One of the familiar tropes in Chinese dramas is forced marriage where the characters are obligated to marry due to various reasons in life such as debt, family pressure or be it a political alliance between the families. This drama explores the changes that these couples face due to forced marriages as they navigate their relationship. These are typically forced marriages where the lead finds love after getting forcefully married into the arrangement. The top best-forced marriage Chinese dramas are.
1. The Starry Love
The Starry Love is a comedy wuxia drama released in 2023, starring Chang Xing Xu, Luke Chen, Landy Li, and He Xuan Lin. The story begins when the human tribe’s queen gives birth to twin girls. Respected by the tribe, Qing Kui is the older sister who is kind and gentle and is betrothed to the heavenly prince. Ye Tan, the younger sister is cunning and intelligent, who is betrothed to the demon prince. Due to a mix-up, the sisters marry the wrong husbands. This paves the way for two beautiful romances and sparks a conspiracy that shakes the four realms.
2. Once We Get Married
Gu Xi Xi is a fashion shopper who runs an online shop and buys Alex’s couture wedding dresses. She meets Yin Si Chen during a private reception of the black-bellied president and is there for a meeting with Alex. An incident leads them to enter a temporary marriage of convenience due to Alex. These two have opposite personalities and gradually fall in love during this contract marriage.
3. Blooming Days
Blooming Days is a historical drama released in 2023, starring He Hong Shan and Peter Ho. Qing Lian wants to live an ordinary life and wants a suitor with only eyes for her. However, she gets forced to marry into the royal family. She then discovers that He Lian Xin, her husband, is not the stone-faced and heartless noble he pretends to be. She also secretly helped him navigate the treacherous waters while earning his respect and affection.
4. She Is The One
Yuan Yue, while posing as her sister's sibling's mistake that she had made several years ago, agrees to marry Wen Jin Chen, a wealthy business heir whom she has never met before. As she is getting cold feet, it gets worse when the groom due to work gets delayed at a meeting, leaving her alone at the altar. When she decides to run for it, she sees a car coming and pulls the driver out, unaware that he is in it. He threatens her that he will turn her in to the police as they aren’t aware of each other. When a real car thief steals the car, she chases him down, which leaves Wen in awe. What will happen now, when they are being pressured by their parents, and when he gets to know about her real identity?
5. My Everlasting Bride
Originally it was a happy day between the warlord Nie family and the wealthy businessman Shen family. Unfortunately, Qing Xia, the bride and Miss Shen, the eldest were suddenly killed. However when they still want to proceed with the marriage, Hu Die, the Shen family’s maid gets forced to pretend to be Qing Xia, so that they can avenge her. So, she marries a young marshal of the Nie family, Nie Zhen. When Hu Die finds that the suspect in the death is pointing towards him, she starts becoming scared of him. What will happen now is it real or is she falling into a trap?
6. My Decoy Bride
Li Shu Bai is a notorious prince of the Hou family who after escaping his marriage gets into an accident. After returning to his mansion, he finds that Jiang Yu Xiao, the bride, was the one who had the intention to kill him, so he pretends to have amnesia so that he can deal with her. He finds out that she has another mysterious identity, so this couple with dual identities keeps on competing in secret. At the same time, they start getting attracted to each other.
7. Extremely Perilous Love
Xu Yin is the daughter of a prestigious family of doctors. She is driven by the determination to avenge her father and goes to great lengths, even if it means altering her appearance. Due to her fate, she finds herself getting married to a noble warrior, General Gu Sheng Han. However, this marriage was intended for the daughter of the prime minister, Xu Qing Qing. As they navigate their relationship, they face new challenges together, and their hatred transforms into a deep bond of love and camaraderie.
8. The Princess Of Destiny
The Princess Of Destiny is a romance drama released in 2023, starring Chen Rui Feng and Li Wen Ru. Jiang Mu Chen, the heir of the Jiang Group, is forced to marry the granddaughter of his grandfather’s comrade, Xia Yu, a village girl. When Jiang sees Xia Yu, he can barely believe that this marriage was set up by his grandfather.
9. The Sleepless Princess
The Sleepless Princess is a mystery wuxia drama released in 2020, starring Hu Yi Xuan and Zheng Ye Cheng. Chu Yue is the ninth princess who has experienced long-term insomnia which is due to a childhood accident. She and her brother have all their lives dependent on each other. Due to the wrong circumstances, she gets married to Xue Yao, a famous general. When Yao discovers the suspicious events that happened leading to the death of his elder brother, she helps him uncover the truth.
10. She And Her Perfect Husband
Qin Shi is a lawyer who gets rushed into a marriage by her parents. The top law firm Cheng and Hui is hiring lawyers who specialize in family affairs and their only requirement is to be wed. Her second brother, Qin Wen Yu, secretly changes her marital status to married without her knowing about it, creating a fictional husband. Without knowing anything, she gets employed by the firm. Her outstanding performance earned her the approval of Lao Jin, the founder. She decides to clarify to him that she isn't married, but at that moment, Yang Hua appears, as her “husband.” He is forced by his mother to come for a matchmaking session, and they ally.
