Now and then - Song Emperor vs Qing Emperor

17 years later .....
Haiz! What's with the belly bulge?

kingly maturity vs kingly vulnerability

burdened heart vs brash bravado


Parent-child tender moment

An Emperor's wrath

An Emperor's anticipation

an Emperor's superiority

Unfortunately, most screencaps on baidu sm are don't work anymore, pity.
1998 domd photo album - baidu

CCTV 15: Steven's Domd1998 Kangxi's segment only

source

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credit CNTV youtube 影视留声机 闻歌起武 武侠歌曲展播 09

CCTV15 commentator says Steven's portrayal of KangXi was very successful, from a spontaneous and likable youthful Xiao Xuan Zi to the majestic Emperor Kang Xi.  Steven's performance was excellent; not too much not too little, just perfect.  As was the song lyrics and his rendition of the song expressing the maturation and the inner being of Kangxi from a precocious youth to an Emperor burdened with holding up a piece of the sky for his country and people.

 source: sm baidu

weibo 5/22 Domd1998

link to enlarged copy
5/22 16:03  Siu Yun Ji, evokes lots of memories.    Link: Collection of fan essays on SYJ on baidu sm thread.

Like I said Steven's Kangxi is one among the most beloved and memorable characters if not the most of all Steven's roles for his mainland fans.   The biggest reason being that Domd1998 is one of the  most aired TVB series on mainland tv stations.  

"Steven's Kang Xi is so beautiful that had he had a love interest in the series, guess she would drown in fans' spit cos' no way her beauty could match that of Kangxi's."

"His beauty can withstand copious scrutiny, like a youth stepping out from a ancient classic painting scroll, like a 仙童 (child attendant to an immortal) who stands at the side, still and quiet.  In his attentiveness, there is this air of nobility and flawlessness. His air of untainted beauty slowly overflowing, drifting and spreading to all 4 corners of the earth."

The fans laying their admiration for Steven's Kang Xi  a bit thick with flowery words but truly Steven's Kang Xi's beauty is pure and flawless.  And indeed looks as if he has stepped out from a classic ancient scroll.  I can see his KangXi's growth from a youth to a shrewd young Emperor.

This is what an actor most hope for -- a memorable character that can withstand time, especially a historical character that is inevitably matched up with the historical figure image.  Both his KangXi and Cao Ji have achieved that test of time. 

baidu tvb thread on Xiao Xuan Zi with screencaps
screen caps baidu thread
--more in Chinese

domd 98 ending

Episode 42, Emperor Kang Xi exposes Wai Siu Bo's duplicity. He is now more of an emperor than Siu Bo's childhood friend.

Finale episode 45. Kang Xi and Siu Bo last meeting.

Finally finished Domd98 and thoroughly enjoyed every minute of Steven's scenes and pretty much the whole series. Before, my enjoyment of the series was much tempered by my fast forwarding of the series because first the uploaded series quality was really bad and second because I did not have patience to watch such a long series and with such inferior video to boot, and third having watched Tony Leung and Andy Lau's version, was not too fond of the storyline.  But this time around, with patience and superior video quality, I thoroughly enjoyed the whole series, did not even seem all that long either. Jordan Chan did an excellent Wai Siu Bo portrayal, although he did look a bit too old to be a teenager.   And of course, Steven's Kangxi was the motivation for my watching this series, and what an eye candy his Kangxi was, no wonder girls still go gaga over his delicate beauty.

And incidentally, Jing Yong, the author of the book, reportedly commended Steven's KangXi as his favorite. KangXi in Domd is only a teenager of around 15-16 years of age, though naturally intelligent and courageous in mind and action, is still a long way from being what is now acknowledged as one of China's greatest Emperors.  Steven successfully brought out the humanness of Kangxi as a teenage boy, who is also an emperor of a young and unstable country, and whose future totally depends on how his very decisions and actions. 

domd 1998 episode 11

Starting @:24 into the video, love Kang xi's subtle sidelong eye expression 

Domd1998 episode 6 with Steven's scenes only

This is the series that has garnered Steven the most Mainland fans. Many of them are still his loyal fans since watching this series in 1998. And over the years with the prolific reruns of Domd 1998 on mainland tv stations, Steven's Xiao Xuan Zi continues to these days to captivate tv audiences and gain him new fans.  Steven's Xiao Xuan Zi is arguably the most beloved among mainland Domd fans.  Even its author, Jing Yong, reportedly praised Steven's portrayal as being his most favorite Xiao Xuan Zi. 

Previously I myself had not watched the whole 42 episodes in its entirely, choosing only Steven's scenes to watch because all online uploaded versions before this one on youtube were of inferior quality, and in Mandarin at that.  Actually, Steven's dubber did an excellent job of dubbing him even slightly edged out Steven's own dubbing because as the young Kangxi, Steven's deep manly voice was a bit at odd with his boyish and delicate features. In fact, mainland fans said dubber's voice and Steven's Kangxi looks matched perfectly as one. In most cases if not all, I always prefer the original voice to dubbing but in the case of Chinese palace dramas, I  actually appreciate the language to be in Mandarin for its imperial formality and language refinement. I personally don't like listening to the  Cantonese modern way/tone of speaking the court language with its 'hai bo' and other Cantonese suffixes. But that's just me.

But anyway, I'm right now watching this series on youtube  and thoroughly enjoying it, more so than the one with Tony and Andy's.  Steven's Kangxi is simply gorgeous, like  a refined porcelain china, and his acting not bad for a newbie.  Edited: As expected, youtube uploads have been deleted but they can be watched from the youku.com but only on chrome browser only. And since it has dual audio, you can choose to watch it in Mandarin or Cantonese.

Eta: After watching the whole series I truly love it especially Steven and Jordan's scenes.


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Episode 5 screencaps


~~Tidbits~~
Author Jin Yong in one of his articles commended Steven's Hong Hei as being the best Hong Hei in DOMD. eta source audio rthk 2013-5-26

Ten years later when casting for young Kangxi in Domd1998, both Benny Chan and Louis Koo were under consideration for the role.  But in the end TVB gave the opportunity to a newbie, Steven Ma, a singer turned actor.

source: Jing Yong series brought forth many heroes and heroines  金庸剧造就多少英雄侠女

"During this period (late 90s to early 2000s) the more successful Jin Yong's leading men representatives were Louis Koo, Benny Chan and Steven Ma, with Louis Koo being the most successful among them. The ratings for Louis's Yong Gwo in Hong Kong were not ideal. (This situation seems to a common problem with Jing Yong's adapted tv series.  Filmed in Hong Kong, hot in mainland) ..

Though Jordan Chan is outside the type to gain instant popularity through a Jing Yong series his character, Wai Siu Bo, did indeed raise his popularity by several notches. Many people complained about his age and appearance not matching his character but for me (reporter)  Wai Siu Bo from different versions have their own uniqueness and most have the acting chop.

Steven Ma's Siu Yun Zi is perfectly fitted. I can't help but admire TVB's precision in casting a role.  Can say that prior to Domd1998, not many people had much impression of Steven's character in Files of Justice and then Domd1998 was televised, and regardless which tv station, we could all immediately at first sight recognize that young and promising and juvenile Siu Yun Zi. " 

TN: A tidbit on the court scene at the beginning of this video. At that time, Steven said he was much pressured by this kind of court scenes with him sitting on the dragon throne and his elderly ministers on the floor before him. Reason being if he messed up his lines or performance, retakes might require his court of seasoned seniors to kneel and get up repeatedly before him. haha! So Steven said he was extra conscientious in studying and memorizing his script before this kind of scenes took place.

I had to shave my head for DOMD, and for me that was already a big sacrifice. Several newspapers ran this “clad in a dragon robe, but didn’t look like a crown prince. How to compete with Andy Lau?” TVB assigned me the work. It’s not my fault. Obviously, situations that are outside our control, we’ll still get blamed and criticized for them. Anyway, there’s no point getting upset over it.” 2005 news   

Domd 1998

Domd98 videos are now being uploaded on youtube. Better watch them or dl them promptly before they are  deleted because of copyrights. Wonder if the uploader can get to all 42 of the videos before getting a youtube warning letter.Episode 5-16, 21-22, 25-26, 30-31, 36, 38, 39, 42, 44, 45

I don't like the story but Steven looks so good as Emperor Kangxi.

Edited: Starting to get into the series now that I'm truly watching it with attention.

I like him best in the scene when he and Wai Siu Bo first meet. 

youtube epi 4 

Passenger's Fake Kangxi ID card almost cost him his flight

Steven's Kang Xi portrayal is arguably the best loved and classic to mainland tv audience (those who have watched Domd 1998) . Steven's face is conjured up at the mention of young Emperor Kangxi to these people. In the past, fake id cards of tv and historical figures were cheap to come by but nowadays the better quality sticker id cards can cost up to 20 rmb each.

source: sina entertainment news

2/21/2012 His Majesty, Emperor KangXi, wanted to catch a flight to Chongqing, China, but was instead detained by airport security. Yesterday at 1 pm, wanting to catch the flight to Chongqing, Mr. Zhang arrived at Bai Yun Airport security check point. When the security personnel examined Mr. Zhang's identity card, the former noticed that the name on it was Aixin Jueluo, Xuan Ye. Turn out that this Mr. Zhang because of being playful had adhered a street bought sticker on the emblem (back) side of the card. However, the sticker inadvertently obscured the man's id card issue and expiry data so its authenticity could not be validated.The situation was further aggravated when the sticker could not be readily peeled off from the card. The time lost trying to validate the authenticity of the card almost cost the passenger his flight.The airport security cautioned the public not to mindlessly stick anything on the identity card creating unnecessary security problems for them, subsequently delaying the whole boarding process.


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I bet Steven received 100s of weibo tags to the news report. His weibo reply:

Steven Ma 2012-2-21 12:30: Old Domd's drama picture....fortunately not me taking it to board a plane. Frankly, should not use this plaything for real, illegal at the same time inconvenient other people. Don't la!

TN: I wasn't going to post the news here but it was just too funny to resist. The news originated in Guangzhou newspaper quickly spread like a wild fire onto other newspapers, and it is now very 'hot' on weibo garnering thousands of replies and being reported in numerous tv stations in China.   Poor Steven, 'lying flat on the ground still get shot'. (Chinese cyber lingo)

Top 10 common responses on weibo in no particular order:

1) What an idiot!

2) Well, at least he's pretty good looking (for those who don't know that was Steven's pix not the perpetrator's)

3) That looks like Steven Ma, no?

4) Haha! That's Steven Ma la

5)Steven lying flat on the ground still get shot (Chinese cyber lingo)

6) Wah, he looks a lot like Steven Ma.

7) The best looking young Kangxi in DOMD

8) Lol, so funny!

9) I want that sticker. Where can I get it?

10) So stupid!

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Posted 26 May 2010 - 11:59 PM AF SM thread

I've posted this Kangxi pix of Steven before a few years back, but 2-3 weeks ago, a funny incident (as reported in the news snippet below) brought it back into limelight. And just yesterday, Steven found out about that incident and posted a news snippet on it in his weibo. I can imagine Steven's cracking up at discovering his Emperor Kangxi transcending time. Those unscrupulous bootleggers must have found this id on Steven Ma baidu or Xiao Xuan Zi baidu, and made money out of it. Ingenious! IIrc, a Steven fan designed this identity card a few years ago and uploaded online.

paraphrase of a news snippet
To get the interest of the primary and middle students, toys bootleggers sure wrack their brains. They even had Emperor Kangxi’s identity card for sell. May 6th 2010, while patrolling a neighborhood, the police noticed that a store next to an elementary school had 2 bags of Emperor Kangxi’s identity cards. According to the store owner, these identity cards were bought by merchants from a nearby wholesale market. Each bag contained 2-ID packets priced at 5ct each. Most of the buyers were students who collected the card as a kind of toy. The store owner said he had so far sold Cao Cao’s ID and Han Wudi’s, which all sold very well. Because this Emperor Kangxi’s identity cards were not legal identity card, the police duly confiscated these two bags of Emperor Kangxi’s ID cards.  

Steven only just found out about this incident where he supposedly transcended time to today’s world, he laughed and said: “I’m curious to see for myself the identity card."

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 source sm baidu

edited steven'scenes only DOMD1998

Steven only scenes domd1998 playlist on tudou

Once (DOMD1998) set a record of having 18 satellite tv station simultaneously broadcasting it nationwide/locally. Like a national news broadcast, change to any station and there it was, everywhere.

 君临天下之风舞霓裳：有没有人告诉你鹿鼎记，创下18家卫星电视同时播出的纪录？跟新闻联播一样一样的，换哪里都是，你爷爷的

Domd 1998 re-run in Auhui tv again

One of the most frequently re-run series in Mainland

Wow! Though only a supporting character, Steven's Kang Xi is placed in a prominent position on the cover.

screen caps credit steven ma.org weibo

Video: Duke of Mt. Deer MV - ending theme song

song: -头顶一片天


source

source: sm baidu

Screencaps to DOMD:  tianya domd thread; 
sm baidu thread; kangxi screencaps in baidu

Updated news 2015 10 25 series: domd

updated news source

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Steven had to audition for Kang xi in Domd1998.  There were many tvb actors also auditioning for the same role including Benny Chan.

7/3 23:53【reminiscing moment】First time filmed Qing drama, first time shaved head, that was when shooting one version of Mr. Kam Yong's "Luk Ding Gei" (Duke of Mt. Deer).  In a blink of an eye, it has already been 14 years ago.  Looking at this photo taken at that time, feel ...that Siu Yun Ji, actually was quite ok ba?  Heehee

【怀旧时刻】第一次拍清装、第一次剃头，就是拍金庸先生的其中一部名著「鹿鼎记」。一眨眼，已是十四年前的事了。看著当时的照片，感觉․․․․․․当年的小玄子，其实还可以吧？嘻嘻！

tn: Less than an hour, the messages left on the message board are over a 1000.  According to baidu and tianya polls, Mainland Luk Ding Gei netizens love Steven and Jordan version the best.  And Steven's Kangxi remains a much loved if not the most beloved young Kangxi among mainland netizens.

Savor screencaps on this tianya thread; 
sm baidu thread, kangxi screencaps in baidu
 more screen caps on baidu

weibo 4/12 Kangxi vs Nip Do Bo

4/12 19:03
Siu Yuen Tze of 14 years old ago Duke of Mt. Deer meets up with Nip Do Bo in the Forbidden City! Haha! P.S. Thanks Steven Ma baidu for the pix.  十四年前「鹿鼎記」的小玄子與「紫禁驚雷」的聶多寶在紫禁城相遇了！哈哈！p.s.多謝百度馬吧的照片

4/12 23:18 
Good evening! Tomorrow will meet with Google, the all-seeing eye dog, very happy!  Tomorrow will snap some pictures to share with you all!  How was Book of Words? 晚上好！明天會和導盲犬google見面，很開心！明天拍照給大家看！正識第一好看嗎？

4/12 23:28  I've read your posts!  I'm fine.  Lots of good stuff coming up!  Hope all's well with you all too!  我有看你們的留言的！我非常好，很多好事情要來！你們也要好好的呵！

TN: Recently, I'm re-watching Steven's scenes in DOMD 1998. He was so young then, at 27 he looked like a 17-18 teenager with flawless skin, pretty as a flower, definitely a dreamboat of a young Emperor. lol! His acting skill was already very good then.

For those who wants to view loads of Kangxi screencap :-
kangxi screencaps in baidu
tianya thread; 
sm baidu thread
sm baidu domd photo album

Link to good review on Steven's Kangxi.
For those what wants to watch Domd online in Cantonese goto youtube
For those who wants to download domd in Mandarin see below:

Duke of Mount Deer 1998

sm baidu screen caps thread
steven-ma.org Mandarin domd98 download

Steven's Emperor Kangxi is arguably the most favorite character among Steven fans .  Many of them became his fans because of his beautiful Kang Xi visage, his characterization, his purity, his noble and aristocratic bearing and form, and most of all the child and emperor in him. Undoubtedly Steven looked and acted the part as the young emperor perfectly. And his Kang Xi has the most screencaps done because he was so beautiful to look at, like a character out of an ancient script.

When first approached by DOMD producer, Director Lee, for the role of Kangxi, Steven was very reluctant to do because he did not want to shave his head, thinking it would destroy his look.  He was dead wrong, instead he looked marvelous as a Qing character.  At the time Steven was 26 years old but he could very well pass as a 16 year old emperor per his character in the series.

Repost some of the screencaps from the shortest Kang Xi screencap thread on  steven ma baidu

My most favorite screencap of Kangxi

link to favorable comment on Steven's Kangxi.

series: Duke of Mt. Deer 1998

Steven's young Kangxi is just unbelievably beautiful, yes beautiful as a rising sun. Domd 1998 is arguably the most beloved of all DOMD versions, including Tony and Andy's to the mainland china viewers.

credit sources as labeled