Chao News client reporter Shen Tingyu
How did China become China? This is a question that has been around for a long time and has aroused deep thought. The hit documentary "Why China" gave a unique response.
Different from traditional archaeological documentaries, "Why China" has no dialogues and no interviews, but uses narration and professional performances without lines to take the audience back to the "historical scene" and listen to the memories of civilization that come from the sea and waves. In this way, some people also say that this is a brief history of early Chinese civilization in the form of film and television.
"Why China" poster Source: Douban Movie
This documentary constructs a magnificent style, from the Qin and Han dynasties to the third dynasty of the Xia and Shang dynasties, and until the turn of the Old and Neolithic periods, systematically tracing the roots, origins, and diversified and integrated development of China. The time domain it involves is also rare in Chinese historical documentaries.
Although only one episode has been broadcast now, Youfengjun still wants to talk to you about a few reasons why this documentary is worth watching.
Exploration and advancement of new fields of domestic documentaries
When was the earliest China? Yan Wenming, the chief academic advisor of "Why China" and a well-known archaeologist, said that it was in the legendary Yao Shun era.
"Now from the archaeological point of view, it may be that Yaodu is in the Tao Temple in Shanxi. Yao is old and wants to find an heir, who is he looking for? He wants to pass it on to Shun. Where is Shun? In Henan. Shun wants to go to Yaodu, that is to say, to Tao Tang's place, then he has to run from the south to the north. According to legend, Shun went to Yao, called 'to China', that is to say, from Luoyang to Tao Tang's place, which is the earliest time when the word 'China' appeared, and it is the earliest record of 'China'. ”
In Yan Wenming's view, tracing the foundation and origin of China is the fundamental proposition of Chinese archaeology, and "Why China" is exploring this proposition.
Stills from "Why China" Source: CCTV
Looking back at the past documentaries, due to the lack of historical documents and other problems, few works date back to the Xia, Shang and Zhou dynasties and even more distant antiquity. "Why China" was not only filmed, but also innovatively used flashbacks.
The first episode, "Qin and Han", records the pluralistic and unified "China" of the Qin and Han dynasties. Starting from the second episode, the documentary will return to more than 10,000 years ago, through "Cradle", "Star Dou", "Ancient Kingdom", "Choice", "Yin Shang", "Family Country" and "Tianxia", showing the context of every important circulation in the initial stage of Chinese civilization, witnessing how the ancestors of China developed agriculture, settled in society, formed families, ran society, established early beliefs and cultural aesthetics, and began exchanges between all corners of the world......
Almost every scene has archaeological evidence
When the narrative of documentaries cannot be filmed in ancient times, the introduction of theatrical techniques for performance has become a common practice in Chinese and foreign documentaries, and it has also been accepted by the audience. "Why China" also uses interpretation to construct images, but some archaeology fans have already peeled back the cocoons from the first episode and seen the archaeological evidence presented in it.
For example, Youfeng Jun found that Hu Ge's Hanging Spring Zhi Si Fuhong in "Qin Han" was very elegant.
Sifu is the general name of the grassroots officials in the Han Dynasty, the head of a township is called the township sifu, and the warehouse is called the warehouse sifu. Let's put it this way, if Sun Wukong was in the Han Dynasty, he would not be called Bi Ma Wen, because the one who manages the stables is called the stableman. And the manager is responsible for the management of "place", that is, the official post office. In short, he is the stationmaster of the post station of Hanging Springs. In the documentary, his whole body costume is made according to the Western Han Dynasty terracotta figurines, and even the way of tying his turban and hat is also substantiated, and the written Han Jane and the brushes, calligraphy knives, and ink stones used are all restored one by one according to the archaeological objects.
Relying on a century of Chinese archaeological discoveries, "Qin and Han" decodes the historical process of the unification of the Qin and Han dynasties from the historical relics unearthed from the ruins of the ancient city of Liye in Hunan, the ruins of the Qin Dynasty palace, the ruins of the Qin Dynasty palace, the ruins of the Qin Zhidao, the ruins of the Nanyue Palace of the Han Dynasty, and the tomb of the Marquis of Haiding.
Details like this based on archaeological reconstructions are present throughout the film. You Fengjun learned that "Why China" filmed more than 230 archaeological sites, museums and other sites across the country, the creative team combed more than 3 million words of academic materials, and restored 220 narrative scenes, more than 2,000 sets of costumes, 1,500 ornaments, and more than 3,600 props in the filming stage of historical scenes.
Stills from "Why China" Source: CCTV
On the official platform of "Why China", You Fengjun found notes from Wei Guoge, the film's executive director. It begins with the words:
"One day at the end of January this year, the shed in Hengdian was dusty, and the masks that were too late to change could shake out a layer of soil, and everyone was preparing to shoot a scene where Meng Tian led the Qin army. At that time, the two-month filming of the film team was coming to an end, and everyone hoped that the shooting would go smoothly every day, and they were looking forward to the day when it was successfully completed. As a result, on that day, the group had a large number of performers, and it was filmed in a special environment, and they still couldn't prevent it despite all the caution, and before the first shot was officially filmed, the actor who played Meng Tian fell off the horse.
Fortunately, the ground was full of thick sand, and the actor was not injured. When it comes to the heart of the throat, the eyes are put down. It's not that the horse is not well-behaved, nor is it that the actor is not good at riding, but mainly because there is no stirrup and Takahashi saddle that are common in later generations to maintain the balance and stability of the body.
Yes, there was no such equipment in Mengtian's time. The stirrup appeared and matured during the Wei and Jin dynasties, and the wooden high bridge saddle did not gradually replace the soft saddle until the Wei and Jin dynasties. Therefore, stirrups and saddles did not appear in the first season of "Why China". Because of this, every horseback riding scene is extremely tense. ”
This made Youfengjun feel the sincerity of the team - they wanted to be as evidence-based and in line with archaeological facts as possible, restore the material appearance and cultural picture of that era as much as possible, and bring the audience a real and touchable history.
Stills from "Why China". Source: Douban Movie
The vivid individual life is the protagonist
In previous historical documentaries, princes and generals, masters and legends usually occupy an important space, but what impressed Youfeng Jun in "Why China" was those ordinary individuals in the changing times.
At the beginning of the first episode, through a letter from the family in the No. 4 tomb of "Sleeping Tiger Land" outside Anlu City, the audience got a glimpse of the concern of the ordinary soldiers "Heifu" and "Shock" of the Qin State more than 2,000 years ago. The narrator says: "In difficult times, to be for yourself is to be at home, and to be for the country is also to be at home. "In the battlefield of life and death, these trivial concerns are the strongest armor in the hearts of soldiers. ”
When ordinary individuals are placed on a broader time scale, their existence also takes on a special meaning.
We also witnessed the 18 years of Prime Minister Shi Li Zun's escort of the demobilized soldiers back to their hometowns, and the return of the princess from Wusun to Han in her later years.
These people, who were unknown in their own time, and who did not have the opportunity to leave their names in the history books, have become the guides of our current history in the dark. Through the vast time and space, we can see their daily life and perceive their thoughts and emotions through the cultural relics that have been discovered and unearthed, so that history and the current era can form a connection.
Stills from "Why China". Source: CCTV
When the macro scene and the micro characters are combined, we are touched by the vivid traces they left in this world thousands of years ago, and we can more clearly perceive that it is such a vivid person who jointly interprets "why China".
As the narrator in "Qin and Han" says: "As the years go by, the beacon fire has been extinguished, the sound and dust on the ancient road are faint, the letters of the soldiers are buried under the yellow sand, and the palaces of the princes are hidden among the high-rise buildings." And those cities, roads, border passes, and weirs have witnessed how every living person in the Qin and Han dynasties worked hard to manage their lives in this piece of mountains, rivers, lakes and seas, and slowly established a towering dynasty in the long river of history. They have looked at the stars, they have carried the long sky, they have trekked through mountains and rivers, they have parted with life and death, and they have unconsciously become the foundation of today's China after 2,000 years. ”
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