A show in entirely classical Chinese where I have to read subtitles to understand half of it β but I'd still rather watch it than scroll through my phone.
Now that's something.
I admit, when I first heard this show was mostly in classical Chinese, I instinctively wanted to skip it. Work is already exhausting enough, and now I have to rack my brain understanding ancient text for leisure too?
But I ended up staying. Not because of any sense of duty, but because I gradually discovered something: classical Chinese isn't meant to be pretentious. It's the fastest and most precise way to say that thing.
For example, a guard reports to the emperor: "εεδΈειοΌζεζ γ" Seven characters β who, what, where, how far β all clear. If you rewrote that in modern language, it'd take a whole paragraph.
And those conversation scenes β the classical dialogue feels dense and powerful. There's no filler, no watercooler chat. Every character counts. The actors deliver the lines with a certain rhythm that you just can't get in modern vernacular.
Another reason I couldn't stop watching: the complexity of the characters. No one is purely good or purely bad. The most vicious villain has moments of tenderness; the most upright hero has moments of weakness. This isn't a show where you can easily figure out who to root for β and that's exactly why it's so compelling.
I often tell myself: if a show can make me forget to check my phone, it's at least an 8 out of 10.
"The Peaceful Year" not only made me forget my phone β it made me mute my notifications. In this day and age, that's probably the highest compliment I can give a show.