On October 1, 1949, a bold, powerful, and majestic voice resounded in Beijing's Tiananmen Square: "The Central People's Government of the People's Republic of China was established today!" At that moment, Chairman Mao Zedong announced to the world the birth of a new China! At the same time, the voice of Tiananmen Square was sent out through the Beijing Xinhua Radio Station, spreading to all corners of the world and as far overseas as possible, reaching the ears of hundreds of millions of people and stirring people's hearts.
Dong Xiwen Oil painting "Founding Ceremony"
However, the successful completion of the task of "live broadcasting founding ceremony" and the arduous story hidden behind the bands are not well known. Commissioned by the National Centre for the Performing Arts, produced by the National Drama Theatre of China, and performed the drama "Live Broadcast of the Founding Ceremony", it is the first time that this legendary history has been put on the stage of drama, praising every ordinary and great person who has contributed to the founding of New China, so that the Chinese people will not forget the way, do not forget the original heart, do not forget the predecessors, and do not forget the inheritance.
The square erects the "Nine-Headed Bird"
Wire recording to get the "simultaneous sound"
Less than two months after the task of broadcasting the founding ceremony live, the relevant departments of the Beiping Xinhua Radio Station began intensive preparatory work. At that time, the broadcast equipment was quite rudimentary, and there were many technical difficulties that needed to be solved. "Live broadcasting" should be broadcast simultaneously through broadcasting equipment to broadcast the actual situation of the scene and the explanation of the announcer. With nearly 300,000 people participating in the founding ceremony, the entire Tiananmen Square can clearly hear the sound of the podium on the upper floor of Tiananmen Square and spread to the whole country, which is difficult to imagine.
Relevant engineers and technicians referred to the advanced equipment in the United States at that time, studied and improved a large-scale sound amplification device, welding nine horns on a metal plate to form a strong volume. These nine trumpets are known as the "Nine-Headed Bird" and have made a great contribution to solving the problem of amplification in the square.
Nine-headed bird horn
Another technical difficulty lies in how to solve the problem of broadcasting after the parade vehicle drove out of Tiananmen Square. At that time, the equipment could only meet the need to broadcast the audio in the square, but out of the square, the distant sound could not be transmitted back to the machine room under the city tower. After the parade vehicle left Tiananmen Square, the engineers thought of installing a microphone on the windshield of the parade car, using a wire to connect to a small horn at the rear of the car, and then installing a wire recorder on the interview car where the reporter and technician were riding, following the recording of Commander-in-Chief Zhu De's parade car.
It seems to be a backward "stupid method", but it solves the big problem of "simultaneous sound". In the face of the task of "live broadcasting the founding ceremony", there are many difficulties encountered, but they are broken by the wise broadcasting engineers one by one, and the task of the live broadcasting of the founding ceremony is successfully completed, and the highlight moment of history is achieved. On December 5, 1949, the first Station of Beijing Xinhua Radio station was also named the Central People's Radio, opening a new chapter in the voice of the party and the people.
Announcers Qi Yue and Ding Yilan were on the west side of the Tiananmen Tower
Click to watch the super lineup of "Live Founding Ceremony"
Record history with radio waves
Witness the birth of a nation
The original drama "Live Broadcast of the Founding Ceremony" takes this real historical event as the starting point, and the screenwriting team led by Tian Qinxin has begun to prepare since 2019, repeatedly communicating with party history experts and broadcast experts, boldly selecting historical archetypal figures, from the professional perspective of broadcasting, under the premise of fully respecting historical facts, describing the scientific research spirit of communists in facing difficulties at key moments, and how to let the sound spread throughout the square and use radio to transmit the great moments of the founding ceremony to the world. Present this untold history to the audience for the first time.
The drama "Live Broadcast of the Founding Ceremony" began to be planned in 2019. At that time, what impressed me was the six words of 'live broadcast of the founding ceremony'. It is hard to imagine that in Beiping in the early days of the founding of the People's Republic of China in 1949, in the face of technical bottlenecks, rudimentary equipment, and the sabotage of latent agents, there was such a group of lovely and respectable broadcasters, who did not hesitate to work day and night, overcame many difficulties, successfully completed the task of live broadcasting the founding ceremony of the people's republic of China, and sent out the 'founding voice' of new China to the world. ”
——Drama "Live Broadcast of the Founding Ceremony"
Screenwriter and director Tian Qinxin
At present, the drama "Live Broadcast of the Founding Ceremony" is being rehearsed in a fiery way, and Tian Qinxin and the main actors Zhang Tong, Wu Fan, Tao Hong, Wu Bi, Liu Wei, Su Qing and other old, middle-aged and young artists are working day and night to complete the "Tianzi" task of "live broadcasting the founding ceremony". From October 1st to 7th, the drama "Live Broadcasting of the Founding Ceremony" will soon appear in the Drama Theater of the National Centre for the Performing Arts, and I look forward to synchronizing the frequency with you and entering the countdown period of the "Tianzi" task.
Actor Zhang Tong
Actor Wu Fan
Actor Tao Hong
Actor Wu Pi
Actor Liu Wei
Actor Su Qing
Swipe to see the synopsis of the "Live Founding Ceremony":
In mid-August 1949, Peking Xinhua Radio received the task of broadcasting the "Live Broadcasting of the Founding Ceremony". The Tiananmen Tower is about to usher in a historical moment that has attracted much attention and announce the founding of New China to the world.
The radio station is closed. The technicians of the former Yan'an Xinhua Radio Station and the former Kuomintang Beiping Radio Station, represented by Lu Haiyu, Gao Gaomei, Zhao Yingjie and Liang Xiaoyu, belonged to two camps and were not very clear about the task, but they fought hand in hand for a lofty goal and began a period of secret coexistence.
The task is daunting and imminent. Under the leadership of Lu Haiyu and Zhao Yingjie, the radio station has launched a series of difficult work around the problems of technical bottlenecks and poor equipment. The personnel of the two sides are constantly contradictory in their ideological understanding and work and life, and they are running forward. At the same time, some lurking agents are waiting for an opportunity to collect intelligence on the "founding ceremony". In order to prevent sabotage by agents, the radio put the protection work first.
As the time approached, the personnel of the two sides, between doubt and trust, faced with the upcoming establishment of a new China, took out their soaring energy to overcome many obstacles, and finally gathered into a solid force, with collective glory to successfully complete the task of "live broadcasting the founding ceremony". On October 1, 1949, the "Voice of the Founding" of the People's Republic of China spread throughout China and the world through the Xinhua Radio Station in Beijing (Beiping).
At the celebration meeting, in accordance with the orders of the central authorities, the Xinhua Radio Station in Beijing (Beiping) was named the Central People's Radio. The PLA broadcasting team that came from Yan'an all changed jobs, took off their military uniforms and went to the people. Since then, the new Chinese broadcasting industry has developed rapidly.
Copywriter of this issue: Guo Yingying
Photo: Hao Yi, Luo Shaoming
Video Production: Hou Xiaoshuang
Editor of this issue: Plum