The Beijing censors have decided that dramas depicting imperial palace intrigue are unsuitable for a harmonious society, and have forced TV networks to stop broadcasting them.

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Some of China’s most popular historical dramas have been taken down from television channels after state media launched an unusual attack on the genre for its extravagance and “negative influence on society”.

The extravagant series Ruyi’s Royal Love in the Palace about a girl strategically climbing above her rank to become empress of the Qing dynasty (1644-1911) was scheduled for Monday afternoon on Dragon TV, but was replaced by a reality show, Joyful Comedians.

Some online commentators also claimed Shandong TV had replaced its regular evening showing of the hit series Story of Yanxi Palace with Ode to Joy, a contemporary drama series about five women seeking love and career success in Shanghai.

The change in programming schedules followed an article in Friday’s edition of the Beijing Daily magazine Theory Weekly which called out the “sins” of imperial dramas, claiming they encouraged viewers to pursue the glamorous lifestyles of China’s past monarchs and promoted pleasure and luxury above the “virtues of frugality and hard work”.

Ode to Joy, incidentally, has been compared to Sex and the City, except without the sex. en.wikipedia.org

There are several period dramas on Chinese TV set in imperial times. One, whose English title is Palace, has a modern-day woman who is somehow transported back to the Qing Dynasty where she is accepted as part of the nobility living in the Imperial Palace. It was actually well done, despite the premise. I watched a few episodes, but without English subtitles I was missed most of the dialogue. Now it seems the government wants to scrub the airwaves of such imperial decadence.

It’s too bad, as otherwise, Chinese broadcast TV is frightfully dull and repetitive.