Li Shishi

In the late Northern Song Dynasty, the famous courtesan in the capital, Li Shishi, was not only beautiful, kind-hearted, and passionate but also a remarkable woman with strong national consciousness and a deep understanding of righteousness. Her life was filled with legendary events. In the television series "The Legendary Courtesan Li Shishi," He Qing portrays Li Shishi, who, upon her debut, narrowly escapes the clutches of the high-ranking official's son and meets the emperor incognito during her first encounter with a client. Her first loss of innocence was with a Jin army general who infiltrated the Song capital to gather military information. A performing piece titled "The Solo Crane Dance" intricately narrates the tragic love story between an emperor who secretly loves a courtesan despite having three thousand beauties in his harem and a fallen woman who considers herself pure. Zhang Xiaolang, Li Shishi's childhood friend, dies at the hands of the emperor she once loved. Before his execution, Shishi and Xiaolang marry, and as the Song Dynasty falls, Shishi finds herself in the Jin camp and resolutely chooses to die for her country. The plot is filled with emotional peaks. "The Legendary Courtesan Li Shishi" portrays a vast historical panorama and a depiction of the social life and customs at the end of the Northern Song Dynasty. The drama was filmed on location in Kaifeng, the 'City of Seven Dynasties,' with a newly constructed street from the Song Dynasty, which vividly recreates the grand architecture, magnificent markets, and elegant pavilions of the Northern Song capital for the audience.