Rumours have abounded online after an entertainment news source reported that Chinese censors were cracking down on love affairs between gods and mere mortals.
Romance between the gods and mortals is a theme as old as mythology itself—from Zeus’s romps down Mount Olympus to China’s own Nu Lang and Zhi Nu, celebrated each year on “China’s Valentine’s Day” Qixi.
According to “TV Paradise” on China’s Twitter-like Weibo, however, China’s State Administration of Press, Publication, Radio, Film and Television is flexing its muscles yet again by “strengthening controls over historical fantasy.”
The SAPPRFT directive reportedly claims that new historical fantasy series Good Bye My Princess “distorts history” since “immortals and humans cannot love each other.”
Although this sounds fantastical, even mainstream news sites are still on the fence about whether the new guidelines are genuine or the work of a rumour-monger’s imagination.
Considering that Beijing has recently banned time travel and ordered the Dalai Lama to reincarnate, sifting fact from fiction in China can be a Herculean task.
