This director is vindictive.

Chapter 513 All Nations Pay Tribute 2.0: The Global Fall of Eastern Aesthetics
One night in Chang'an could be said to have caused the splendor of the Tang Dynasty to sweep across the country, no, in fact, it had already spread beyond the country's borders.

According to data from Huayun Apparel, the "Chinese style" trend brought about by this premiere caused Huayun Apparel's overseas sales to explode.

While the drone footage of Chang'an was still swirling in the night sky, the hashtag #TangDynastyShow on YouTube was already spreading virally.

A giant advertising screen in Shibuya, Tokyo, suddenly switched to a 4K clip of Fan Binbin's "Rainbow Feather Dance," and the Japanese girls watching exclaimed and pulled out their phones: "This is true Tang Dynasty aesthetics!"

The principal dancer of the French National Opera shared a video of the Mo Dao (陌刀) formation with the caption: "These sword techniques carry the genes of ancient Chinese martial arts!"

The post quickly attracted enthusiasts of cold weapons from various countries, with one person using German to meticulously research the facts: "According to the Tang Dynasty's Six Codes, the 4-meter-long Mo Dao was a real nemesis of cavalry!"

On a South Korean forum, after a history blogger uploaded a clip of AR cavalry charging out of a mural, the top-rated Korean comment took a sudden turn: "While it's stunning, isn't the pearl veil technique of the lead dancer inspired by our national treasure? (Image: Silla-era gold crown)"

Thai netizens responded with a still from the TV series "The Empress of China": "Wake up, this is a variation of the Tang Dynasty's hair ornament!"

Many Chinese netizens also commented: "Yeah, yeah, that's awesome! All the world's poop belongs to you!"

The BBC Culture channel released a special report overnight titled "From Rainbow Feathers to Digital Dunhuang: How China is Reviving Millennia-Old Aesthetics with Technology," which specifically mentioned: "While the West is still debating the concept of the metaverse, the Chinese have already used AR technology to bring the ladies in Zhang Xuan's 'Preparing Silk' painting to life on the silk—which may explain why the #TangMakeup challenge on TikTok has attracted 200 million imitations."

Japan's NHK television station even conducted a comparative experiment on its morning program: they asked a craftsman from a long-established shop in Kyoto to replicate the geisha's silk fan using the Shosoin technique. When the host discovered that it would take three months to complete, the screen was instantly flooded with comments like "China's speed is terrifying."

Singapore's Lianhe Zaobao, however, focused on the economic implications of cultural export: "The Hanfu orders generated by this show are enough to keep embroidery workshops busy until next Chinese New Year."

Suddenly, a 15-second high-energy montage of "Qin King's Battle Song" appeared on the Nasdaq screen in Times Square, New York. Wall Street elites stopped to watch, coffee in hand, and someone muttered, "Damn, this is the kind of oppressive feeling that Eastern culture should have."

Meanwhile, in Istanbul, archaeologist Ahmed was excitedly sending an email to his students: "Look at the reconstructed bili from China! Its timbre perfectly confirms the eastward transmission route of Sogdian musical instruments along the Silk Road!"

On international social media platforms such as Xiaohongshu and Douyin, many overseas netizens have begun to take photos and videos wearing various traditional Chinese costumes.

For a time, Chinese netizens were extremely pleased with themselves.

"Have you seen the video of the Mo Dao formation that's going viral on the internet? Foreigners are all asking, 'Is this a new style of Chinese Kung Fu?' It's hilarious! The military formation aesthetics of our ancestors from thousands of years ago are a direct knockout blow. This is what you call cultural export!"

(Image: Animated GIF showing a golden-armored warrior slashing with a long-handled sword)
"Indeed, what is national is also international! Our ancestors were the most awesome!"

"Those who are still saying Chen Mo is extravagant and wasteful, look my eyes, speak up! Speak up!"

"My heart is breaking, everyone! I just saw a Japanese netizen singing 'The Song of Qin King Breaking the Enemy' in Japanese on Twitter, and the Southeast Asian fans in the comments section are all researching their own country's history books for 'Tang sword phobia.' Stop idolizing other countries; the 'all nations paying tribute' written in our textbooks is true! Chinese culture is the best!" (Forwarded screenshot of a popular post from an overseas website)

"Laughing at how South Korean netizens are once again arguing about the origin of the 'Rainbow Feather Dance,' while the British Museum reposted Fan Bingbing's pearl-embroidered face with the caption 'A new specimen for the study of Tang Dynasty clothing'—this official slap in the face is so satisfying~" (Showing a comparison between the controversial post on the foreign website and the museum's official Twitter account)
There were also overseas live streamers broadcasting live, and on the streets of Paris, many foreigners dressed in Tang Dynasty-style ladies' clothing and flowing gowns became a beautiful sight.

Some international students played "Qin King's Battle Song" through a loudspeaker on the street, attracting a large crowd of foreigners to watch.

"Oh my god! Chinese clothes are so beautiful, so gorgeous!"

"It's truly unbelievable that this existed more than a thousand years ago!"

"I'm in Frankfurt! Today, the subway stations are full of promotional posters for Huayun Costumes' 'The Empress's Wedding,' and my foreign colleague keeps asking me for travel tips for Chang'an City."

I suggest the Culture and Tourism Bureau quickly launch a "Mo Dao Performance + AR Mural" themed route; this could earn foreign exchange! (Serious face) (Photographing a nine-grid image of a foreign billboard)

Don't assume that the wedding promotional video "The Empress's Wedding" is only shown in China. In fact, it was originally an advertisement for wedding attire by Huayun Clothing.

Therefore, it was also shown overseas.

Similar incidents are also occurring overseas.

"When the giant screen in Times Square, New York, was showing a drone animation depicting the transformation of 'Jin Suo' into 'Wu Zetian' into 'Empress,' many elderly Chinese people below were wiping away tears. Suddenly, I understood what it meant to have a 'visual reunion of a thousand-year-old bloodline.'" (Video of overseas street reactions)

It can be said that the rise of the motherland has excited overseas Chinese elders the most and given them the deepest experience.

Back then, they lived in fear and trembling overseas, just like "Golden Lock".

But as their motherland began to rise and prosper, they were finally able to stand tall and proudly say, "I am Chinese!"

Of course, this trend has also brought about some things that are both funny and frustrating.

"Urgent! I need help online! How do I explain to foreign friends that 'Wo Cao' is an official exclamation from the Tang Dynasty? Now the whole Twitter is imitating the audience's reaction to being scared by the Mo Dao (a type of ancient Chinese sword). The biggest contributor to China's cultural export is actually the national curse word (doge)" (Making a bilingual "Wo Cao" meme) "The Empress's Wedding" is released worldwide.

In fact, neither Chen Mo nor Shengshi Pictures had any expectations for overseas box office performance.

However, sometimes, things are just that magical.

As the trend of "the splendor of the Tang Dynasty" swept through Chang'an, a city that seemed to have been transported back to the Tang Dynasty overnight, a wave of excitement swept through the city.

The release of "The Empress's Wedding" in China did not cause much of a stir, mainly because domestic audiences were already used to it.

However, it has unexpectedly become very popular overseas.

The extravagant and lavish wedding ceremony, in particular, left countless overseas viewers speechless.

As a result, the film was originally only symbolically released in a few theaters overseas, but after its release, tickets became extremely difficult to obtain, and theaters added more screenings.

TikTok's overseas streamers also benefited from this wave of popularity.

They began flocking to the cinemas showing "The Empress's Wedding" to livestream.

To the surprise of many netizens in China, almost all of them were in long queues.

The host interviewed a French viewer who was in line. The viewer said, "A friend of mine went to see it, and after coming back, he became obsessed with all kinds of Chinese style. He said that 'The Empress's Wedding' was the most luxurious, romantic, and extravagant wedding ceremony he had ever seen! So, we definitely had to come and see it. After all, we French people love romance the most!"

Then I heard the French audience say, "Your China is really amazing! My friend told me that after watching 'The Empress's Wedding,' he realized that all the so-called aristocratic weddings in the world are incredibly low-class, while China actually had such a truly aristocratic wedding more than a thousand years ago."

There were also live interviews with foreign audience members who had just come out of the cinema.

While researching on his phone, the other person exclaimed in amazement, "I just came back from checking Wikipedia! The scene in 'The Empress's Wedding' where the three thousand golden-armored guards carried the dowry chests is a perfect replica of the 'brocade and pearls stretching for miles' described in the 'New Book of Tang.' You Chinese people actually recreated the lavish wedding from history books 1:1! It's absolutely incredible!"

The word "damn" has surprisingly become a new catchphrase among overseas netizens.

This left many Chinese people feeling both amused and exasperated.

However, this was just the beginning. The topic exploded online.

"Location: Berlin! During the IMAX screening of the dowry procession on Suzaku Avenue, the entire audience of foreigners gasped in astonishment—the overhead shot of those gilded chests looked like a molten river of gold! This isn't a movie; it's a Tang Dynasty National Geographic documentary! (Ticket stub + actual screen footage)"

"As an Italian, after seeing this, I finally understand why European royal weddings are always considered 'shabby'. You call this a 'wedding'? This is clearly a combination of a military parade, fashion week, and the opening ceremony of the Olympics! (Comparison: British Royal Wedding VS Tang Dynasty's Ten Miles of Red Dowry)"

"A friend asked me why I was kneeling while looking at my phone. I showed him a 0.5-second clip of Fan Binbin's pearl-embroidered face curtain being blown by the wind, and now he's begging me to buy him the same one (shrug). PS: Does the Ministry of Culture and Tourism of China need overseas ambassadors? (Attached is a chart showing a 1200% surge in searches for 'Tang Dynasty Phoenix Crown' on Taobao)"

"Japanese netizens have broken down their defenses! The barrage of comments is full of 'Master Jianzhen didn't lie to us'—the Tang Dynasty wedding dress patterns preserved in the Shosoin are exactly the same as those in the movie! (Tears welling up) It turns out that the 'Tang-style wedding' described in The Tale of Genji is really this amazing!"

At the same time, Chang'an City's cultural tourism has become the envy of cultural tourism companies across the country.

They thought this craze was limited to China, but they didn't expect that foreigners would be even more enthusiastic than the Chinese.

In just two days, countless overseas tourists flocked to the area.

Many Chinese netizens exclaimed in amazement: "This is a cultural tourism version, a modern version of 'All Nations Paying Tribute'!"

(Image: Tourists in Chang'an City.JPG)

In the picture, the streets of Chang'an are bustling with people, including tourists of all kinds. The only thing they have in common is that they are all dressed in traditional Chinese clothing and parading around!

Booking.com's Chang'an Hotel was instantly fully booked!
French tourists shared their wedding photos in Hanfu (traditional Han Chinese clothing): "The tour guide said that Tang Dynasty brides had to step over a saddle, and we insisted on adding that part—even though she fell, it was so ceremonial! (Photo: The groom, wearing a crooked turban, helps the bride who has fallen.)"

Chen Mo and Fan Binbin never expected that what was just a farewell ceremony and a premiere would become a phenomenal cultural export.

Even official media outlets have reported on it, further fueling the hype surrounding this "glory of the Tang Dynasty"!

(End of this chapter)