Timeline

The preface of the novel begins with the following sentence: Beiping (Beijing) in 1933 was the most exciting place in China. (一九三三年的北平，是全中国最热闹的地方。) Therefore, most of viewers assumed the drama also begins in 1933. Actually, the timeline of the drama version is different from the novel, just like many incidents in the drama sometimes occur in different order and manners. In this page, we will focus on Winter Begonia's timeline.

To make this page, we owe the detailed analysis by 起名字也太难了 on Douban a lot. 起名字也太难了 kindly allowed us to use their contents! Thank you!

## When does the story begin?

In the drama it isn't mentioned, when the story exactly begins. So, we have to figure out the approximate date from some sources, which pop up in the drama.

### 1. the rent agreement

The rent agreement between Shuiyun lou and the landowner for three years was signed on 23rd Feb 1934 (ep 5). According to Shang Xirui, the contract wasn't still expired, when he confronted the landowner. Anyway, the landowner demanded them to leave the place in the next year. Anyway, Shang Xirui and his troupe came to Beiping in 1934, while in the novel Shang Xirui already cemented his fame in Beiping in 1933.

Later in episode 14, we learn Cheng Fengtai bought that place before a new year came. We see the date on the sales contract (22nd March 1937).

### 2. The date on the newspaper

The first exact date appears in episode 9, when the troupe members read the newspaper. The date says 12th Dec 1936.

### 3. the approximate date of the beginning

That said, the story begins before the 12th of December 1936, when Jiang Rongshou's Birthday party took place. Since there is no obvious time jumping between the episode 1 and episode 9 and the attires of people and weather of that day, we can surmise, that the story begins late autumn/beginning of Winter (November) in 1936.

## The date of Competition

The date on the newspaper in Episode 12 confuses us, international viewers, because the text on La Yue hong's back 腊月初九 was translated in english "the 9th of December", that was the date of the competition.

起名字也太难了 clarifies, 腊月初九 actually means the 9th of 12th Luna Calendar. And it is the 21th of January 1937. Now, it makes sense.

## When Cheng Fengtai was kidnapped and Gu Dali got pregnant?

Cheng Fengtai left Beiping after the competition, which took place on the 21th of January 1937 (ep 14), and came back his home on the Chinese New Year's Eve, since Cao Guixiu visited Jiang Family on the very same day and settled with the matter, when Jiang Rongshou had New Year's party. (ep 17)

## How long did Shang Xirui and Chen Renxiang stay in Nanjing?

Shortly after the competition, Shang Xirui and Chen Renxiang left Beiping. It was surely before Chinese New Year (11. Feb. 1937), since we see the New Year's party scene at Jiang Family, when they had two unexpected guests in episode 17. Before Shang Xirui came back to Beiping, Xue Qianshan paid Du Qi advance payment for the manuscript and signed a check dated 2. March 1937. That means, Shang Xirui enjoyed the warm Winter in Nanjing almost for a month.

## When did they buy the Royal Theatre?

When did they buy the Royal Theatre? On the sales contract, we can see the date, May. However, as the previous example (the sales contract of Shui Yun Lou) shows, the date must be not the date, when the contract was closed but when the contract would be implemented. So, we don't know exactly, when they closed the contract.

The next exact date, which we see in the drama, is the date of the contract, when Xiao Zhouzi's apprenticeship was officially announced. It was April 26. Fengyi was also born the same day.

Yuan Xiaodi's retirement party, Shang Xirui and Hou Yukui's performance at the royal theatre, Liu Hanyun's visit to Beiping happened all between 4. March and 26. April 1937.

While there is no exact date, Xiao Zhouzi spent already sometimes in Shuiyun lou, before he was forced to go back to Si Xi'er. Before the whole storyarc of Xiao Zhouzi began, Shui Yun Lou had already begun to perform at the Royal Theatre (they renamed it into the first theatre).

The contract was very likely closed at the end of March/beginning of April.

## How long did Shang Xirui stay in Shanghai?

The next question is a bit tricky. How long did Shang Xirui stay in Shanghai? When did they go back to Beiping?

### When did he go to Shanghai?

The arrival date of Shang Xirui is clear, since the date of the gathering is written in the invitation. It is 16. May.

That also explains, the poll for the best actor happened between 26. April and 15. May.

The premiere date of his stage in Shanghai was also revealed on the newspaper, which CFT bought from the boy on the street. It was June 8th.

### When did Shang Xirui and Cheng Fengtai go back to Beiping?

Shortly after the premiere, Zeng Aiyu and her (fake) brother left Shanghai. And then, Shang Xirui found wounded Chen Renxin.

Here is a small bug. The drama's narration pretty much indicated that Shang Xirui and Cheng Fengtai went back to Beiping before the Marco Polo Bridge Incident (the 7th of July 1937), while small scenes explained differently.

Chen Renxiang got a letter from his fiancé. she sent the letter on the 4th of August.

Obviously, after Chen Renxiang's incident, Shang Xirui still stayed in Shanghai at least for a couple of days, and went to the Japanese Restaurant with Xue Zhicheng.

If the date on the envelope is the correct date, Shang Xirui did stay in Shanghai for three months.

## When was Shang Xirui beaten by the audience?

Until that moment, we really don't get any further information about dates. On the very next day of the incident, Du Qi came to Shuiyunlou with two Newspapers. Since the date on the paper says 17. Nov. 1937, the incident must have happened on the 16th of November.

From then on, we get more often precise information about dates of different events. For example, It was 23. November 1937, when Cheng Fengtai came back to Beiping and visited Sakata without changing his clothes, as we see the date on the Check.