Source: Beijing Youth Daily
On November 30th, the State Administration of Radio and Television and China Institute of History, China Academy of Social Sciences jointly held the "Symposium on the Creation of Historical TV Plays", which deeply discussed the related topics of the creation of historical TV plays. Zhu Yonglei, member of the party group and deputy director of the State Administration of Radio and Television, put forward three suggestions: First, we should firmly establish a grand historical view, grasp the historical development trend of the past, present and future, and persist in guiding the correct creative direction with Marxist historical materialism; Second, we must persist in taking the people as the center, observe the reality in the historical context, and build the spiritual home of the Chinese nation; Third, we should change our creative ideas from time to time, be brave in innovation, strive for perfection and originality in shooting and production, and strive to create a number of outstanding works.
Zhu Yonglei said that China has a long history and complicated historical phenomena. It is necessary to choose from the vast amount of historical information, historical events and historical figures, so as to "choose the right topic, tell a good story and shoot a fine product", select, combine and reproduce historical materials, correctly express history and reproduce history artistically. It is necessary to grasp the essence from the whole and through the phenomenon from the connection, and guide the audience to clearly understand the direction of historical development. "In particular, important issues concerning the construction of the Chinese nation community, such as nationality, culture and national unity, cannot be replaced by personal guesses and inconclusive academic interpretations. In terms of theme selection and characterization, we must firmly grasp the historical trend and the overall process of the development of the Chinese nation, and avoid only the personalization, strangeness and marginalization of history, or just from the standpoint of localities and departments, and we must resolutely oppose the creative direction of historical nihilism. "
The creation of historical drama can’t just focus on emperors and princes, but always turn around the axis of imperial power, making the space of historical drama smaller and smaller, even falling into a dead end. The creation of historical dramas should strive to explore richer historical perspectives, cultural perspectives and life perspectives, and embody the people’s role in promoting creative practice in historical development through vivid artistic images and novel artistic techniques. "Historical TV series should not only have the events in front of the old Wang Xietang, but also have fireworks flying into the homes of ordinary people."
Zhu Yonglei pointed out that the innovation of historical drama is unique and eclectic, which never means abandoning the original and drifting with the flow. At present, there are indeed some creators who lack an accurate understanding and correct grasp of historical materialism and grand historical view. Some works are fictionalized about important historical events and historical figures, and their creative ideas still focus on the power struggle of emperors and generals and the harem life, ignoring the shaping of people’s images and the grasp of historical mainstream trends. There are still a few works that regard historical space as a universal excuse and fig leaf for lacking artistic level and artistic logic, and even a hotbed for breeding dross, which tends to be vulgarized, kitsch and suspended overhead.
He emphasized that promoting the healthy development and creative prosperity of historical TV dramas is one of the priorities of SARFT at present and during the "14th Five-Year Plan" period. For key historical dramas, SARFT will provide whole-process service guidance, whole-process quality management, allocate resources for the whole industry, and assemble good writers, good directors and good actors for creative shooting.
Text/reporter Zu Weiwei
