Opinion

What a historical smash hit tells us about China’s strategic focus

Swords into Ploughshares can tell us a lot about Beijing’s approach to the crisis in Iran, cross-strait relations and this year’s ‘two sessions’

4-MIN READ4-MIN

Listen

Chow Chung-yan began his journalistic career at the South China Morning Post and rose to become editor-in-chief in 2025.

Published: 6:41pm, 4 Mar 2026Updated: 7:28pm, 4 Mar 2026

As the world watches in horror at death raining from the skies in the Middle East, millions of Chinese are glued to the television watching a turbulent drama that unfolded in their own country, albeit some eleven centuries ago.

Swords into Ploughshares, a historical TV drama set during the chaotic Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period, has emerged as an unexpected smash hit coming into China’s festive season.

Yet it is more than just a television phenomenon. In some ways, it sheds light on the public perception of today’s China and the world, as well as Beijing’s strategy on Taiwan, its stand-offish attitude towards global chaos and the focus of the coming “two sessions”.

Throughout China’s recorded history, there have been three major “dark ages” when the civilisation lost its internal cohesion and broke into warring states. These are the Warring States period (475-221 BC), the Six Dynasties (220-589 AD) and the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms (907 to 979 AD). Of these, the last one, sandwiched between the glorious Tang and Song dynasties, is the shortest and least familiar even to the Chinese public.

What a historical smash hit tells us about China’s strategic focus

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}Swords into Ploughshares can tell us a lot about Beijing’s approach to the crisis in Iran, cross-strait relations and this year’s ‘two sessions’

Swords into Ploughshares can tell us a lot about Beijing’s approach to the crisis in Iran, cross-strait relations and this year’s ‘two sessions’