Tang Dynasty enchantress Yangin in cinemas in July

Fan Bingbing plays the Tang Dynasty concubine Yang Yuhuan in Lady of the Dynasty, a new movie. [Photo/China Daily]

Yang Yuhuan, a Tang Dynasty (AD 618-907) concubine, famed for her good looks and the attention she received from Emperor Xuanzong, is now the subject of a big-screen project.

Earlier in the year, Chinese social media was abuzz with comments on the depiction of Tang-era clothes on the small screen and the amount of cleavage shown by actresses in a Hunan TV serial titled The Empress of China, in which Wu Zetian, the empress and grandmother of Xuanzong, was played by actress Fan Bingbing.

Fan also plays the role of Yang in the upcoming full-length feature.

Late last year, authorities had asked Hunan TV to regulate the visuals of Fan and other actresses in corsets in the show by using closeups of their faces and heads in shots that required them.

The State Administration of Press, Publication, Radio, Film and Television, the country's top media regulator, wanted the "unhealthy content" to be cut.

Now, with Lady of the Dynasty, based on Yang and the Tang era, the cleavage is back in focus, and seemingly without much ado.

In a trailer of the upcoming movie, released at the ongoing annual Shanghai International Film Festival, Fan is shown in typical Tang attire and without the restrictions previously placed on the TV show.

"Movies and TV series are different productions and they have different social influences. I don't think the movie needs such cuts," Shi Qing, a director of the movie, tells China Daily on the sidelines of the festival.

Other than Shi, the directors' team includes Zhang Yimou and Tian Zhuangzhuang, both top-notch moviemakers, who have earned international acclaim since the 1980s.