Actor Wang Jinsong plays emperor Wanli in the show's second episode about 1587, A Year of No Significance: The Ming Dynasty in Decline.[Photo provided to China Daily]

"I read it for the first time in 2002. I liked it very much," says Zhao.

The Moon and Sixpence, inspired by the life story of the French painter, Paul Gauguin, tells the tale of Charles Strickland, a middle-aged English stockbroker, who abruptly abandons his family and career to pursue his passion for art.

The first episode's stage show casts Taiwan actor Victor Huang as Strickland and actress He Yutong as his suffering wife.

Through their acting, the audience learns that the show's first-person narrator first meets Strickland at a party, where he shows no interest in literature or art. The narrator later travels to Paris at the request of Strickland's wife, only to find him living in poverty and devoting nearly all he has to his painting.

At times throughout the story, the camera is turned to culture critic Zhu Dake, female writer Jiang Fangzhou and renowned anchor Chen Xiaonan, who hold talks on topics raised by the novel－in this case, the frequent conflicts between ideals and reality.