There are no new dramas to be released, no variety shows to promote, and not even much posting on Weibo - 51-year-old Peter Ho just "sits at home, and business comes to the sky". Relying on the role of Xiang Yu, the "Overlord of Western Chu" in "Legend of Chu and Han" 14 years ago, Peter Ho unexpectedly ushered in the second burst of popularity in his career in April 2026.
Third-party data shows that his Douyin account has gained 1.989 million fans in the past 30 days, and the total number of fans has soared from 3 million to nearly 5 million. Within half a month, he has successively won 6 national-level business cooperations including King of Glory, JD.com, Alipay, Anmuxi, and Yanghe Shares. Netizens nicknamed him "the first person to win and become famous at zero cost."
The trigger for this unexpected popularity was the popularity of the ancient puppet show "Chasing Jade". In the play, after the general Wu Anhou played by Zhang Linghe resumed his status as a general, his makeup was still exquisite, his skin was fair and beautiful, and his armor was spotless. Netizens complained that he was called the "Foundation General". The controversy quickly escalated and even prompted state media to issue an article criticizing the "worship of appearance."
Amid the complaints, netizens dug out clips of Peter Ho's Xiang Yu in "Legend of Chu and Han" in 2012 for comparison. The Xiang Yu in the picture - with his face covered in blood, mottled armor, dark skin, and well-defined muscles - is in sharp contrast to the current "exquisite general". Netizens labeled Peter Ho's version of Xiang Yu as the "ceiling of ancient costume military commanders", and related second-generation video views exceeded 1.2 billion in a single day, and the topic continued to dominate social media.
This wave of popularity is essentially the audience’s belated tribute to “professionalism”. When filming "Legend of Chu and Han" in 2012, Peter Ho gained muscle to 95 kilograms 7 months in advance to play Xiang Yu, and practiced swinging a halberd thousands of times with a 20 kilogram sandbag tied to it every day. During the filming, he wore nearly 50 kilograms of solid metal armor and went into battle shirtless in a weather of minus 17 degrees. The siege scene took three weeks to shoot, and there was no need for a stand-in during the entire process.
He said: "The audience's eyes are very sharp, and they can definitely see it with a substitute. I will not make the audience feel unreal." These efforts that were considered "asking for trouble" at the time were finally voted for by young audiences 14 years later with broadcast volume and real money.
Once the traffic arrives, business will follow.
According to Blue Whale News statistics, in the past half month, Peter Ho has won cooperation with many national brands such as Honor of Kings, JD.com, Alipay, Anmuxi, and Yanghe Holdings.
Among them, JD.com took advantage of Xiang Yu's status as "Suqian's hometown" and not only invited He Rundong to "come home", but also specially reproduced Xiang Yu's armor that weighed nearly 50 kilograms. An Muxi directly announced Peter Ho as the "Su Chao Tasty Ambassador".
What’s even more dramatic is that because the brand name carries the word “Overlord”, a large number of netizens flooded into the comment section of Bawang Cha Ji’s official account, calling for the brand to invite Peter Ho to be the spokesperson. Some netizens even made their own pictures of the “Overlord style” milk tea cup. Bawangchaji customer service responded that it had "made a detailed registration" on the matter.
On April 18, Peter Ho put on Xiang Yu's jersey again after 14 years and appeared at the Suqian Olympic Sports Center to support the Scottish Premier League. He appeared on the stage driving a chariot and reproduced the classic line "I am the overlord of Western Chu, where are the children of Suqian?" The live video clip quickly filled the screen.
Faced with this sudden wave of heat, Peter Ho's reaction was quite calm. He admitted that he received many job offers as a result, but said that "life is a matter of multiple choices" and chose to focus on directing. He revealed that he had not watched "Chasing Jade" yet. Regarding Zhang Linghe's evaluation as the "Foundation General", his response was cautious and rational: "Different dramas and genres cannot be compared at all."
Looking back on his career choices, Peter Ho's path to becoming a director was not a whim. When "The Flowers Bloomed and the Moon Was Full" hit the airwaves 9 years ago, it was one of the periods when his popularity as an actor was at its peak. However, he resolutely turned down commercials and film contracts to devote himself to his directing career. "Memories Over the Wall", which he directed for the first time, later won the Golden Bell Award for Best Director.
The 51-year-old Peter Ho became famous thanks to his role as "Xiang Yu" 14 years ago. He gained nearly 2 million followers in half a month and won 6 business deals. Do you think this is "the strength is finally seen", or is it "all dependent on peers"?