《与凤行》 The Legend of Shen Li – Slow burn historical fantasy Chinese drama

The actress Zhao Li Ying, who portrays the main female lead, attracted me to pick up 《与凤行》 “The Legend of Shen Li”, and she didn’t disappoint. She carried the show, and her character became one of my favourite female leads in Chinese dramas.

I loved her character so much that I’ve bookmarked the original book to read later this year (hopefully!). I wasn’t satisfied with certain parts of the show, so I hope that’s the problem with the adaptation, not the original work.

Synopsis

Born into the immortal realm, Shen Li grew in power, and her skill on the battlefield eventually earned her the title of General Bi Cang. Pressured into a political marriage against her will, the general chose to fight for her freedom rather than accept the match. Sustaining injuries, Shen Li reverts to her original form and falls into the human world as a phoenix, where she is picked up by a mortal vendor and sold as a plucked chicken at a local human market to the sickly Xing Yun, who is unable to pass by the plucked chicken he sees caged at the human market. With that single purchase, Xing Yun links his fate with Shen Li’s and love is born.

Passing through the three realms and time, just as things are saved and reborn, in a small corner, an ancient evil is being revived. With a stunning betrayal, Shen Li’s world is turned upside down, but her stubbornness and fierceness will not stop her from seeking revenge and the truth. Going against Natural Law, their love becomes both their strength and taboo. As more secrets are revealed, will they ultimately win against evil and save the three realms from utter destruction? What will happen to their eternal love?

Source: Editted from Dramalist

Trailer

The Watching Experience

《与凤行》 “The Legend of Shen Li” is a historical high fantasy drama revolving around the main character trying to balance her duties of protecting her realm and her forbidden love for a god while dealing with an alliance between the realms.

Given that this is a high fantasy drama with a big world-saving plot, it was surprisingly peaceful and calming to watch, with many therapeutic slice-of-life scenes.

The show begins with a slow and calming slice-of-life subplot, which I enjoyed. From reading reviews on Dramalist, many found these episodes boring and only continued due to their love for actress Zhao Li Ying. Ever since experiencing 《去有风的地方》 “Meet Yourself”, I’ve grown to love these types of scenes and crave a historical version of 《去有风的地方》 “Meet Yourself”.

While I enjoyed the plot and felt it was decent, it was slow, with many subplots before the main plot picked up in the last segment of the show. Honestly, like most viewers, Zhao Li Ying was the reason I didn’t drop this—she is an absolute pleasure to watch.

Romance

《与凤行》 “The Legend of Shen Li” is roughly 40% romance and 60% major plot advancements.

The romantic development between a general accustomed to battles and a god wanting to experience a slow and mundane moral life advanced nicely initially. It was slow, calming and humorous, with none of the cliche scenes often found in historical fantasy Chinese dramas.

However, after the initial episodes, their relationship development felt awkward, distanced, and lacking in chemistry.

As the show progressed, the male lead’s choice became blinded by love, and many of his decisions were selfish, drastic and illogical. Watching these scenes became different as they felt disconnected from the previous romantic development.

The main protagonist

The main protagonist, Shen Li, is an extremely powerful general in her realm. She has a calm, focused and strong personality. From the beginning of the show, it is clear what her priorities and ambitions are, and she never sways from this.

In her realm, females and males were equal, and females could take on the roles of a fighter and leader, just like the main character and their realm’s female ruler (Shen Li’s foster mother). Neither of these characters was belittled due to their gender.

Unfortunately, this couldn’t be said for those from the other realms. During Shen Li’s visit to the other realms, her “male-like” temperaments were often commented on. However, these comments did not affect her, and she continued being herself. Honestly, it’s one of the best parts of her character!

In addition to her unwavering personality, she did not lose all logic and IQ in the face of love, which is quite common in other dramas of the same type. She truly carried the show and became one of my favourite female leads in Chinese historical dramas.

I also loved how her character was presented from an aesthetic point of view. Her costumes are elegant and beautiful, and she looked amazingly cool with her spear during fight scenes!

Production Quality

The quality of the show’s production is high, from beautiful aesthetics to amazing music.

The aesthetics, setting and costume design are some of the highlights of 《与凤行》 “The Legend of Shen Li”. It’s beautiful and whimsical without looking over the top.

The costumes’ colour palette blended perfectly with the scenery. I’m not a fan of the bright colours often used in historical fantasy shows, so my eyes welcomed the softer tones used in this show.

Difficulty for a Chinese learner

Like many historical high-fantasy Chinese dramas, 《与凤行》 “The Legend of Shen Li” is overloaded with world-building—a challenging aspect for a language learner.

The beginning episodes are relatively easy and straightforward, as they are set in the human realm with a slice-of-life subplot. The show becomes challenging once the main character returns to her realm, and we start to explore the rest of their world and the calamity surrounding them.

The dialogue has a medium level of historical prose. There aren’t many places, characters, or made-up terminologies, making《与凤行》 “The Legend of Shen Li” an approachable historical high-fantasy drama. Prior experience is highly recommended.

Final Thoughts

Despite not enjoying the romantic development in the later episodes and disagreeing with many of the male lead’s decisions, I still enjoyed most of 《与凤行》 “The Legend of Shen Li.”

For fans of Zhao Li Ying, 《与凤行》 “The Legend of Shen Li” is a must-watch as she is brilliant! Given Zhao Li Ying’s baby face, I was pleasantly surprised she managed to pull off this strong character so well.

I can recommend 《与凤行》 “The Legend of Shen Li” to Zhao Li Ying or Lin Geng Xin fans and those who enjoy historical fantasy romance and love a strong female character.