General · EdgepediaOctober 3, 20265 min read

Ode to Daughter of Great Tang (大唐女儿行)

Ode to Daughter of Great Tang (大唐女儿行) is a Chinese historical romance light comedy television series set in the early Tang Dynasty, produced by Huanyu Film and Television (东阳欢娱影视文化有限公司) and released in 2021 under its final title Li Ge Xing (骊歌行), with Court Lady as its international English title¹^•². The series went through several titles during production: it began as Sheng Tang Gong Lue (盛唐攻略), was retitled Da Tang Nv Er Xing (大唐女儿行), also promoted as Xun Fu Ji Zhi Da Tang Nv Er Xing (驯夫记之大唐女儿行), and received its broadcast title Li Ge Xing during post-production³^•⁴. It stars Li Yitong (李一桐) as Fu Rou (傅柔) and Xu Kai (许凯) as Sheng Chumu (盛楚慕)⁵.

Key fact	Detail
Final title	骊歌行 (Li Ge Xing), English title Court Lady; also known as 大唐儿女行 (Da Tang Er Nu Xing)¹
Earlier titles	盛唐攻略 (Sheng Tang Gong Lue), 大唐女儿行 / 驯夫记之大唐女儿行 (Ode to Daughter of Great Tang)³^•⁶
Production	Huanyu Entertainment; producer and art director Yu Zheng (于正); screenwriter Feng Nong (风弄)²^•⁷
Directors	Wang Xiaoming (王晓明) and Bai Yunmo (白云默)⁵
Filming	162 days at Hengdian World Studios, wrapped August 2019²
Broadcast	April 15, 2021, on iQiyi and Tencent Video; 55 episodes¹
Setting	Early Tang Dynasty, Zhenguan era of Emperor Taizong⁵^•⁸
Costumes	More than 3,000 costumes across the series⁹

Spoilers

Plot and characters

The story is set in the Zhenguan era of the early Tang, after Li Shimin (Emperor Taizong) restored order following the fall of the Sui Dynasty⁵. Sheng Chumu, son of the Duke of Lu and a general of the founding generation, is a notorious playboy in Chang'an. On a trip to Guangzhou he meets Fu Rou, the daughter of an embroidery merchant, and falls in love at first sight. Finding him uneducated and unskilled, Fu Rou is disappointed, and Sheng Chumu resolves to change himself, studying the art of war and eventually winning her favor⁷^•¹³.

Back in Chang'an, Fu Rou enters the palace as a female official through her weaving skill, while Sheng Chumu joins the army. The two are drawn into the power struggles among the Crown Prince and the princes Wei and Wu, and must rely on their wits to overcome their enemies, growing toward the ideals of loyalty to the country, filial devotion to family, and faithfulness in love²^•¹.

The supporting cast includes Wu Jiayi as Princess Xinnan, Tan Jianci as Prince Zhou, Hong Yao as Yan Zifang, He Fengtian as Lu Qi, Li Zefeng as the Crown Prince, Ma Yue as Li Shimin, and Miao Pu as Empress Zhangsun⁷^•⁶. All character names are fictional, though some are modeled on historical figures¹⁰.

Title history

The project's title changed three times. It was announced and filmed as Sheng Tang Gong Lue (盛唐攻略), a name that aimed to repeat the commercial formula of Yu Zheng's hit The Story of Yanxi Palace (延禧攻略)¹⁰. By the end of filming the title had become Da Tang Nv Er Xing (大唐女儿行), promoted in some releases as Xun Fu Ji Zhi Da Tang Nv Er Xing (驯夫记之大唐女儿行)²^•⁴. During editing the title changed again to Li Ge Xing (骊歌行), and character names changed along with it⁴. International platforms list the series under the English title Ode to Daughter of Great Tang, a direct rendering of the Da Tang Nv Er Xing title, alongside Court Lady¹¹.

The title Da Tang Nv Er Xing also belongs to an unrelated 2020 book, Zhongguo Zhuangshu: Da Tang Nv Er Xing (中国妆束：大唐女儿行), a study of Tang Dynasty women's dress and makeup published by Tsinghua University Press; the two works share only the name¹².

Production

The series was produced by Huanyu Entertainment, the company behind The Story of Yanxi Palace, with Yu Zheng as producer and art director and the novelist Feng Nong as screenwriter²^•⁷. Filming ran 162 days at Hengdian World Studios and wrapped in August 2019². Production aimed to render Tang court and street life in detail, covering markets, commerce, officialdom, the palace, and the battlefield²^•³.

The series received a national distribution license in the first quarter of 2020, but its release was delayed until April 2021¹⁴.

Release and reception

Li Ge Xing premiered on iQiyi and Tencent Video on April 15, 2021, in 55 episodes¹. Its opening was commercially strong: within six days Tencent Video playback passed 100 million and the iQiyi heat index passed 7,000⁹. It ranked among the top ten web dramas by monthly heat on iQiyi and Tencent in both April and May 2021¹⁵.

Craft praised, story criticized. Commentary singled out the production design: the series used more than 3,000 costumes, with detailed headwear, makeup, and embroidered props such as the wedding fans and sachets, and built large standing sets to recreate Tang palaces and dwellings⁹. A newspaper review in China Women's News described the drama as running multiple plotlines and couple pairings, mixing household intrigue, palace intrigue, and statecraft, while judging that the plot deteriorated as it progressed into contrived melodrama that undermined the Tang romance at its core¹⁰. Jiemian News characterized it as a "shuangju" (wish-fulfillment drama) whose fast-food style storytelling did not match its visual polish, summarizing a common viewer complaint that its popularity exceeded its quality⁹. A later survey of Tang-themed dramas noted that despite its low overall evaluation, the series' costumes, makeup, and props were considered carefully made, drawing on ancient paintings, pottery figurines, and Dunhuang murals¹⁶.

References

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