic sweet girl in the drama.
Well, that is it for part two! There are still so many other Chinese novels adapted to dramas, it is hard to name them all, but there is a feature on MDL that uses the tag. If you are interested in looking for more, I urge you to use that feature. A lot of Chinese novels are historical, so I sort of sifted through and just hand-picked those I've personally watched and read the novel. Anyway, please leave a comment on your favourite in the list or any I've likely missed. As always, stay safe and be kind to one another.
[Psssst... there is something unusual/funny about my list that I didn't realize until it was finished. Bonus points if you can name what it is in the comments.]
Until Next Time!
Edited by: Yuanwei (2nd editor)
