China’s AI shorts have been developing rapidly, and a drama called Yan Bian Qing Mei (砚边青梅) has become one of the most talked-about AI short dramas from this summer. Yan Bian Qing Mei revolves around Yan Jiming, a historical figure associated with Yan Zhenqing’s famous calligraphic masterpiece Draft of a Requiem to My Nephew (祭侄文稿). It has surpassed 100 million views on Hongguo, while related topics on social media have also amassed over a hundred million searches.
The story follows Li Youwei, a museum employee who time travels back to the Tang Dynasty after touching an ancient manuscript. There, she becomes the childhood sweetheart and fiancée of Yan Jiming. Knowing his tragic end in the An Lushan Rebellion, she struggles between escaping her fate and staying by his side. In history, Yan Jiming and his father, Yan Gaoqing, defended Changshan during the rebellion where more than 30 members of their family were killed.
In an evolving landscape where the average joe could now create a box office success, it turns out that the woman behind the hit AI drama Yan Bian Qing Mei, Wanwan (晚晚), is actually a media professional who decided to work on her passion project in her free time. During an interview with Chinese media, she said, “Normally, outside of working hours, I would spend my time teaching myself and learning new techniques for new media.”
She revealed that all the time, money, and resources needed to make the series came out of her own pocket. As this was her first project, she simply wanted to put in her best effort and make it as good as she could. She taught herself AI and was essentially a one-person production team doing screenwriting, directing and editing, eventually taking a few months to complete her passion project, which has now gone viral.
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