Author: Wang Yan
A million years of human history, 10,000 years of cultural history, more than 5,000 years of civilization history... The land of China is splendid, nourishing the only great civilization in the world that has continued to develop in the form of a country.
"Why China" poster
Sancai camel carrying tricks (both produced by the party) Drawing: Zhang Ji
What is the internal context of the continued development of Chinese civilization to this day? When did the strong resilience and vitality of this ancient civilization originate? How did the pluralistic and integrated Chinese nation come into being? From October 20, the large-scale archaeological documentary "Why China" produced in Shanghai will premiere, which will be based on the major research achievements and latest discoveries of the "Chinese Civilization Source Exploration Project" and "Archaeological China", tell the story of the formation of the pluralistic and integrated Chinese nation and the creation of Chinese civilization, and trace the history and find the pulse of China with images.
As a documentary interpreting the "history of archaeology", "Why China" not only invited Yan Wenming, a Chinese archaeology master, as the general consultant, and Qin Ling, a professor at the School of Archaeology and Museum of Peking University, as the academic chief producer, but also gathered the strongest expert team in the fields of Qin-Han archaeology, Xia Shangzhou archaeology, and Neolithic archaeology. The documentary filmmaker uses archaeologists as teachers in order to depict the long and beautiful context of Chinese civilization to the audience through national archaeological discoveries and research results.
When modern Chinese archaeology has gone through a hundred years, such a documentary based on "archaeology writing history" is expected to help us understand the long history of Chinese civilization, perceive the breadth and depth of Chinese culture, focus on continuing the Chinese context, and strengthen cultural self-confidence. Guided by the State Administration of Cultural Heritage and the Publicity Department of the Shanghai Municipal Party Committee, supported by the Shanghai Municipal Administration of Cultural Relics, and created by Shanghai Radio and Television Station, the documentary premieres on Oriental Satellite TV every Friday at 20:30 and is broadcast exclusively on BestTV.
Look at history in archaeology and clarify the circulation of "diversity and integration"
Since the disclosure of the "Why China" project, the creative team has faced a public question: what is its unique value compared to other cultural relics or historical documentaries?
The production team's shooting footprint contains some answers: "Why China" started filming in the spring of 2021, and the chief director Gan Chao led the team to trek for nearly 500 days and walk through more than 230 shooting locations across the country. These include sites focused on by the Xipo, Erlitou, Taosi, Liangzhu, Shijiao and other sites focused on the source exploration project of Chinese civilization, as well as the latest discoveries of undisclosed results, such as the Sijiaoping site in Gansu, the archaeological excavation project of the ancient city wall of the Song Kingdom in Henan, the second phase of the Jingtou Mountain site in Zhejiang, and the Wubi site in Xiwubi, Shanxi. "We record the precious moments and important discoveries of Chinese archaeology, but Why China is not a documentary about 'archaeology in progress', but a systematic tracing of Chinese civilization based on archaeology." Gan Chao said.
Looking at the existing archaeology-related documentaries in China, most of them are point-to-point narratives, that is, excavating the people and history behind these artifacts from an archaeological discovery, which is a broken narrative of history. Historical documentaries, on the other hand, are mostly based on historical documents, and archaeology only plays a secondary role in confirming and supplementing history. In fact, archaeology is not only the excavation of material cultural remains, but also the interpretation of the creation of intangible forms of culture such as institutions, ideas, and civilizations it carries. "Why China" condenses in eight episodes, each with a volume of more than 50 minutes, is to look at history in archaeology, show the formation process of civilization that transcends "five thousand years" and is more magnificent with archaeological data, and clarify the circulation of the "diversity and integration" of Chinese civilization under more than 5,000 years or even 10,000 years of time and space.
In terms of creative techniques, "Why China" creatively adopts flashbacks throughout the film, starting from the integrated Qin and Han Empires, and then going down the river with time tens of thousands of years ago, exploring the foundation, origin, early formation and development of China, a civilized country, in an attempt to answer the historical question of "why China". "Qin Han", "Cradle", "Star Dou", "Ancient Kingdom", "Choosing Zhong", "Yin Shang", "Home Country" and "Tianxia", these eight episodes span more than 10,000 years in time; In terms of spatial span, different regions of China's "thousands of miles of rivers and mountains" have their own characteristics, but they exchange and integrate with each other, and finally reach the civilization pattern of "diversity and integration", which will be presented one by one in the film.
Taking the first episode of "Qin and Han" as an example, starting from the achievements of modern Chinese archaeology in the past hundred years, it connects the chronicle framework of the Qin and Han era by telling the stories of vivid characters. The film outlines the dynastic changes from the unification of the Six Kingdoms of Qin to the establishment of the Han Dynasty in chronological order. In the evolution of history, Qin established unified writing and weights and measures, built the Great Wall and straight roads to ward off enemies, but also died due to the abuse of civil power and financial resources; While paying attention to cultural rule and cultivating public opinion, the Han Dynasty also successfully recovered Lingnan, resisted the Xiongnu, and achieved great unification. A unified and ever-strong China began in the Qin and Han dynasties, and through a strong central government, a pluralistic and integrated civilization was built and continues to develop to this day; It was also during this period that the concept of "China" emerged as a national name and is still used today - "Why China" uses this as a prologue to raise questions: how the unique Chinese civilization was formed, whether there was an earlier Chinese prototype before the Qin and Han dynasties, whether the ancient history system of the three emperors and five emperors was reliable... Guide the audience to follow in the footsteps of archaeologists in the following episodes and embark on a journey through 10,000 years.
"See people through things" and establish emotional links that span millennia
"Why China" integrates documentary and film reproduction into an artistic whole, innovating the audiovisual language of documentaries. Gan Chao adheres to the concept of "seeing people through things" - that is, deducing the details of history from old paper piles, relics and archaeological sites, and seeing the people and society behind cultural relics and their evolution. In other words, it is necessary to let cultural relics "speak", let archaeological sites "come alive", and understand "why China" through them. Therefore, "Why China" not only shows the cultural relics themselves, but also the formation of early national civilization and the direction of historical surging conveyed by cultural relics, which is related to the root of "why China".
Specifically, the film uses a large number of national archaeological achievements and cultural relics to depict the social aspects of the era of more specific and warm ancestors through film and television narrative. For example, the Liangzhu jade and Yinxu Yachang tomb bronzes that appear in the documentary, which are different from the cultural relics displayed in the museum, "Why China" rearranges the cultural relics according to the etiquette and scene of their era during the filming, restoring their former position and function in the depths of history; Then, during the interpretation, professional actors and the film crew reproduced props "cooperated" to reproduce the ancient social style according to archaeological research.
Based on archaeology, "Why China" can not only see the grand historical process, but also see small characters in specific social scenes. They are brothers and soldiers who supported each other in the battlefield of Qin and Chu, they are Dunhuang post station officials who have been living their whole lives, and they are also princesses who have been away from home for many years to mediate for the country and hope to return to their roots... These people with different identities and experiences have come across thousands of years, and the family and national conditions in their hearts are not genes precipitated in the blood of the Chinese nation, resonating with today's audience.
Let the specific "people" connect the vast history, inspired by the deep feelings of archaeologists. Li Xinwei, a member of the expert group for "Why China" and director of the prehistoric archaeology research office of the Institute of Archaeology of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, said that as an archaeologist who has long studied the origin of Chinese civilization, he has been asked by many people what the deepest impression of the research is, and whether it is a surprise brought about by major discoveries. He replied: "There must be surprises, more touches." I was moved by the majestic stone castle and the exquisite Liangzhu jade, but sometimes, what moved me was the tomb of a couple, or a fingerprint left on a pottery piece. Now, "Why China" hopes to convey such a move to the audience. Because of the formation of Chinese civilization, there are magnificent waves, golden iron horses, and such gentleness and gentleness, and true feelings. (Wang Yan)
Source: Wen Wei Po