Relic of an Emissary
2011 Hong Kong TVB television series

Relic of an Emissary (Chinese: 洪武三十二; literally "Hongwu 32") is a 2011 Hong Kong historical fiction television drama serial produced by TVB.
The 30-episode drama premiered 4 April 2011 on Hong Kong's TVB Jade and TVB HD Jade channels, airing five days a week. Wong Wai-sing, who produced TVB's The Academy trilogy series, serves as the drama's executive producer.
The drama is loosely based on the Jingnan campaign of the Ming Dynasty, a coup d'état that ended the Jianwen Emperor's brief four-year reign over Ming China. The Chinese title of the drama literally means "Hongwu 32", the 32nd year of the Hongwu Emperor's reign.
Background
The story takes place during Zheng He's younger years, several years before his oceanic voyages. When the Jianwen Emperor ascended to the throne in 1399, he changed the era name to "Jianwen First Year" (建文元年). After Zhu Di usurped the throne in 1402, he purged all of Jianwen's supporters and ordered all documents that recorded the era name "Jianwen First Year" to be changed to "Hongwu Year 32" (洪武三十二年) in order to establish himself as the legitimate successor of the Hongwu Emperor, the first emperor of the Ming Dynasty.
Plot overview
The story begins with the sons of the Hung-mo (Hongwu) Emperor returning to the capital city as a show of filial piety to their father, who has fallen extremely ill. Secretly, the princes are harboring intentions to succeed the throne. As a result, chaos surrounds the kingdom, and a chain of conspiracies and schemes begin occurring in the city...
“Relic of an Emissary” enters the record as 2011 Hong Kong TVB television series. Crown Archives preserves that source wording while asking what Relic, Emissary and Hong can confirm, complicate or overturn.
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Object files, edition statements, performance records and contemporary criticism preserve different stages of the work’s history. The source revision retrieved here is dated Mar 25, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q7311053. 1 of 1 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 2011, 1399 and 1402.
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This entry incorporates text from “Relic of an Emissary” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.