《兰香如故》：送给海外观众的中国“文化大餐”

Huang Yingxiang and Chen Dan, who co-directed the drama, told China Daily about the behind-the-scenes production and the cultural messages they hope to convey to overseas audiences: the delicate restraint unique to Chinese people, the garden aesthetics that showcase the spatial wisdom of the ancients, and the essence of traditional Chinese art — "liubai" (leaving blankness).

After filming began in May 2025, over the course of nine months, the creative team held round after round of script readings, deepening their understanding of the characters. 

Meanwhile, various flowers, grasses, and trees were transplanted into the garden, making it appear full of life. Some plants were sensitive to temperature and prone to yellowing and withering, which placed greater demands on the production schedule. Chen recalled that in order to capture a scene featuring rain falling on banana leaves, the banana trees were planted two or three times.

In one scene, Xu Lanxiang, the female protagonist, is tipsy and stumbling, with Lin Jinqi, a nobleman who falls for Xu, following close behind. She smells the fragrance filling the garden, her cheeks flushed, and leans in to take in the fresh scent of orchids blooming at night. Though Lin's admiration is already written all over his face, the camera deliberately leaves blank space — it does not contrive any physical contact between them. Instead, it lets the emotion linger in the atmosphere, leaving the audience with endless room for imagination.

Also handled with the same "liubai" approach is Lin’s path to resigning from office after hearing an opera and suddenly realizing the dangers of the imperial court. That passage has no dialogue, but with a grave expression, Lin walks all the way — through swirling snow and across a ground stained with blood — making the audience feel the profound vicissitudes and hardships of the journey in his heart. 

"At this point, the imagery we wanted to convey was that he stepped onto the thorny path into the imperial palace for the reputation of his noble clan, to fulfill a man's ambition, and to serve his country loyally. But looking back on his choices over the years, what he wants to abandon is precisely the killing," said Chen.

An even more evocative Chinese aesthetic image appears in the scene where official Han Liang freezes to death in the snow and wind. When a eunuch discovers him covered in thick snow, lifeless, and flees in terror, at that very moment the dark clouds in the sky suddenly part. Through a gap where the sky briefly clears, a beam of sunlight shines down, falling on Han and making him appear all the more detached from the world, noble in integrity. 

Chen recalled that he spent several days shooting this shot. "I waited for the dark clouds every day. As soon as I saw them, I went to shoot," Chen said. "We hoped to use an imagery-driven world to let the audience feel the temperament of a person — an artistic approach unique to Chinese people."

And in Huang's memory, one scene showing Lin crying also adopted a highly symbolic shooting technique. Instead of filming a close-up of the male actor’s tearful face, she turned the camera to a burning candlestick — the wax slowly melting and dripping down drop by drop, as if tears were slowly falling down a face. This scene also drew gasps of admiration from many viewers.

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