The TV dramas directed by Zhang Li are all politically intentional, have heavy ideological colors, and have a strong consciousness of recounting history. This is already evident in Towards the Republic.
For example, "Toward the Republic" basically narrates the history of the late Qing Dynasty to the early Republic of China with the line of Empress Dowager Cixi, Li Hongzhang, and Yuan Shikai as the main line, and the events and characters that are traditionally considered important are all supporting roles. For example, Kang Liang's change of law, the Boxer Rebellion, and Sun Yat-sen's revolution, in which Weng Tonggong, Kang Youwei and Sun Yat-sen were seriously scandalized and became negative figures. The Xinhai Revolution was also largely described as a political seizure of power completely under the control of Yuan Shikai, in which the role of revolutionaries was completely insignificant.
This is almost the so-called result of the study of the history of the late Qing Dynasty and the Republic of China in the past forty years, which is completely a subversion of the previous revolutionary view of history. This trend began to be indiscriminate in the 1980s, and gradually became the mainstream in the 1990s, and in the new century it was even more uncontrollable, and the young people who created the revolutionary view of history in the 1980s became the holders of the historical circles in the 1990s and dominated the historical narrative of the new century. In the 1980s, the modern view of history was still used to replace the revolutionary view of history, and in the 1990s, it began to try to be poor and dagger, and basically completely negated the revolution. However, at that time, the Xinhai Revolution was mainly denied, so "Towards the Republic" was mainly used in this direction.
When it comes to "The Right Way in the World is Vicissitudes", it is further than "Toward the Republic", "Toward the Republic" is still only a negation of the Xinhai Revolution, "The Right Way on Earth is vicissitudes" actually completely negates the entire Chinese revolution since 1919, the grievances and hatreds of the Yang family, a metaphor for the history and destiny of the entire Chinese revolution, in a simple summary, that is, the same way to the same destination. In the early stage, the difference between Tung Chee-chang and Qu En, followed by Yang Liqing and Yang Liren parting ways, Yang Lihua's difficult choice between Tung Chee-chang and Qu En, and Yang Liqing's choice between Qu Xia and his later wife, are all such political metaphors. The fundamental direction is that the starting point of the two parties is the same, but they have chosen different paths, and the ultimate goal is the same.
Although they chose different paths in the torrent of history, some people chose the Communist Party, some people chose the Kuomintang, but they were all enthusiastic young people, and every time they reunited, it was a major turning point in the history of modern and modern China. During the period of the agrarian revolutionary war, they were hostile to each other, during the war of resistance against japan, during the period of the War of Liberation, they were again rivals to each other, and when they finally divided the victory and defeat, they were again in the presence of the brothers who had robbed the waves, and they met each other with a smile and a grudge. Yang Liqing and Tang Muyu met each other on the battlefield, and when Yang Liqing went to see Tang Muyu after the war, the two were like playing a game of chess, and as for the small soldiers and pawns who were killed and wounded on the battlefield, they were not in their field of vision.
This is also the biggest problem of "Toward the Republic" and "The Right Way in the World is Vicissitudes", there is no nameless generation that has not left a name in history, there is no nameless people, there is no pawn of the traffickers, everything is in the hands of the elites who hold political power, they manipulate the fate of China, they determine the fate of those nameless people and the pawns of the peddlers, the small soldiers, they are chess players, and everyone else is a chess piece for them, there is no difference between superiority and inferiority, there is no difference between right and wrong. Some are just accidents of history. Just as Yang Liqing joined the Red Army because of Qu Xia, the resentment between him and Yang Liren was because of Qu En, and had nothing to do with their respective beliefs.
In the final analysis, "Toward the Republic" and "The Right Way on Earth is vicissitudes" have always been the elite view of history, it is the elite that determines the fate of the country and the nation, the people are only passively accepting the fate arranged for them by the elite, and the people have no name and no face, which means that they are completely non-existent. This view of history is borrowed from Yuan Shikai's mouth in "Toward the Republic" and expressed nakedly, where there are people, I see only one person. Therefore, Yang Liqing finally became the victor, indispensable to Yang Lihua's support and love, indispensable to Yang Liren's explicit and secret help and tolerance, but it had nothing to do with Yang Liqing's faith, had nothing to do with the people's support, at most abstractly condemned the corruption of the four major families and the corruption of the Kuomintang, even if it was an account.
The strange thing is that this kind of TV series that does not know where the three views have gone, in the past ten years and even today, is still regarded as a model of excellent TV dramas, not only appreciated by the mainstream historical circles, but also by the descendants of those former historical cannon fodder, who actually watched it with relish and great appreciation. These people also don't want to think about whether when they regard Empress Dowager Cixi, Li Hongzhang, Yuan Shikai, and the Yang family as spiritual ancestors, whether they take the pig's head and send it to the wrong temple gate, and whether people will accept your sacrifice, this is very problematic. Because in the historical concept of "Toward the Republic" and "The Right Way on Earth is Vicissitudes", cannon fodder is cannon fodder, cannot speak, cannot act, has no subjectivity, has no initiative, and can only passively accept the arrangement of fate. And the so-called fate of these people is nothing more than a pawn of the elite's next game of history, destined to be sacrificed.
Of course, "Towards the Republic" and "The Right Way in the World is Vicissitudes" are not isolated examples of this view of history, on the contrary, this view of history has become popular in the past few years, even if it is a TV series like "Bright Sword", which has become a classic of anti-Japanese dramas, it is also through the same view of history. Although Li Yunlong claimed that he was born in mud legs, unlike Huangpu sheng like Chu Yunfei, in the historical world of "Bright Sword", there was also no place for the people. It's just that "Bright Sword" has more characters such as Kiko and Pillar, although they are only small supporting roles, but they have left a deep impression, that people feel that in the eyes of "Bright Sword", there are at least those sacrificed martyrs and heroes.
However, as Su Yu said in another TV series "General Su Yu", which did not achieve too high ratings and was far less influential than "Toward the Republic", "The Right Way on Earth is Vicissitudes" and "Bright Sword", the reason why the People's Liberation Army has been able to continue from small to large, from weak to strong, to defeat all enemies and achieve final victory, there is no secret, the only secret is the support of the people. If the people support you, you can win the battle, and if the people do not support you, you will lose the battle. Standing on the side of the people or standing against the people is the fundamental reason for the ultimate victory or defeat of the war. This is what the Amnesty 1959 emphasizes, and the defeat of the Kuomintang is first and foremost a political defeat, not a military one. The key to the political defeat of the Kuomintang lies in the fact that since the end of the Great Revolution, the Kuomintang has completely separated itself from the people and has become the antithesis of the people.