# Renascence (凤唳九天)
**Renascence** (凤唳九天, Feng Li Jiu Tian) is a 2020 Chinese historical romance drama in which the soul of a murdered empress passes into her younger sister's body, and the sister enters the palace to take revenge and help a prince reclaim the throne. It ran for 36 episodes of about 45 minutes each, premiered on September 22, 2020 on iQiyi and Mango TV, and was co-directed by Liu Haibo and Shen Yang from a screenplay by Qiu Xing.[1](https://wiki.d-addicts.com/Renascence) • [2](https://www.cpophome.com/renascence-chen-zheyuan-li-mozhi/) • [3](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt13138222/) The series was adapted from a novel by Xiao Yun.[4](https://www.sohu.com/a/270820666_100229811)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Original title / English title | 凤唳九天 (Feng Li Jiu Tian) / Renascence[1](https://wiki.d-addicts.com/Renascence) |
| Episodes and runtime | 36 episodes, about 45 minutes each[1](https://wiki.d-addicts.com/Renascence) • [3](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt13138222/) |
| Premiere | September 22, 2020, on iQiyi and Mango TV[1](https://wiki.d-addicts.com/Renascence) |
| Directors and writer | Liu Haibo and Shen Yang; screenplay by Qiu Xing[2](https://www.cpophome.com/renascence-chen-zheyuan-li-mozhi/) |
| Source material | Novel by Xiao Yun[4](https://www.sohu.com/a/270820666_100229811) |
| Main cast | Chen Zheyuan (Ye Junqing), Li Mozhi (Yao Mowan), Zhang Junning (Ye Hongyi), Cheng Yanqiu (Yao Moxin)[2](https://www.cpophome.com/renascence-chen-zheyuan-li-mozhi/) |
| Genre | Historical, fantasy, suspense, romance[2](https://www.cpophome.com/renascence-chen-zheyuan-li-mozhi/) |
## Spoilers
### Premise and plot
The story is set in the fictional Longteng continent, divided among the rival states of Da Chu, Da Shu, and Nanyu.[5](https://www.justwatch.com/jp/%E3%83%86%E3%83%AC%E3%83%93%E7%95%AA%E7%B5%84/huang-quan-gaerinohuang-fei-feng-huang-nolei) Yao Moxin, the empress of Da Chu, is poisoned by traitors at court. During a thunderstorm her soul transfers into the body of her younger sister Yao Mowan, who at that moment is being chased by enemies, falls from a cliff, and loses her memory.[6](https://www.iq.com/album/renascence-2020-s4w36s7dh1?lang=en_us)
**Amnesia and romance.** Living as Yao Mowan, the empress meets Ye Junqing, the Prince Su of Da Chu, a famed general, and the two fall in love through a series of accidents. Just as each is about to declare their feelings, Yao Mowan recovers her memory and learns that she is Yao Moxin and that she was assassinated by her enemies.[6](https://www.iq.com/album/renascence-2020-s4w36s7dh1?lang=en_us)
**Return to the palace.** To take revenge, Yao Moxin re-enters the palace in her sister's body. Among the concubines she identifies the person responsible for her sister's death and comes to see the true nature of the emperor, Ye Hongyi. She resolves to help Ye Junqing reclaim the kingdom, and along the way befriends devoted allies including Chu Mobei and Han Jinyi, incurring what the platform synopsis calls countless debts of affection. She finally avenges her family and returns the realm to Ye Junqing.[6](https://www.iq.com/album/renascence-2020-s4w36s7dh1?lang=en_us) A fuller episode guide adds political mechanics to this arc: Yao Mowan splits the four court factions behind the four senior consorts to isolate the emperor, and travels to other states to win support under an inter-state covenant, securing backing from more than half of the eight kingdoms before the final confrontation.[7](https://www.tvmao.com/drama/IVxoYWhq)
The family web around the heroine is detailed: her father Yao Zhenting is the chancellor, her mother [Mo Li](https://www.edgepedia.org/mo-li) is a concubine of the household, the principal wife Dou Xianglan bears the legitimate daughter Yao Suluan, and Yao Moxin is Yao Mowan's full sister.[8](https://wapbaike.baidu.com/item/%E5%87%A4%E5%94%B3%E4%B9%9D%E5%A4%A9/22206508?fromModule=tashuo-article_bottom-lemma) A subplot follows Huan Cai'er, a consort who married the emperor under political pressure while her heart belonged to her childhood companion Huangfu Junxiu, to whom she gave a sword tassel as a private pledge.[9](https://k.sina.cn/article_1803198765_6b7aa12d00100u49g.html)
### Cast and characters
[Chen Zheyuan](https://www.edgepedia.org/chen-zheyuan) plays Ye Junqing, the Prince Su of Da Chu, described in character introductions as an invincible war god who in an earlier life gave up the throne out of love for Yao Moxin.[10](https://www.tvmao.com/drama/IVxoYWhq/actors) Li Mozhi plays Yao Mowan, the sister whose body carries the empress's soul.[11](https://www.cpophome.com/renascence-chen-zheyuan-li-mozhi/cast/) Zhang Junning plays the emperor Ye Hongyi, and Cheng Yanqiu plays Yao Moxin.[11](https://www.cpophome.com/renascence-chen-zheyuan-li-mozhi/cast/) Yan Zidong plays Han Jinyi, the cultured master of Wanhuan City who aids Yao Mowan without asking anything in return, and [Zhang Xuan](https://www.edgepedia.org/zhang-xuan) plays Yao Suluan.[4](https://www.sohu.com/a/270820666_100229811) • [11](https://www.cpophome.com/renascence-chen-zheyuan-li-mozhi/cast/) The supporting cast includes Zong Fengyan as Luo Bin, Yang Xinming as Yao Zhenting, Xu Rongzhen as Dou Xianglan, and Zhang Yanyan as Mo Li.[11](https://www.cpophome.com/renascence-chen-zheyuan-li-mozhi/cast/)
## Production
Filming began with an opening ceremony at Hengdian on October 23, 2018, with Liu Haibo directing and Hua Ping as chief producer; the schedule was expected to run for more than three months.[4](https://www.sohu.com/a/270820666_100229811) The series was produced by iQiyi with Huahua Media, with Huayu Times Film also credited as a co-producer in later coverage.[7](https://www.tvmao.com/drama/IVxoYWhq) • [9](https://k.sina.cn/article_1803198765_6b7aa12d00100u49g.html) Yan Zidong's role required extensive wire-work aerial scenes, a new skill for the actor at the time.[4](https://www.sohu.com/a/270820666_100229811) A Hong Kong stock-exchange filing by the production company China Bright Culture Group (Yusheng Culture) lists the series among its delivered programs planned for a major satellite television platform and a leading online video platform.[12](https://www1.hkexnews.hk/listedco/listconews/sehk/2020/0313/sehk19082300735_c.pdf)
## Release and reception
The drama premiered on iQiyi on September 22, 2020, as an iQiyi exclusive, and also streamed on Mango TV.[13](https://yuwenkb.com/news/detail/id/417.html) • [1](https://wiki.d-addicts.com/Renascence) Within a week of release it placed near the top of heat rankings across Maoyan, iQiyi, and Mango TV, led Enlyt/Cloud data rankings for series-wide buzz, search heat, and engagement, sat in the top three of iQiyi's drama play-count chart, and passed 200 million total views across the web. It trended on Weibo from its second day, with cumulative searches above 220,000 and related topic reads exceeding 500 million by September 29, 2020.[14](https://wapbaike.baidu.com/item/%E5%87%A4%E5%94%B3%E4%B9%9D%E5%A4%A9/22206508)
Viewer ratings differ by platform: iQiyi shows 6.8 out of 10,[15](https://www.iqiyi.com/a_19rrh39vph.html) IMDb lists 7.6 out of 10 from 49 votes,[3](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt13138222/) and Rakuten Viki shows 9.0 from more than 14,000 user ratings.[16](https://www.viki.com/tv/36812c?locale=zh) The series has been distributed internationally with subtitles in English, German, Portuguese, Spanish, French, and other languages on Viki, and in Japan it streams under the title 黄泉がえりの皇妃 ～鳳凰の涙～.[16](https://www.viki.com/tv/36812c?locale=zh) • [5](https://www.justwatch.com/jp/%E3%83%86%E3%83%AC%E3%83%93%E7%95%AA%E7%B5%84/huang-quan-gaerinohuang-fei-feng-huang-nolei)
One aggregator page lists a premiere date of January 2, 2020 with nightly two-episode broadcasts at 19:30;[17](https://linshuhaos.com/tv/fenglijiutian/) platform and database listings otherwise agree on the September 22, 2020 online premiere.[1](https://wiki.d-addicts.com/Renascence) • [13](https://yuwenkb.com/news/detail/id/417.html)
## Genre context
Renascence belongs to the rebirth-and-revenge strand of Chinese web-novel adaptations, in which a wronged protagonist restarts life with knowledge of the original wrong. The soul-transfer premise, the amnesia that delays recognition, and the palace-intrigue revenge plot place it alongside other costume dramas built from female-oriented web fiction, a category that grew through the late 2010s as platforms adapted popular novels for largely female audiences.[18](https://wyb.chinawriter.com.cn/attachment/201901/25/e7c568ec-211f-4e5b-9ec0-3052a648c2c9.pdf)
## References
1. [Renascence, DramaWiki](https://wiki.d-addicts.com/Renascence)
2. [Renascence, Chinese Drama 2020, CPOP HOME](https://www.cpophome.com/renascence-chen-zheyuan-li-mozhi/)
3. [Renascence (TV Series 2020), IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt13138222/)
4. [晏紫东《凤唳九天》开机, Sohu (2018-10-24)](https://www.sohu.com/a/270820666_100229811)
5. [黄泉がえりの皇妃 ～鳳凰の涙～, JustWatch Japan](https://www.justwatch.com/jp/%E3%83%86%E3%83%AC%E3%83%93%E7%95%AA%E7%B5%84/huang-quan-gaerinohuang-fei-feng-huang-nolei)
6. [RENASCENCE (2020), iQIYI International](https://www.iq.com/album/renascence-2020-s4w36s7dh1?lang=en_us)
7. [凤唳九天剧情介绍（1-36全集）大结局, 电视猫](https://www.tvmao.com/drama/IVxoYWhq)
8. [凤唳九天（2020年刘海波、沈阳联合执导的古装剧）_百度百科](https://wapbaike.baidu.com/item/%E5%87%A4%E5%94%B3%E4%B9%9D%E5%A4%A9/22206508?fromModule=tashuo-article_bottom-lemma)
9. [王季明珠《凤唳九天》剑穗定情, 新浪娱乐](https://k.sina.cn/article_1803198765_6b7aa12d00100u49g.html)
10. [凤唳九天演员表, 电视猫](https://www.tvmao.com/drama/IVxoYWhq/actors)
11. [Renascence Cast - Chinese Drama 2020 - CPOP HOME](https://www.cpophome.com/renascence-chen-zheyuan-li-mozhi/cast/)
12. [China Bright Culture Group (煜盛文化集團) HKEX application proof, March 2020](https://www1.hkexnews.hk/listedco/listconews/sehk/2020/0313/sehk19082300735_c.pdf)
13. [程砚秋《凤唳九天》开播, 娱闻快报 (2020-09-25)](https://yuwenkb.com/news/detail/id/417.html)
14. [凤唳九天（2020年刘海波、沈阳联合执导的古装剧）, 百度百科](https://wapbaike.baidu.com/item/%E5%87%A4%E5%94%B3%E4%B9%9D%E5%A4%A9/22206508)
15. [凤唳九天, 爱奇艺](https://www.iqiyi.com/a_19rrh39vph.html)
16. [Renascence, Rakuten Viki](https://www.viki.com/tv/36812c?locale=zh)
17. [电视剧凤唳九天剧情简介, 林书豪剧情网](https://linshuhaos.com/tv/fenglijiutian/)
18. [网络小说改编影视剧报道, 中国作家网 (2019)](https://wyb.chinawriter.com.cn/attachment/201901/25/e7c568ec-211f-4e5b-9ec0-3052a648c2c9.pdf)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Series and fictional screen worlds › International serial drama and telenovelas › East Asian drama series › East Asian web and streaming serials › Titles My to So*
*Initially written Oct 3, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 3, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 15, 2026; Oct 25, 2026; Nov 1, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
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