Netflix’s ‘The Ghost Bride’ Based on Traditional Asian Practice of Ghost Marriages

The six-episode Chinese-language series comes out on January 23, 2020

The six-episode Chinese-language series comes out on January 23, 2020

Shot from the Ghost Bride

Photos: Netflix

by The RepresentASIAN Project
January 17, 2020




Netflix’s original series The Ghost Bride is shedding light on the Chinese tradition of a ghost marriage, where one or both parties are deceased.

The six-episode Chinese-language series, which comes out on January 23, 2020, is based on the 2013 New York Times best-selling novel of the same name by Malaysian author, Yangsze Choo.

A Shot from the ghost bride

Set in the 1890s, the story revolves around Li Lan (played by Taiwanese actress Huang Peijia), a girl who is asked to marry the recently deceased son of the wealthy Lim family. By marrying into the family, Li would save her family from a lifetime of debt, but would be doomed to spend the rest of her life haunted by a ghost husband, Tian Ching (played by Taiwan’s Wu Kang Ren), who made the request to marry her after seeing her for the first time at a festival before his death. Soon, Li becomes wrapped up in solving a murder mystery.

The series was shot at various locations in Malaysia and is directed by Malaysian directing duo Quek Shio Chuan and Ho Yuhang. Cast members also include Ludi Lin and Malaysian Mandarin-language musical and theater artist, Tian Tze Kuang.