TV drama resumes after cleavage cut

A historical TV drama that was pulled from Chinese airwaves after the female characters were shown with low necklines and tightly squeezed cleavage has been back on TV during the New Year holidays but with only close-ups of the actresses' faces shown on the screen.

The edited version has stoked public mockery on Chinese Web portals and also stirred debate on whether the revealing clothing shown on the screen reflects the true aesthetic of Tang Dynasty (618-907) costumes or distorts the historical record.

The drama, The Empress of China, which tells the life story of Wu Zetian, the only female emperor in China, during the Tang Dynasty dates, was put back on air Thursday after it was abruptly pulled off by commercial satellite station Hunan TV for "technical reasons" on December 28.

It was followed by its premiere on December 21. When the drama was first halted, many viewers suspected that pause may be linked to censors' disapproval of too many revealing images in the drama.

After its resumption, the story line appeared to be unchanged but the cleavage that once filled the screen disappeared, replaced by a crude edit that showed only close-up shots.

The State Administration of Press, Publication, Radio, Film and Television (SARFT) could not be reached for comment on Saturday. Calls to the editor-in-chief's office at the satellite station of Hunan TV went unanswered.

The transformation of the drama has drawn complaints from viewers online who either wrote angry comments or posted all types of images showing only actresses' head to ridicule the altered version of the drama.

Li Yaling, a Chinese scriptwriter, pointed out that the cut s damaged the story line, xinhuanet.com reported.

"Whether the drama was altered by the producer, TV station or at the order of SARFT, it reflects that current culture policy is showing fewer frivolous images on screen," Chen Shaofeng, deputy dean of the Institute for Cultural Industries at Peking University, told the Global Times.

"But the edited version really lacks an aesthetic touch and may go against the climate of the Tang Dynasty. It [cutting of revealing images] could be overdone by the regulator's enforcement division," Chen said, noting audience not only needs mainstream lofty cultural works but also a popular ones that appeal to mass audience.

However, Zhang Guogang, a history expert from Tsinghua University, told the Global Times that although people in the Tang Dynasty wore low-cut dresses, they did not deliberately squeeze their breasts as appeared in contemporary films and TV shows.

"The openness of Tang Dynasty is largely shown in marriages and relationships. For example, women in the Tang Dynasty could get remarried," Zhang said.

Ma Yong, a research fellow at Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, said that some domestic films and TV shows exaggerated the life of pre-modern Chinese and distorted reality.

The drama, starring well-known Chinese actress Fan Bingbing, reportedly cost 300 million yuan ($48 million) and included a total of 3,000 costumes costing 10 million yuan.