General · EdgepediaOctober 3, 20267 min read

Luoyang (风起洛阳)

Luoyang (风起洛阳) is a 2021 Chinese historical suspense television series adapted from Ma Boyong's (马伯庸) novel Luoyang, set in the city of Luoyang during the Wu Zhou period, the dynasty founded by Empress Wu, and following people from different social classes who investigate a series of unsolved cases there.¹ It premiered on December 1, 2021, exclusively on the streaming service iQIYI, and was the first production of iQIYI's "Chinese Historic City Universe" (iCHCU), a planned slate of content built around historic Chinese cities.²

Key fact	Detail
Original title / English titles	风起洛阳; also FengQiLuoyang, Wind from Luoyang, The Wind Rises in Luoyang¹
Source	Adapted from Ma Boyong's novel Luoyang¹
Format	39 episodes of about 45 minutes each; historical suspense with romance and thriller elements³
Director and writers	Directed by Xie Ze; screenplays by Qing Mei and Wu Cong²
Lead cast	Huang Xuan (Gao Bingzhu), Wang Yibo (Baili Hongyi), Victoria Song (Wu Siyue), with Song Yi in a special starring role¹
Premiere	December 1, 2021, exclusively on iQIYI's main app, international app, and iQ.com²
Production scale	40,000 square meters of sets, more than 100 restored scenes, 15,000 props, and over 5,000 costumes⁴
Reception	Douban opening score 7.0 from 133,000 raters, later 6.8 from 170,000; IMDb 7.4/10 from about 1,900 users⁵^•⁶

Spoilers

Story and characters

The drama is set in the "Divine Capital" of Luoyang during the Wu Zhou period. Gao Bingzhu (高秉烛), played by Huang Xuan, is a vice captain of the Buliang (不良), a low-status policing outfit at the bottom of Luoyang society, who becomes a suspect in a case through an unintended entanglement and sets out to clear his name. While doing so he meets Baili Hongyi (百里弘毅), played by Wang Yibo, who is investigating the poisoning death of his father, and the two begin to work together.¹

A third lead, Wu Siyue (武思月), played by Victoria Song, comes from a prestigious family and serves in the Neiwei (内卫), an internal guard organization. Sent to investigate the case and to approach the martially skilled, streetwise Gao Bingzhu in search of an informant's letter connected to it, she and Gao initially dislike each other but are forced to cooperate. As the investigation deepens, the three uncover a conspiracy capable of destroying the capital and staining the Luo River with blood.¹ Supporting cast includes Song Yi as Liu Ran, Liu Duanduan as Dong Chuan, and Yong Mei as the Saint.⁷

Although the setting is the era of Empress Wu, the script avoids naming her directly: the drama calls her "the Sage" (圣人) and uses no names of real historical figures.⁸

Production

The series was jointly produced by iQIYI, Liubai Entertainment (留白影视), and the Luoyang Cultural Heritage Group, with iQIYI's Rising Studio as creator.²^•⁹ Filming began on November 17, 2020, overcame pandemic-related difficulties, and wrapped in March 2021 after 130 days.¹⁰

Production design. The team built 40,000 square meters of sets, restored more than 100 real scenes, designed 15,000 props, and prepared over 5,000 costumes and accessories, aiming to show the daily life and cultural depth of the ancient city.⁴ Ma Boyong, the novelist, said at the launch event that Luoyang's spirit lies in the Luo River running through the city, forming a trinity of architecture, people, and water, so that clothing, food, housing, and transport all needed faithful restoration.¹¹ At the same event he explained his choice of the city: "no matter what period of history you study, Luoyang is a city you can never miss."²

Release and the iCHCU strategy

iQIYI announced the "Chinese Historic City Universe" (华夏古城宇宙) at its iJOY conference in October 2021 and launched it with Luoyang as the first city featured, with planned content also drawing on Beijing, Guangzhou, Longxi county of Dingxi, Dunhuang, Nanjing, and other cities.² Alongside the drama, a documentary (Shendu Luoyang) and an animated series (Fengqi Luoyang: Shenji Shaonian) began streaming on iQIYI from December 1, 2021.¹² Twelve projects and counting, spanning drama, variety, documentary, animation, games, merchandise, VR, and commercial real estate, were reported under development for the Luoyang IP.²

Before the premiere the series had attracted more than 3.55 million users registering interest on the iQIYI main app, and it had already been distributed in seven countries and regions including Japan, South Korea, and Malaysia.² Japan's WOWOW channel began broadcasting it on May 4, 2022, under the title Fūki Raku Yō: Shinto ni Kakeru Aoki Honō.³ In April 2022 it became the first Chinese web drama to air in a satellite television prime-time slot, joining Beijing TV's quality theater at 19:30 nightly from April 3.⁴

Viewership and reception

The run ended on December 29, 2021. iQIYI reported that pre-launch reservations exceeded 4 million, first place among 2021 iQIYI drama reservations; danmaku (bullet-comment) activity exceeded 30 million, first in total 2021 danmaku volume; and the series' heat score passed 92.57 million, first among iQIYI's 2021 original dramas.¹⁰ On the Japanese distributor's account, it passed 10 million in heat score within five days of broadcast, one of only three 2021 titles to do so as of December 2021.³

Critical scores were lower than its commercial heat. The Douban opening score was 7.0 from 133,000 raters, below expectations given the promotional campaign, and by late December 2021 it had fallen to 6.8 from 170,000 raters, with 3 the most common single rating.⁵^•¹³ One later commentary cites a Douban figure of 6.4 and notes that only about 156,000 users had marked the show as watched, less than half the 405,000 for The Longest Day in Chang'an.¹⁴ Reviewers repeatedly measured the series against The Longest Day in Chang'an (2020), the earlier Ma Boyong adaptation: one 1905.com analysis judged the production design equal or upgraded but found the story and characters fell 1.2 points short of Chang'an's 8.2.⁵ People's Daily's commentary channel criticized uneven acting among the cast and the polarized fan-driven scoring battles that surrounded the launch, which was also delayed nearly an hour by a platform problem on premiere night.¹⁵^•⁸ On IMDb the series holds 7.4/10 from about 1,900 users.⁶

Costume, makeup, and props controversy

The series' historical costume, makeup, and set design (服化道) became its most argued-over feature. Supporters credited the large investment and called its restoration of the Divine Capital, from city layout down to the Luban lock held by a character, well grounded; critics, led by history and traditional-costume enthusiasts, argued the claim of rigorous restoration was overstated, pointing to cramped garment silhouettes, fabric and color choices below the standard of The Longest Day in Chang'an, and a wedding fan prop found to copy an original work by the Weibo user @佳冉Jiaran, for which the production company Liubai Pictures apologized.¹³

The sharpest dispute concerned architecture: whether the drama's buildings inappropriately used Japanese elements, a criticism summarized as "以倭代唐" (substituting Japanese for Tang style). A Bilibili video by uploader Zhu Xueshi Neo cataloguing these Japanese elements drew wide support; the production complained against the video, which backfired and made the video and the architectural debate more popular, and the phrases "风起扶桑" and "以倭代唐" became attached to the show as negative labels.¹³ The same commentary also noted accusations that the fight choreography copied the domestic animated series A Record of a Mortal's Journey to Immortality.¹³

Awards

According to IMDb, the series won four awards and received five nominations. These include Best Cinematography for a Television Series for Chao Wei at the 2023 China Television Director Committee Awards' New Horn Director's Night, the 2022 iQIYI TV and Movie Awards Jury Award for Quality Series of the Year, a Golden Bud Network Film and Television Festival Top 10 Drama Series of the Year placement, and a Weibo TV & Internet Video Summit Award for Best Art Direction; it was also nominated for Best Series Drama at the 2022 Seoul International Drama Awards and for Huading Awards for Huang Xuan and Yong Mei's performances.¹⁶

Cultural tourism impact

During the December 2021 broadcast, themed hotels and themed blocks tied to the series opened in parallel, and a study of culture-tourism integration records that these projects drove cultural tourism consumption; in the same month, the Luoyang culture and tourism bureau's new-media matrix ranked first in communication influence with a score of 76.18.¹⁷^•¹⁸

References

Initially written Oct 3, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 15, 2026; Oct 21, 2026; Oct 25, 2026; Nov 1, 2026