Bu Bu Jing Xin
A time-travel romance set in the Qing dynasty.
Bubu Jingxin, also known as Startling by Each Step or Scarlet Heart, is Tong Hua's debut novel. Originally serialized online in 2005 on Jinjiang Original Network, it was published in multiple editions by several presses. The story features a twenty-first century woman transported back to the late Kangxi reign of the Qing dynasty, and was most prominently adapted into the Chinese television series Scarlet Heart.
Quick Facts
- Orig lang code
- zh-hant
- Author
- Tong Hua
- Country
- China
- Language
- Chinese
- Subject
- Time travel, Imperial China
- Genre
- Romance
- historical fiction
- chuanyue
- Published
- 2005
Facts from the source article.
Synopsis
A modern woman named Zhang Xiao is hit by a car after work and wakes up in 1704, during the Kangxi Emperor's reign, inside the body of Ma'ertai Ruoxi. Ruoxi is the young daughter of a Manchu aristocrat and the younger sister of Ma'ertai Ruolan, who is a concubine to the emperor's eighth son, Yinsi. Stuck in the past, Ruoxi meets several of Kangxi's sons, including the fourth prince Yinzhen, his full brother Yinti, and becomes close friends with the thirteenth prince Yinxiang. She uses her charm and intelligence to gain the emperor's favor and becomes his lady-in-waiting. Ruoxi and Yinsi are attracted to each other, but she only agrees to marry him if he abandons his quest for the throne, knowing he will be imprisoned for life after Yinzhen becomes emperor. Yinsi refuses, and Ruoxi warns him to be careful of Yinzhen. After they break up, Ruoxi falls in love with Yinzhen. Yinsi and his allies frame Yinzhen for plotting against the crown prince, and Yinxiang takes the blame. Later, the crown prince is stripped of his title and freedom. Kangxi offers Ruoxi as a concubine to Yinti, but she refuses and is demoted to work in the laundry department.
Adaptations
The story first hit screens in 2011 as the TV series Scarlet Heart, produced by Chinese Entertainment Shanghai Ltd., with a cast including Cecilia Liu, Nicky Wu, Kevin Cheng, Lin Gengxin, and Yuan Hong; a sequel started filming in March 2013. That same year, Feiran Zhuosheng Radio Drama Associations released a radio drama adaptation of the novel, featuring Tang Tang as Ma'ertai Ruoxi. In 2012, a stage version came from Shanghai Dramatic Arts Centre, Beijing All Entertainment Co., Ltd., and Culture of China Media Group, starring Michelle Gong. A 2015 film adaptation, Time to Love, starred Ivy Chen, Tony Yang, and Shawn Dou. South Korea produced its own take in 2016, Moon Lovers: Scarlet Heart Ryeo, set in Goryeo and starring IU, Lee Joon-gi, and Kang Ha-neul. Most recently, in 2024, GMMTV adapted the novel into a Thai drama, Scarlet Heart Thailand, with Tu Tontawan and Metawin Opas-iamkajorn.
More in Science Fiction Novels Adapted Into Films
Spotted an error? Know more?
Reader corrections go straight into our review queue. Suggest an edit · How this site is sourced