It was directed by Kong Sheng and Li Xue, and stars Hu Ge, Liu Tao and Wang Kai as Mei Changsu, Princess Nihuang and Prince Jing.

The series tells the story of Lin Shu, who, under the alias Mei Changsu, enters the capital of Liang to seek justice for a conspiracy that labeled his family as traitors 12 years before.

[5] Nirvana in Fire was considered a social media phenomenon, generating 3.55 billion posts on Sina Weibo that praised its characters and story-line.

Although the Emperor imprisons Xia Jiang again, he attempts to kill Mei Changsu to prevent further messes, but is stopped by Prince Jing.

After accomplishing his mission, Mei Changsu hears news of Northern Wei forces taking advantage of the political unrest by invading Da Liang.

In April 2011, Shandong Television Media Group acquired the film adaption rights for the popular 2007 internet novel written by Hai Yan, Lang Ya Bang, which has been called the "Chinese version of The Count of Monte Cristo".

[14][15] Producer Hou Hongliang thought that the original novel conveyed the kind of emotion people are most attracted to, the characters' inner strength and revenge, and therefore decided to adapt the novel for television.

[16] The series' overall investment of the costume drama was more than one hundred million yuan, and the director and producer strived for majestic atmosphere with poetic, beautiful images.

[17]Director Kong Sheng and Hou Hongliang, who have been friends for 20 years, have worked together in The Age of Iron, Chuang Guandong, All Quiet in Peking, and The Line and other television productions.

[18] The original author, Hai Yan, said that she had no intention to make Lang Ya Bang into a television series, but Shandong producers encouraged her to do so, while also offering her the role as the drama's screenwriter, despite the fact that she had no such experience.

The English title Nirvana in Fire was chosen to attract foreign viewers and reflects the main character Mei Changsu's suffering and his ultimate liberation "from an endless cycle of personal reincarnations".

"Loyal Blood Forever Runs Red" was composed by Yu Haihang and written by Qing Yan and Bing Feng.

[28][29] "Ask the Sky (问天)" by Alfred Hui (许廷铿) and "Can Bear More (可以背负更多)" by Jinny Ng (吳若希) served as Nirvana in Fire's Cantonese opening and ending songs during its TVB broadcast.

[35] People's Daily praised the production's attention to historical detail, from clothing to etiquette, and highlighted it as one of the reasons audiences could buy the premise.

"[31] The Straits Times called it an "accomplished hybrid of historical and idol drama", saying that the story puzzles the viewers until the veil falls off around episode 50 when "the excitement of discovery wears off".

[40] On the other hand, the reception of the drama in Hong Kong was mixed, local TVB channel, which broadcast the series quite late, in May 2016, registered falling viewership ratings.

Some viewers found it "boring" and "slow", while younger generations preferred to watch the episodes online, instead of waiting for the television broadcast, which can also explain the lower viewership ratings.

Fans of the show were dissatisfied with the Cantonese dubbing, the changing of the opening and closing songs, as well as the station's decision to cut the series down to 47 episodes in total.

[43] Due to its popularity in Korea, Tourbucket launched a "Lang Ya Bang" tour of the drama's film location.