Looking at the history of China from the perspective of ＂Forbidden City＂

Author: Guo Mei Jin Xiahui

The historical documentary "Forbidden City" takes the Forbidden City as the clue and the change as the breakthrough point. Through 12 chapters, it tells the important historical events in the 600-year history of Ming and Qing Dynasties, summarizes the gains and losses in historical development, and presents the valuable wisdom of the Chinese nation. It not only emphasizes the integrity of the Chinese nation, but also shows the characteristics of the Chinese nation different from other civilizations, leading the audience to inquire about the vicissitudes of history and pursue the cultural roots.

The documentary "Forbidden City" stands in the perspective of great history, jumping out of the red wall and green tiles to tell the historical situation related to the "Forbidden City". For example, through the comparison of Chinese and foreign civilizations, the characteristics of the Chinese nation can be expressed. The eighth episode of "The Prosperous Age" tells the story of the British envoy Magalny’s visit to China, emphasizing the mutual gifts from China and Britain-Jade Ruyi and Mauser Gun, and pointing out that "Gun and Ruyi represent their respective cultural positions" to illustrate the potential strength and etiquette civilization of the Chinese nation. For example, through the comparison of Chinese and foreign civilizations in the changing situation, we can sum up the historical lessons of the Chinese nation. The sixth episode "Afterglow" introduces the change of silver shortage caused by the exhaustion of silver mines in various countries, and points out that European countries established a rudimentary modern monetary system and financial system due to silver shortage, while the Ming Dynasty experienced economic recession due to silver shortage. This proves the serious harm of arrogance and conservative thinking and summarizes the painful historical lessons.

"As a historical documentary, how to guide the audience to fully, deeply and clearly understand history, respect history, form a sense of history, and drive contemporary people to pursue and inquire about history is a crucial creative proposition." The Forbidden City adopts a popular way to express the charm of Chinese culture. Among them, the most representative is the ingenious combination of cultural relics and history, and the wonderful contrast between historical stories and theme songs. The film is good at seeing the big from the small and showing the macro history through the details of cultural relics. For example, the second episode "Inheritance" uses the horses in Li Gonglin’s "Pasturing in Wei Yan", a cultural relic of the Palace Museum, to show the characteristics of martial arts in the early Ming Dynasty. At the same time, the film also makes the characters in the picture scroll move through modern technology. For example, the first episode of "The King" makes the ancients in "The Emperor Accumulates Victory" walk, and with passionate music and simulated street noise, it shows the bustling street scene in history. This artistic treatment obviously touched the audience, and some netizens pointed out the details of men wearing pink clothes in the picture scroll in the barrage, indicating that the expression of the dynamic picture scroll aroused the audience’s interest and concern about the living customs of the Ming Dynasty. As Wu Zhiyong, the general director of the film, said, "Cultural relics are evidence, not for display". The previous documentaries on the theme of the Forbidden City mentioned cultural relics, which seemed to show the manufacturing process or artistic value of cultural relics themselves, rather than introducing related historical stories. For example, the seventh episode of the Forbidden City, Painting and Calligraphy in the Forbidden City, introduces the creation and preservation of paintings and calligraphy.Instead of focusing on the objective world revealed by the contents of calligraphy and painting. It can be seen that the Forbidden City shows the Chinese civilization more vividly and strengthens the audience’s perceptual knowledge of the Chinese nation through the historical information carried by cultural relics.

In recent years, the number of documentaries on the theme of the Forbidden City is quite large, which can be roughly divided into three categories: grand theme category, micro theme category and specific characters category. Among them, The Forbidden City (2005) is narrated based on several grand themes, from the macro perspectives of architectural art, use function, collection of cultural relics and the evolution process from the palace to the museum, showing all aspects of palace architecture, precious cultural relics, fate of characters and palace life, and emphasizing the value of the Forbidden City as a common historical and cultural heritage of mankind. Since then, When the Louvre meets the Forbidden City (2010) and The Forbidden City 100 (2012) have been narrated around micro-themes: the former deduces the art history of the East and the West in different time and space backgrounds, and emphasizes the valuable value of the exchange between Chinese and Western civilizations; The latter, based on the practical value of the Forbidden City building, expresses the aesthetic value and cultural connotation of the palace building with creative commentary and images in the form of micro-documentary. I am repairing cultural relics in the Forbidden City (2016), New Things in the Forbidden City (2017) and I am in the Forbidden City for 600 years (2020) record the daily work of cultural relics workers in the Forbidden City. They all focus on the stories of cultural relics protectors, which not only show the spirit of craftsmen, but also show the understanding of cultural relics by cultural relics restorers-the spirit of utensils that carry the Tao with things.

Looking at the documentaries on the theme of the Forbidden City since this century, we can find that its development vein presents the following two important characteristics, that is, not only its vision has undergone a "macro-micro-macro" evolution, but its expression mode is getting younger and younger. Among them, the change of vision is from the broad perspective at the beginning, to the interpretation of specific aesthetic values and cultural connotations, to the personal perspective of cultural relics protectors, and finally, to the grand perspective of the Chinese nation. The trend of younger expression is particularly obvious in the Forbidden City 100, I am repairing cultural relics in the Forbidden City and the Forbidden City. "Forbidden City 100" is a micro-documentary with a single episode of no more than six minutes, which meets the viewing needs of young people in a fast-paced society; The dedicated spirit of the elderly restorer and the youthful vitality of his disciples in "I am repairing cultural relics in the Forbidden City" have aroused the resonance of many young audiences; The theme song at the end of the Forbidden City has greatly expanded the audience by virtue of the singer’s social influence and the genre with both ancient meaning and popular elements.

The emergence of these two characteristics is related to the change of social environment. First of all, the rapid development of social economy has given birth to multiple values and the evolution of "macro-micro" vision. At present, the rapid development of world economy and technology requires us to re-examine and establish the spirit and identity of the Chinese nation, which has given birth to the transformation of "micro-macro" vision. Secondly, the ever-changing consumer society has also widened the differences in viewing habits between young people and middle-aged and elderly people. Documentary creators need to attract young audiences with younger expressions to further realize the social value of documentaries.

Looking back on the development of documentaries on the theme of the Forbidden City, we can see that people’s understanding of Chinese civilization is also deepening: from the overall grand impression to the specific artistic value, aesthetic value and cultural concept, to the craftsman spirit and utensils spirit of cultural relics protectors, to the survival wisdom of the Chinese nation shown in The Forbidden City. This cognitive process also reflects the mental outlook and value orientation of the Chinese nation in different historical stages. For example, "Forbidden City" no longer only shows the interior of the Chinese nation, but focuses on the history of the Chinese nation in a global perspective, and lets the audience see the vicissitudes and splendor of Chinese culture with the help of younger expressions.

Specially published by Shanghai Literature and Art Review Special Fund

Source: Jiefang Daily