Startling by Each Step
Pretty song from the OST: Snowflakes and Red Plum Blossoms
Stories have always been my greatest source of entertainment since childhood. Because I’ve read and watched far more books and television dramas than the average teenager, I’ve developed extremely high standards and an uncannily keen eye for picking out plot holes, weak characterizations, historical inaccuracies, logical fallacies, and miscellaneous other failures. The drawbacks of such a meticulous mentality are quite obvious: as soon as enough “no”s accumulate in my mental checklist, I’ll be entirely unable to continue reading or watching a work that has already established itself in my mind as mediocre at best. As the number of books and dramas that spark my interest dwindle with each passing year, every satisfactory story that meets my criteria will pass in flying colors. Thus I was immensely happy to find myself enjoying Startling by Each Step, a fandom that has gained an unbelievably enormous following among all ages and across many non-Chinese cultures thanks to both its inherent quality as well as extensive marketing.
I first discovered Startling by Each Step exactly a year ago. Two television adaptations were in production at the same time, and both used the storyline of the same novel, Startling by Each Step, which was serialized online by Tong Hua in 2005. The heavily modified, cookie-cutter spin-off drama, Palace, was released first. I breezed through Palace out of curiosity, but the drama left no impression on me. Unable wait an indeterminate amount of time for the release of the more serious and faithful adaptation, I started to read the novel.
While the plot was fast-paced, the prose was so dull and lacking in depth that I was soon bored to tears. I stopped after reading about one-fifth of the novel and never picked it up again, although I skim through the in-progress fan translations every now and then. My interest in Startling by Each Step still hadn’t been extinguished, however, because my favorite actor had been cast in a supporting role in the upcoming drama. Fortunately, after waiting another six months, I was rewarded with a magnificent 35-episode drama that not only swept me off my feet, by also swept mainland China off its feet and incited heavy anticipation from other East Asian regions that wanted it to air on their channels.
Startling by Each Step belongs to the popular Qing Dynasty time-travel genre, but it trumps all other fanfiction-esque stories set in the same time period. Here’s my quick introduction to the story: Zhang Xiao, a 25-year-old ethnically Han Chinese woman from the 21st century, accidentally travels back in time to the 18th century Qing Dynasty after experiencing a deadly combination of traffic collision and electrocution. Zhang Xiao ends up stranded in the body of one of her previous incarnations: Maertai Ruoxi, 16-year-old (13 in the novel) daughter of a Manchu general and younger sister of the Eighth Prince’s second concubine. Ruoxi experiences a near-fatal incident in her own time, which Zhang Xiao awakes from.
Family and friends assume that Ruoxi’s memory loss and sudden change in behavior are a result of her head injury. After failing to return to her own time, Ruoxi hurriedly adjusts to life under the reign of Emperor Kangxi. She knows that a deadly struggle between the scheming Aisin-Gioro princes for the throne will result in the Fourth Prince succeeding as Emperor Yongzheng after his father’s death. Hoping to prevent the casualties written in history, Ruoxi tries to change the future for the better. However, Ruoxi ultimately realizes that not only does she fail to alter the course of history, but also, under a predestination paradox, she is fated to become an instigator of the very tragedy she tries to prevent.
A tragic and bittersweet story like Startling by Each Step is just my cup of tea, but the real head-scratcher for me is why so many other people, especially those who aren’t Chinese, can accept it as easily as I do. On the surface, Startling by Each Step seems to fulfill the wishes of every hopelessly romantic girl because it appears to be a time-traveling Cinderella story. In fact, this Cinderella is so amazing that she catches the attention of not just one Prince Charming, but six imperial princes! One prince becomes her best friend and the other five princes all express interest in marrying her. Three of them are deeply in love with her.
But the catch is…all the princes already have at least one wife, one of the princes is her sister’s husband, several of the princes are a lot younger than her real age, and alas, all the men in the Qing Dynasty wear the distinctively unattractive hairstyle that consists of a half-shaved head and long queue. Moreover, since Ruoxi is merely a pawn in the princes’ rivalry and contention for the throne, self-preservation becomes her greatest concern as every step could be a matter of life or death. Needless to say, I had predicted that these factors would scare away all the girls who were accustomed to fairy tales with happily-ever-after endings. To my astonishment, I was dead wrong!
It’s true that Startling by Each Step is a grand production featuring outstanding cast, plot, romance, humor, costumes, backdrops, and cinematography. Perhaps viewers have simply flocked to this drama because no worthy competition exists to lure them away. Perhaps this story is just a stroke of genius that vividly comes to life in such an exceptional drama portrayal. But I’m not entirely convinced. Somewhere along the line, marketing came into play and solidified Startling by Each Step into an attractive brand. Otherwise, how on earth would it have been possible for my parents, my friend’s mom, and many non-Chinese netizens to discover this drama by chance and express enough interest to start watching it? They certainly don’t fit Startling by Each Step’s target market of female students and professionals living in mainland China. It’s time for me to investigate what kicked off the astounding fame and success of this fandom!
While the novel was popularly received, Startling by Each Step didn’t gain national and international recognition until the airing of the drama. The first observation I made is that the drama is extremely high in cultural capital, which is evident in the authenticity of all the costumes and props. The production company, Tangren, poured at least 100 million RMB into Startling by Each Step, its most expensive drama to date, and even went so far as to borrow authentic jewelry, hairpins, teacups, and other props that are worth fortunes from collectors. A well-known professor from a prestigious university was also hired to be the drama’s historical consultant. Even the princes’ costumes were designed according to historical detail.
The exquisite costumes and genuine antiques used in Startling by Each Step reflect elegant tastes as opposed to the colorful and gaudy clothing and props used in other period dramas that are unfaithful representations of historical culture. The authenticity of Startling by Each Step was so stunning that even someone as picky as me was mesmerized. I felt like I was the one who had time-traveled and become ensnared in the splendors and intrigues of the Forbidden City. As the story approached its inevitably tragic ending, I was struck by the most fantastic realization that I could easily believe this was how history had actually happened. I believe that if a drama can elicit such a response from its viewers, it has reached the highest pinnacle of cultural capital.
However, no one can enjoy such a beautiful experience without first discovering the existence of this story, so let’s take a look at how far Startling by Each Step has expanded from its humble beginnings as an online novel. In just six years, it’s become an explosive fandom consisting of a published novel, an award-winning television drama, and a popular online game. In October, the drama was picked up for broadcast on the Korean CineOn TV network, and it’s highly likely to air in Taiwan and Hong Kong in the future. On Viki.com, the first episode has been subbed by volunteer translators in ten languages (English, German, Slovenian, French, Vietnamese, Spanish, Thai, Turkish, Dutch, and Malay). The fully subtitled episodes and the English fan translation are labors of love that have promoted Startling by Each Step to non-Chinese netizens and ushered in hoards of international fans without requiring Tangren to even lift a finger. Once a brand has garnered as much love as Startling by Each Step has, its loyal followers can be counted on to market it even more enthusiastically than its own production company.
Startling by Each Step was first serialized online on Jinjiang Original Network before being published by Ocean Press, National Press, Huashan Arts Press, and Hunan Literature and Art Publishing House. Tong Hua revised the novel twice in 2009 and 2011, and it was re-issued in September 2011 to coincide with the drama release. The new edition comes in a beautifully packaged box set and contains an additional 30,000 word epilogue.
Packaging is an important brand element that must be both functional and aesthetically pleasing to be effectively marketed and meet consumers’ needs. Compared to previous issues of the novel, which consisted of three volumes with cover art depicting a nondescript heroine (who looked like a different person in each volume), the box set is far superior in both respects. Functionally, it packs all the previously separate volumes into one convenient box. Aesthetically, it’s eye-catching and clearly identifies the Startling by Each Step brand in a large, legible font. On the side of the box, Startling by Each Step is rendered in a red square seal, which brands the title just as poets and painters mark their names on their calligraphy and paintings. The female protagonist smiles amiably at the viewer while the male protagonist stares imperiously, one inviting and the other daring the potential customer to buy it. If I came across this box set in a bookstore or on an online retailer, my interest would be piqued as soon as I saw the pretty costumes, and I would be compelled to buy the novel thanks to the attractive packaging, which is fondly called the “last five seconds of marketing.”
Anticipation for Chinese television dramas is often built by the release of lengthy trailers (36 minutes in the case of Startling by Each Step). Prior to and during the airing of the series, an entire series of ads play regularly on the television channel (HunanTV), separately featuring every major character and every upcoming episode. Dramas are also promoted aggressively on video streaming sites like PPTV, Tudou, and Youku, online communities bound to search services like Baidu Tieba, and social networking sites like Renren and Weibo. Back in October, it simply wasn’t possible for a Chinese netizen to not notice colorful banners of Startling by Each Step plastered on the home page of every major online community or the drama title topping the most-watched rankings on every streaming site. Such omnipresent visibility was sure to grab the attention of everyone visiting those sites, and my parents and my friend’s mom were clearly no exception. It would have also been difficult for avid TV watchers and magazine readers to miss out on Startling by Each Step, as it was promoted on popular variety shows like Happy Camp and in magazines like Elle China and Easy Magazine.
Finally, the success of the drama culminated with television award ceremonies, such as the Sohu Fall Television Awards, which celebrated China’s fall television hits. The lead actress Liu Shi Shi and lead actor Nicky Wu won the Best Couple award, Liu Shi Shi won Most Popular Online Actress, Nicky Wu won Most Popular Online Actor, and newcomer Lin Geng Xin (who played Fourteenth Prince) won Best New Actor. Basically, anyone in China who even remotely kept up with entertainment news and didn’t know anything about Startling by Each Step was surely living under a rock.
Shortly after the release of the drama, an online game based on Startling by Each Step was launched. I think the brand extension of Startling by Each Step into the gaming realm was a smart move that offered the benefits of greater credibility and faster acceptance. It’s quite common for popular Chinese RPG games such as Chinese Paladin to be produced into television series to promote the game franchise, but this time it’s the other way around. The full merchandise of the online game comes with 42 items, including the game discs and tons of accessories. I haven’t been able to gain access to the game, but just one glance at the t-shirts, stickers, and action figures confirms the unprecedented and phenomenal brand resonance that Startling by Each Step has created. And to think that all this came out of a story that a bored lady regularly updated online just for fun! Such is the power of marketing!