New costume drama becomes internet sensation

A still from The Advisor Alliance. [Photo/Mtime]

Among the dynasties in China's 5,000 years of history, the Three Kingdoms, Wei, Shu and Wu dynasties (220-280) were periods that have always attracted a lot of attention.

The historical book The Records of the Three Kingdoms (San Guo Zhi) from the Western Jin Dynasty (265-316) recorded the era. Later Luo Guanzhong from the Yuan Dynasty (1271-1368) wrote a fiction Romance of the Three Kingdoms (San Guo Yan Yi) based on history, which later became one of the four great classical novels of Chinese literature.

In modern times, the stories during this period have been adapted into many operas, films, TV series, comics, computer games and even a popular card game called Legend of the Three Kingdoms (San Guo Sha).

Card game Legend of the Three Kingdoms. [Photo/dangdang.com]

Heroes from that period such as warlord Cao Cao and his two sons Cao Zhi and Cao Pi, as well as Zhuge Liang, Zhang Fei, Guan Yu and Liu Bei are all well-known characters in China.

Recently, a new internet costume drama The Advisor Alliance based on these characters became a hit. Produced by online video platform Youku, the two-part series was broadcast on the internet, Jiangsu TV and Anhui TV from June 22.

The drama unfolds around Sima Yi, a military counselor who helped Cao Cao and his two sons during the fights among the three kingdoms.

Currently, the first part has received 4 billion hits on Youku and 8.3 points out of 10 on Douban, China's major film and TV review website. A mobile game adapted from the drama was also released on July 6.