The Grand Mansion Gate is a 2001 Chinese historical television series written and directed by Guo Baochang. Guo is also the author of the original novel of the same name. The television series stars Siqin Gaowa, Chen Baoguo, Liu Peiqi, Du Yulu, He Saifei, Jiang Wenli, and Zhang Fengyi. Prominent Chinese directors Zhang Yimou and Chen Kaige also make cameo appearances. Guo Baochang spent over 40 years writing the script for film. Guo had sole discretion with the early script, and eventually wrote approximately 4 drafts. The television series began production in 2000 and finished filming in 2001. A second season was completed in 2003. The Grand Mansion Gate details the story of the rise and fall of the time-honored brand Baicao Hall and the frustrations and fates of three generations of the Bai family. The series premiered on CCTV-1 in mainland China on 15 April 2001 and in Hong Kong on June 4.
Synopsis
In 1880 during the 6th year of the Guangxu period of the Qing dynasty, Bai Jingqi is born into the Baicao Hall, a prominent merchant family in Beijing. The first season chronicles the lives of Bai Jingqi's predecessors in the late Qing and early Republic of China before focusing on Bai Jingqi when he becomes the new family patriarch. The subsequent season details his later life after the second Sino-Japanese War through to the establishment of the People's Republic of China.
Cast
Main
Chen Baoguo as Bai Jingqi, Liu Cihang and Wang Cihang portray Bai Jingqi as a child.
He Saifei as Yang Jiuhong.
Xie Lan as Li Xiangxiu.
Siqin Gaowa as Mrs. Bai .
Liu Peiqi as Bai Yingyu.
The Bai Family
Du Yulu as Bai Mengtang, Bai Jingqi's paternal grandfather, the head of the Baicao Hall at the start of the series.
Wang Liyuan as Mrs. Bai , Bai Jingqi's paternal grandmother.
Li Hongtao as Bai Yingyuan, Bai Mengtang's eldest son.
Zhao Lingqi as Mrs. Bai , Bai Yingyuan's wife.
Bi Yanjun as Bai Yingxuan, Bai Mengtang's second son and Bai Jingqi's father.
Liu Peiqi as Bai Yingyu, Bai Mengtang's youngest son.
Zhang Yan as Mrs. Bai , Bai Yingyu's wife.
Li Ping as Bai Yaping, Bai Mengtang's youngest child and only daughter.
Jia Xinguang as Bai Jingyi, Bai Yingyuan's eldest son.
Shang Ying as Wu Cuigu, Bai Jingyi's wife.
* Xu Boping as young Bai Jingyi.
Cheng Xiangyin as Bai Jingshuang, Bai Yingyu's eldest son.
Ji Baozhong as Bai Jingsheng, Bai Jingyi's eldest son.
Zhao Yi as Bai Jingye, Bai Jingqi and Huang Chun's eldest son.
Zhang Yang as Bai Jinggong, Bai Jingqi and Huang Chun's second son.
Zhang Dinghan as Bai Jiali, Bai Jingqi and Yang Jiuhong's daughter.
Liu Lingzhi as Bai Zhanyuan, Bai Jingqi's grandson and Bai Jingye's eldest son.
Supporting
Zhang Fengyi as Ji Zengbu, Bai Jingqi's teacher and a military officer in the Royal GuardDivine Engine Division. Zheng had worked alongside many of the main and supporting cast members, notably Siqin Gaowa and Chen Kaige.
In 1959 at the age of 19, Guo Baochang entered Beijing Film Academy and began to write the novel The Grand Mansion Gate. At the dawn of the Cultural Revolution, he was labeled as a "reactionary student" and was sent to Nankou Farm of Beijing to reform through labor. In order to avoid the attention of the Red Guards, he burned the original manuscript. In March 1969 he rewrote the novel. In 1980 he divorced his wife and the novel was burned by the furious woman. At the end of 1994, he rewrote the novel for the third and final time. Baicao Hall took inspiration from Tong Ren Tang, one of the time-honored pharmaceutical companies in China founded at the beginning of the Qing dynasty and which has lasted for almost 350 years. Guo Baochang himself had lived there for more than 26 years. The main character Bai Jingqi was inspired by Yue Jingyu, Guo Baochang's foster father and founder of the Hong Ji Tang pharmaceutical company. The characters Bai Yuting and Li Xiangxiu were inspired by Guo's twelfth aunt and a concubine of Yue Jingyu's, respectively.
Casting
Directors Zhang Yimou, Chen Kaige, He Qun and Tian Zhuangzhuang joined the cast. Actors Yu Rongguang, Li Xuejian, Ning Jing and Lei Kesheng were cast in supporting roles for the series.
