The May Fourth New Culture Movement and the founding of the Communist Party of China have had a profound impact on the historical process of China and the world. To this day, the revolutionary spirit and high morale accumulated during those years can still resonate with us. Today, when we look back on this history, we express reverence and remembrance, as well as reflection and re-departure. To this end, focusing on the story behind the hit drama "The Age of Awakening" and the film and television drama, the Observer Network interviewed Long Pingping, screenwriter of "The Age of Awakening" and former director of the Third Compilation and Research Department of the Literature Research Office of the CPC Central Committee.
Observer Network: In addition to "The Age of Awakening", you have also participated in the creation of "Deng Xiaoping in the Turning Point of History" and "Our French Years". As a professional scholar, you have written TV dramas with the main theme particularly vividly. Can you share your creative tips with us?
Long Pingping: I study history, mainly party history. Doing some film and television works on the theme of party history is also part of our previous work. I was first involved in the creation of documentaries, and I was involved in all documentaries involving Deng Xiaoping. Later, when I made TV dramas on related themes, I also participated as the head of the unit. The fact that these works can be made is an organizational act, and it is not my personal credit.
Observer Network: Are there any elements of these three dramas that are consistent?
Long Pingping: "The Age of Awakening" is about the May Fourth New Culture Movement and the founding of the Communist Party of China, "Our French Years" tells how a group of young people became communists from the perspective of studying in France, and "Deng Xiaoping at the Turning Point of History" talks about reform and opening up.
General Secretary Xi Jinping mentioned in his speech at the conference celebrating the 40th anniversary of reform and opening up that the establishment of the Communist Party of China, the founding of the People's Republic of China, and the promotion of reform, opening up, and the cause of socialism with Chinese characteristics are the three major historical events that have occurred in China since the May Fourth Movement, and the three major milestones in realizing the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation in modern times. Our development is connected, and in all three of these plays, I have written about these milestones. I also wrote a film script called "The Avenue Together", which talks about the establishment of a new China, and is preparing to shoot.
Observer Network: The clip of Chairman Mao's appearance in "The Age of Awakening" is very impressive. Do you have any ideas of your own when dealing with this scene?
Long Pingping: This clip is indeed a classic, and the director has put a lot of effort into artistic processing. He built a long street to condense the social scene in the early years of the Republic of China. Along with Mao Zedong's footsteps, all kinds of social phenomena can be seen! At the same time, it also gives people a feeling of "counting the popular characters and looking at the present dynasty".
Footage of Mao Zedong's appearance
Observer Network: "The Age of Awakening" shows the style of a group of famous intellectuals and enthusiastic young people in the May Fourth New Culture Period. Of all the characters, which one inspires your creative desire the most?
Long Pingping: What I want to write about most is Chen Yannian. I participated in the creation of the TV series "Our French Years", which did not write About Chen Yannian and Chen Qiaonian. After reading the script, a leading comrade specially called us to our home and solemnly told us: When talking about the history of studying in France and working and studying, we must write about Chen Yannian and Chen Qiaonian's brothers.
Moreover, Zhou Enlai also had deep feelings with Chen Yannian and Zhao Shiyan. After liberation, Premier Zhou also specifically sought out Zhao Shiyan's wife, Xia Zhixu, and asked her to write an article recalling Chen Yannian.
Chen Yannian was only 29 years old at the time of his death, and was an alternate member of the Politburo of the CPC Central Committee and secretary of the Jiangsu Provincial Party Committee. When he was arrested, the Kuomintang reactionaries advised him to turn himself in, but he preferred to die. When he went to the execution ground, he preferred to die rather than kneel, and finally was hacked to death with a knife.
Chen Yannian was a revolutionary idealist, and what distinguished him from his father, Chen Duxiu, was that he believed that in order to save the country, he could not ask for a family and a country like Chen Duxiu, which could only bring misfortune to the family. Therefore, from the time of his youth, he was determined to sacrifice his personal lusts for the sake of the country. When he was a teenager, he set himself the precept of "six noes": "Do not idle, do not watch plays, do not take pictures, do not go to restaurants, do not talk about clothing, and do not make personal sex."
Inspired by these things, I collected a lot of information about Chen Yannian and felt his greatness more and more.
Chen Yannian in The Age of Awakening
Observer Network: There is a very touching clip in the TV series, that is, Chen Duxiu was inspired by the words of an old boxer, and he and Li Dazhao met to build the party, they looked at the starvation on the river beach, and they were determined to fight for communism all their lives. Historically, Chen Duxiu's attitude toward the Boxers was rather complicated. In 1918, Chen Duxiu also published an article entitled "Clinder Monument", criticizing the ignorance of the Boxers. Did you design this plot to highlight that Chen Duxiu's view of the Boxers had changed after reflection?
Long Pingping: Chen Duxiu did write articles denying the Boxers, but he did change his attitude toward the Boxers later, and he also wrote articles praising the Boxers. In this episode, I did not deliberately say that his attitude towards the Boxers changed, there is no meaning in this regard.
The reason why this scene was fictionalized was because Chen Duxiu and Li Dazhao had indeed discussed the establishment of the party on the way from Beijing to Tianjin. Someone has made a recollection of this and should be written into the history of the party, but the content of the specific conversation is unknown. Therefore, we have developed a reasonable fiction in combination with historical facts. I checked the information, that year's northern catastrophe, there was a scene of hunger and death, so I imagined that the two of them saw this scene on the road.
The identity of the old man was set as "the old man of the Boxer Rebellion" in order to set off a sense of tragedy. This old man, the brothers who had made trouble with him in the Boxer Rebellion, were all dead, and when they died, they were all living "little masters", and these people actually contributed to the country. What was the Communist Party founded for? It's for these ordinary people. With these details, this is even more highlighted.
The "Boxer Rebellion" in the play
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