Scarlet Heart
| Scarlet Heart | |
|---|---|
Promotional poster | |
| Genre | Romance Historical fiction Chuanyue |
| Based on | Bu Bu Jing Xin by Tong Hua |
| Directed by | Lee Kwok-lap |
| Starring | Cecilia Liu Nicky Wu Kevin Cheng Yuan Hong Lin Gengxin |
| Opening theme | One Persistent Thought by Hu Ge and Alan |
| Ending theme | Three Inches of Heaven by Ivy Yan Season of Waiting by Cecilia Liu |
| Composer | Raymond Wong |
| Country of origin | China |
| Original language | Mandarin |
| No. of episodes | 35 |
| Production | |
| Producer | Karen Tsoi |
| Production location | China |
| Running time | 45 mins |
| Production company | Tangren Media |
| Original release | |
| Network | Hunan Satellite TV |
| Release | 13 January – 28 September 2011 |
| Related | |
| Scarlet Heart 2 Moon Lovers: Scarlet Heart Ryeo | |
| Scarlet Heart | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Simplified Chinese | 步步惊心 | ||||||
| Traditional Chinese | 步步驚心 | ||||||
| Hanyu Pinyin | Bùbù Jīngxīn | ||||||
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Scarlet Heart (Chinese: 步步惊心, lit. Startling by Each Step) is a 2011 Chinese television series based on the novel Bu Bu Jing Xin by Tong Hua. It premiered in China on Hunan Broadcasting System (HBS) on 10 September 2011.
The series tells the story of a woman, Zhang Xiao, who time-travelled from the 21st century to the Qing Dynasty during the Kangxi Emperor's reign, where she, as her previous incarnate Ma'er'tai Ruoxi, encountered the Emperor's sons, who were involved in a lengthy battle for the throne. During the course of the series, the female protagonist has relationships with the Eighth Prince and then the Fourth Prince, the latter of whom eventually ascends the throne as Emperor Yongzheng.The plot of the series largely followed the original novel, though the series's ending differed from the novel's.
Scarlet Heart was a commercial and critical success across Asia, propelling Liu Shishi to stardom and revitalizing Nicky Wu’s career. The two leading stars eventually married in 2015. A sequel, Scarlet Heart 2, aired in China on Zhejiang TV on 22 April 2014. A film version, Time to Love, with different cast was released in 2015. A Korean version, Moon Lovers: Scarlet Heart Ryeo, aired in 2016. A Thai version was announced in 2024.