Tell the history and culture with a modern atmosphere

Author: Zhu Hanmin

Not long ago, the 6-episode documentary "Yuelu Academy" was broadcast on Hunan Satellite TV and received attention. "No matter what kind of setbacks and glory we face, we always insist on going against the grain, in sorrow and not decadence, and always hold high the momentum of living to the death and giving up who we are." This is the highest tribute of Yuelu Academy to the Chinese spirit. With vivid and touching stories and beautiful and thick pictures, the film discusses the important position of Yuelu Academy in the history of Chinese thought, and reveals the roots of Chinese civilization and endless strings and songs.

The picture shows the stills of the documentary "Yuelu Academy".

"Yuelu Academy" chooses a higher starting point for intention. The documentary is not only intended to lead the audience to appreciate cultural relics and monuments and interesting facts of the characters, but also hopes to enter the grand historical scene through these details and show the derivation of The history of Chinese thought. Since the beginning of the Two Song Dynasties, the history of ancient Chinese thought has experienced important trends of thought such as Song Dynasty Science, Ming Dynasty Mind Science, Ming and Qing Dynasty Practical Studies, and Qing Dynasty Examination And Evidence Studies. Since the late Qing Dynasty, China's modern intellectual history has experienced the baptism of the Western Affairs Movement, the Restoration Movement, and the New Culture Movement, and then embarked on the road of sinicization of Marxism. The history of ideas is relatively abstract, and it is difficult to present it in film and television. Generally speaking, documentaries mainly have three kinds of narration: experiential, documentary and reproducible. "Yuelu Academy" restores the historical scene from the perspective of visual sensory experience, with refined language, rich content and exquisite images, so that ordinary audiences can understand the development of Chinese intellectual history from the story of a college, so that Gao Liyi has a solid and vivid presentation.

"Yuelu Academy" is cleverly selected, especially the character story in it has a profound meaning. The academy system was formed in the Song Dynasty, integrating the educational system and ideological essence of pre-Qin private learning, Han Dynasty Jingshe, Wei Jin Xuantan, and Sui and Tang Meditation, so it has become a model of traditional Chinese education. Yuelu Academy, one of the four major academies of the Song Dynasty, was still the most influential academy of the time until the Qing Dynasty, and can be regarded as a model for traditional Chinese academies. Through the different characters and vivid stories of a small courtyard, the documentary is linked to the major historical changes and important ideological transformations that have taken place in China after the Song Dynasty. For example, through the stories of some historical figures, it shows the open-mindedness of Chinese thought and culture: the two monks purchased Confucian classics to run schools, reflecting the tolerance of harmonious and different cultures; in the late Qing Dynasty, Wei Yuan and Zeng Guofan "Master Yi Long Skills" promoted the first step in China's modernization. The modern transformation of Chinese civilization is a complex process, and Yuelu Academy strives to restore it objectively and truthfully, rather than simply concluding, such as the handling of the relationship between Yuelu Academy and Shiwu Xuetang, Wang Xianqian and Liang Qichao.

Although the documentary tells the historical narrative of thousands of years, the historical figures of these famous historical records and the stories of Yuelu Academy often occur in their youth, so many scenes are full of youthful atmosphere, which not only reflects the vitality of Yuelu Academy to continue to run schools, but also shows the vitality of ancient and new Chinese civilization.

Film and television is a comprehensive art, which requires the expression of a vast historical time and space with a condensed artistic time and space. The film comprehensively intertwines the historical events and characters related to Yuelu Academy, focuses on the theme, expands the horizon, and refines the connotation, and is an excellent documentary that integrates ideology, artistry and innovation. In the form of documentary films, it has completed an exploration of Chinese thought and culture, vividly displaying the internal laws of grand history and the trend of civilization, which can stimulate the interest of ordinary audiences, which is very rare.

China's excellent traditional culture is broad and profound, and the creation of historical and cultural documentaries, seriousness and piety are the most correct attitudes. Yuelu Academy is not only a living cultural business card in Hunan, but also a microcosm of the endless string songs of Chinese civilization. We must dig more, better excavate, sort out and display China's excellent traditional culture, so that it can achieve creative transformation and innovative development. The documentary "Yuelu Academy" is a vivid case.

(The author is a professor at Yuelu College of Hunan University and the dean of the Institute of Traditional Chinese Studies)

Source: People's Daily