The Legend of Qin (TV series)

This article is about the CG Chinese animated TV series directed by Robin Shen. For other uses, see The Legend of Qin (disambiguation).

The Legend of Qin
File:The Legend of Qin 5 Season Characters Poster.jpg
Created by	Sayling Wen (original story)
Written by	Robin Shen
Directed by	Wu Yun Robin Shen
Voices of	Feng Junhua Shen Dawei Shen Lei Huang Yiqing Sun Ye Zhai Wei Hong Haitian
Opening theme	Moonlight by Anson Hu
Composer(s)	Westlife
Country of origin	China
Original language(s)	Mandarin
No. of seasons	5
No. of episodes	110
Production
Executive producer(s)	Robin Shen
Producer(s)	Chen Qianyuan Robin Shen
Production company(s)	Sparkly Key
Release
Original release	2007
External links
[{{#property:P856}} Website]

The Legend of Qin (Chinese: 秦时明月; pinyin: qín shí míng yuè), aka Qin's Moon is a CG Chinese animated TV series written and directed by Robin Shen (Shen Leping). The story is based on the novel of the same name by Taiwanese writer and entrepreneur Sayling Wen (Wen Shiren). It is China's first 3D wuxia animation, produced by Sparkly Key Animation Studio(Sparkly Key) in Hangzhou, Zhejiang. The title means "The bright moon of Qin Era", quoted from a famous poem. Here it also contains the names of the two heroes. Ming (bright) is the hero Tianming, Yue (moon) is the heroine Yue-er.

This TV series was broadcast around Chinese New Year in 2007.[1] The background of this TV series is begin from the building of the first Chinese empire: Qin to the end of the Capital of Qin which named Xianyang been compromised by the soldiers from Chu. The span of this series is 30 years(including memories). It shows a juvenile named Tianming, who has the blood of heroes, grew up to a hero, as well as changed the development of the history with his ability. It is an inspirational TV series which combines martial arts, fantasy, history together with each other, and leads the audience to witness the surging, magnificent and beautiful ancient Chinese world two thousand years ago.

Story

The Legend of Qin follow through the Qin dynasty time when the Emperor of the Qin, King Zheng conquers the other 6 nations and unified the whole of China to the rise of the king of Western Chu, Xiang Yu, who capture the capital city, Xianyang.

The story circles around a young protagonist, Jing Tianming who carries the blood of a hero turning from a weak and ignorant young boy into a great hero, who single-handedly changes the process of history.

Following the story, different moments of history and folk's myth will be re-light, heroes and swordsman that causes the change of history will appear in the land of unrest and chaotic times of great china. Young protagonist, Tianming whose life is as strong as weeds that survive in the era of change, among the chaos, the face of violence in the regime, dangerous enemies, difficult family relationships, friendship, love, the profound changes, reincarnation of sorrows and joys, eventually the end of this era became the start of a new era of decisive force, the brilliant achievements of a romantic legend.

Characters

For a list of all the characters, see List of Qin's Moon characters.

• Jing Tianming: He is a bright and cheerful boy, at the age of 12. He is playful and mischievous though protective of his friends. He has a crush on Gao Yue (Yue-er), a girl under the care of Mohists, though he thinks that her big sister, Duanmu Rong, is a cold person whose face is 'stiff as a board'. He treats Ge Nie as his father, and aspires to become a swordsman just like him. He also has a continuous rivalry with Xiang Shaoyu, and a playful relationship with Master Ban. He has a 'passionate' love for food and immediately goes berserk if someone eats his food or destroys it. Although quite shallow in certain aspects, his loyalty, braveness and innocence stand out as some of his more positive traits. Perhaps the most driving aspect of his character, is his belief that his father will return to him one day, thus motivating him to become one of the most famous swordsmen in the world.

• Gao Yue: A princess of the former Yan Kingdom and Yan Dan's daughter. She is quite cheerful, playful and generous, as well as kind and innocent. She often gets along easily with almost everyone. She and Tianming are good friends, and she treats Duanmu Rong as her sister, referring her as "Sister Rong". She is extremely bright and intelligent and can analyse things very accurately. She solved many mysteries in the Forbidden Land when nobody else knew the answers. She possesses great talent in Yin-Yang techniques and is taken into the Yin-Yang School by Moon Goddess. She is told that her real name is Ji Ru(Chinese: 姬如; pinyin: jī rú) and her courtesy name is Qianlong(Chinese: 千泷; pinyin: qiān lóng), bearing the same family name as Moon Goddess.

• Xiang Shaoyu: Shaoyu is from the royal tribe of the former Chu Kingdom (He is the historical figure Xiang Yu, who defeated the Qin Dynasty with his army). He is very proud of his tribe and will constantly praise and speak of how powerful his tribe is. He is extremely strong and has excellent kung fu skills. He is a very friendly character and loves Tianming to call him Big Brother. He has a very cheerful and warm personality and is very knowledgeable in many areas. He is usually the logical thinker, and is good at analysing situations and events. He and Tianming treat each other like rivals, but in reality it's a very friendly rivalry and are more like siblings.

• Shi Lan: A very quiet and mysterious character. She works in Chief Ding's restaurant, but is extremely skilled in martial arts and lightness skills. She is also good at magic arts and once saved Shaoyu and Tianming. Shaoyu seems to have fallen for her. She's real name is Xiao Yu from the Shu tribe. It is highly possible that she is inspired by the historical figure Yu Ji, Xiang Yu's most loved consort. In season 4, she is mentioned to be a Shushan（蜀山） princess.

Episodes

For a list of all the episodes, see List of Qin's Moon episodes.

• Season 1: The first season of The Legend of Qin, explaining about Emperor Qin's wild ambitions to bring all six nations into one. This story began from Ge Nie rebelling from the Qin Empire and finding an orphaned boy named Tianming. Ge Nie was severely injured and luckily met Shaoyu from the Kingdom of Chu. At the same time, Emperor Qin had teamed up with the Han Kingdom's assassin group, known as Quicksand - consisting of Wei Zhuang as the leader to destroy the Machinery City. This was also when the disciples of Mohists first appeared - one of the philosophers that focuses on anti-war and universal love, started by Mozi. Duanmu Rong was a divine physician and Gao Yue was her assistant. Gao Yue (Yue-er) is discovered to be the princess of the Yan Kingdom, and that Wei Zhuang had killed her father. Together, they brave adventures and fight against Ying Zheng (Emperor Qin) for each other and the world. Eventually, they also met Da Tiechui and Xuenu, with Gao Jianli yet to arrive - also being Mohist disciples.

• Season 2: The second season was when Emperor Qin had sent Quicksand to destroy the Machinery City, the lair of Mohists. Wei Zhuang, the leader of Quicksand sent his subordinates to poison the water in the Machinery City, causing everyone to lose their defence. He then seized the Machinery City. At the same time, Duanmu Rong had sent the three kids, Tianming, Shaoyu and Gao Yue into the forbidden grounds of Mohists, a place where nobody could enter without permission. Getting past all the phases in the forbidden grounds required more than alertness, and strength, but also the ability to reason and think within a very short amount of time. Together, they pass through phases of tests, growing stronger together and fighting against Quicksand and Gongshu Chou, an anti-Mohist who is on Quicksand's team and built his mechanisms especially to deal with Mohists. In the end, it was one on one battle between Ge Nie with Wei Zhuang, Yue-er being taken by the Moon Goddess and Tianming suddenly appearing from Ge Nie's back and stabbing him.

• Season 3: Season three ended where Ge Nie and Wei Zhuang were about to fight, but Ge Nie seemingly was attacked by Tianming in the back. It was really not Tianming who did that, but Black Unicorn. Ge Nie and Wei Zhuang came from the same sect, called Ghost Valley. This sect only takes in two disciples and the two must fight until one wins and the other loses. Unfortuately, Ge Nie is knocked unconscious and Tianming being threatened to be killed if the remaining Mohists disciples did not fight Wei Zhuang's team. The battle arc showed a bit of Ge Nie and Tianming's past, as well as Gao Jianli, Xuenu and Da Tiechui's pasts, with flashbacks showing the meaning of true strength, dying for a brother, one of the most beautiful dances and a crazy hyper Tianming's father, Jing Ke who simply loved one. All these pasts showed the unique backgrounds of the characters and where they draw their strengths. The next arc revolved around the Confucianists helping out Mohists (even though usually those two never have any associations with each other) but they have decided to put aside their differences. Also, Yin-Yang theorists looks as if they are up to something. Yue-er was given a new name and told she was Jiru Qianlong and looks like a major event is going to happen with Mirage, a city on the ocean.

• Season 4: The fourth season happened when the city authorities collapsed and Mohists almost eliminated. The Qin Empire went back's dream of peace and prosperity. Emperor utilized numerous labor to build the Great Wall and planned to do more sophisticated programs. Various factions came together to Songhai for breaking the Emperor's ambition. The small town's peace is completely broken. The giant boat "Mirage" is coming towards where? Those are all the mysteries that need to be found by the main characters of the series.

Settings

The Machinery City

The headquarters of Mohists. A city built among the mountains and cliffs, guarded with machines and traps. Mohists live here together and call this city "The Paradise In Human World". Tianming, Ge Nie arrive at the City in Season 1, Wei Zhuang and Qin's armies capture the City in Season 2, and in Season 3 after Wei Zhuang's retreat, Yan Dan orders the self-destruction of the City to hide the "last secret" which is still unknown now.

• The Waterfall and the Pool: The Drawbridge Waterfall and the Central Pool. The Waterfall which provides power for the city, beneath the waterfall is one of the four machinery creatures, Xuanwu(black tortoise), which controls power. The Pool spreads water to the whole city. In Season 2, the Pool water is poisoned, thus the whole city is paralysed.

• The Core and the Rotunda: The Mohists Core chamber and the Central Rotunda. The Core is where people can control every machine in the city, the only safe place when the city is captured. There are numberless traps in the Rotunda, and all the significant battles between Mohists and Wei Zhuang take place in the Rotunda.

• The Forbidden Land: The place with extraordinary machines and traps, no one is allowed to enter without permission. In fact is used to select new Mohists' head, those who enter the land must pass all kinds of trials to survive. The Overlord's Spear, Illusional Music Box, No War Sword, and the fourth machinery creature Qinglong (Green Dragon) are kept here.

• Others: The Heaven Corridors, corridors built aside high cliffs. The Sword-founding Pool, Master Xu's place, with many treasure swords, the place where Canhong was made.

Sanghai

This is the east border of Qin, the coast of the sea. In real history, the emperor sent people to sail to the ocean, seeking for the way of living forever. After the destruction of the Machinery City, Mohists come to Sanghai to work their next plan.

• Youjian Hotel (There is a Hotel): A secret Mohist headquarters, where Mohists watch the Qin's armies' actions. Paoding works here as the chief, and Shi Lan is now his assistant. There is also a secret headquarters in the mountains, guarded by Mohists disguised as normal people.

• Junior Sage Villa (basically the junior shows modesty): The headquarters of Confucianists, the holy ground of knowledge in people's eyes. Twenty years ago, there was a fire disaster that destroyed almost the whole villa. According to the scenes in the OP, it's very likely that the villa will be burnt again like what will happen in real history. There are several places mentioned here, the Half Bamboo Garden where Xun Tze lives, the Six-Skill Chamber where the students take classes, the Self-Reflection Apartment where the students live, the Library Tower keeping a huge collection of books.

• The Mirage: A huge ship with numberless buildings on it. The name means Shen (a kind of sea dragon) Palace, which is Mirage. In Chinese, mirage is called Haishi Shenlou (Palaces created by Shen, Cities floating on the sea). At the end of Season 3, a mirage once appears at Sanghai, it seems it is in fact Mount Shu, Shi Lan's hometown. Shenlou will take the Yin-Yang theorists to the sea searching for immortality. Many mysterious treasures are taken with them. This ship was also a significant setting in Season 4.

Others

• The Medicine Villa of Mirror Lake: Once a Mohist place where Duanmu Rong lives. No one can find it if there are no inside guides. There is a rule in the villa, that Duanmu Rong never treats those whose family name is Ge, those who come from Qin Kingdom, and those who get wounded in sword fights caused by their own violence and aggression.

• Xianyang Palace: The Palace where emperor Ying Zheng lives. It seems Tianming has been there before and seen the No.1 sword Tianwen.

• The Sparrow Pavilion: A beautiful place where everything was, however it was also a prison to many. The recent owner of the place was Nong Yu, who's actually an assassin on a mission to kill Ji Wuye, the General of the Han Kingdom.

Airing

Four seasons have been broadcast as well as three special editions and the movie. The fifth season is currently airing. There is a total of 7 seasons.

The show had been and is still airing not only in China, but also in Vietnam, Cambodia, and BurmaMyanmar

External links

• Qin's Moon streaming
• North American Official site
• Chinese Official site
• Qin's Moon Discussion Board
• Videosurf.com
• Hundred paces Feijian
• Information
• Translation of First Season Synopsis