A variety of treasures
TV show, with celebrities, drama and comedy, highlights significant relics from China’s rich history, Wang Kaihao
Variety and reality shows have captured increasing audience numbers recently, and the appeal of cultural heritage program is growing among those watching either on TV or through online streaming media platforms.
A long list of celebrities, not previously known for their views on culture, have participated in these shows, ushering audiences to take a closer look at the breathtaking beauty of highlighted relics or the exquisite details found in ancient architecture.
The rise of this new genre of Chinese TV may be largely credited to The Nation’s Greatest Treasures, a China Central Television variety show that premiered in 2017. Before its first season, many people — not only academics and museum administrators, but also its own producers — harbored doubts about its success.
Hardly surprising considering that when plans for the program were initially drafted the response from some museum directors when contacted by phone by the show’s production team was barely masked incredulity. Those that took up the offer were often met with quizzical interrogation from their peers along the lines of: “Is this true? You really want to go on the show?”
With no previous reference against which to measure its appeal, or lack thereof, it was natural for experts to worry that history would be distorted again by an entertainment program.
However, the trial broadcast turned out to be hugely successful. On popular film and TV review platform Douban, that first season garnered a score of 9.1 points out of 10. The second season, in 2018, was even more popular — it posted 9.2 points.
Now, a new, third season is airing. After its premiere in December, it achieved a 9.5-point score on Douban, making it one of the highestrated Chinese variety shows on the website.
“We were facing pressure from audiences to make the third season,” Yu Lei, chief director of the program, says. “We were wondering whether to keep going with the existing format, or try to create something new.”
The existing format was a tried and tested formula that proved successful. It was simple. Three key collections from one museum were highlighted in each episode. One focused on the Palace Museum in Beijing and the others on eight provincial-level museums. Each piece of cultural treasure was introduced by celebrities through short historical stage dramas or comedies, after which its background information was supplied by experts or those currently studying or safeguarding it.
But, the extraordinary events of 2020 has helped Yu obtain a wider perspective for the current season.
She thought the show could embody both the glory and the hardship that has been faced by the country and humanity. She explains: “When we look back at our history, we are actually thinking about where we are headed in the future. That also reminds us what we need to cherish in terms of our heritage.”
Therefore, the team decided to expand the horizon of the program, she says.
A new start
In the third season, the Palace Museum, the former Chinese imperial palace often described as the Forbidden City, which celebrated its 600th anniversary last year, remains as a focus, but its “treasures” turn out to be larger. The Meridian Gate, for example, at the southern entrance to the imperial city, was chosen as one of the three treasures to show off its architectural splendor.
Moreover, the other eight sites in the third season, like the Forbidden City, are not just museums, but have all witnessed key events in the development of Chinese civilization.
They are the 3,300-year-old Yinxu Ruins in Henan province, where the earliest-known Chinese written characters were excavated; the Mogao Caves in Dunhuang, Gansu province, a group of Buddhist grottoes ranging from the fourth to 14th centuries; the Potala Palace in Lhasa, the Tibet autonomous region; the Classical Gardens of Suzhou, Jiangsu province; the 2,500-yearold Temple and Cemetery of Confucius and the Kong Family Mansion in Qufu, Shandong province; as well as the Sanxingdui Site in Guanghan, Sichuan province, which is testament to bronze-age civilization dating back to 3,200 years ago.
Also appearing in the show are the home of the Terracotta Warriors — the 2,200-year-old mausoleum of Emperor Qinshihuang, the first emperor of China — and Xi’an Beilin Museum, where over 10,000 precious stone carvings are housed, including steles, epigraphs and other engraved calligraphy, both in Xi’an, Shaanxi province.
“People love Dunhuang, and they love the Terracotta Warriors,” Yu says. “But speaking of their deeper cultural meaning, the general public’s understanding may be less informed, and our show explains the bigger picture by presenting the details in an approachable way.”
Some lesser-known pieces have been introduced to the public by familiar faces. For example, a bronze crane, covered by verdigris, from Qinshihuang’s mausoleum may not be that famous compared with the world-renowned terracotta figures. However, in a stage drama produced and performed for the program, actor Fu Dalong vividly unveils a ruler’s romantic and ambitious expectation for his empire through stories decoded by archaeologists and historians that are linked to the bronze crane. The actor found wide popularity in a TV drama in 2017, titled The Qin Empire, starring as one of Qinshihuang’s predecessors.
Meanwhile, archaeologist Zhang Weixing, a “modern guardian” of the artifact, also shows how it is scrutinized and studied in a lab using state-of-the-art technology.
Even what might be considered mundane has the power to fascinate. A millennium-old drinks bill from Dunhuang, Gansu province, has been returned after an elaborate journey. Initially taken abroad from Dunhuang around 1900, it came back to China via a Japanese collector. Its tale is presented by actress Ning Chang with an insight that is absorbing.
The static relics can unroll a dynamic and grandiose picture of Chinese history, Yu says. For example, the bronze ritual items residing in Confucius’ hometown represent Chinese people’s connection with ceremonies throughout history.
A portrait of Princess Wencheng hanging in Potala Palace shows how harmonious relationships between different ethnic groups were cherished.
Yu says that the team carries out extensive research. “When we make a show about one cultural relic, it’s like writing for a master’s degree,” she says.
Cultural dialogue
The production team realizes that, to visualize a historical scene, accuracy is paramount. Clothing, articles of daily use and stage settings have to comply with the period represented. According to Chen Shiyu, the show’s costume consultant, each piece of clothing has to be confirmed in triplicate: ancient documents, paintings and cultural relics.
“In design,’’ Chen says, ‘‘we cannot take anything for granted.” The audience, Chen adds, rightly demands authenticity.
For such a show, purely academic accuracy is insufficient for the viewer to get emotionally involved. Such a reaction depends on stories.
Compared with ancient tales behind the relics, which are often connected with famous historical figures, director Yu says it is more challenging to find modern heroes with destinies that are inseparable from these artifacts. But once found, their stories will inspire.
Some such heroes have left their mark and the program shows just what they have done. Take fresco restorer Li Yunhe, for example. For over half a century, he, along with his son and grandson, like a relay team, have passed the cultural baton to each new generation to continue the restoration of Dunhuang’s precious heritage.
Another such exemplar is Zhao Zhen, a photographer that focuses on the Terracotta Warriors, who could barely conceal his excitement when recalling his discovery of a fingerprint left by an artisan on the body of one of the warriors about 2,000 years ago. Zhao said he had “a dialogue” with the ancient sculptor that spanned the expanse of time.
And some unexpected dialogue between the show and new archaeological findings brings even more surprises.
While a stele in the Xi’an Beilin Museum is chosen to showcase Tang Dynasty (618-907) calligraphy master Yan Zhenqing’s patriotism, a woman’s epigraphy, which is a rare example of Yan’s early-stage works, was unearthed in Xi’an in November.
“The coincidence provides more attention for our museum,” says Zhang Yun, deputy director of Xi’an Beilin Museum. “We used to promote our stone relics in traditional ways because we thought it was a serious topic. However, the creative thinking brought by the show’s film crew has reminded us that more diverse cultural expression is needed.”
“For museums, participating in such programs means extra work, but it’s worthwhile if we want to have greater influence,” she adds.
For the show’s production team, expanding the influence of “Chinese
We used to promote our stone relics in traditional ways... However, the creative thinking brought by the show’s film crew has reminded us that more diverse cultural expression is needed.”
Zhang Yun, deputy director of Xi’an Beilin Museum
treasures” is an ongoing journey. According to Yu, the previous two seasons of the show have been, or are in the process of being, translated into eight languages to be broadcast both at home and abroad. Cooperating with the BBC, the show was also adapted into a six-episode derivative documentary China’s Greatest Treasures in 2019.
In spite of the achievement, Yu humbly says that the original goal of the show was only to make museums popular and encourage more people to visit them.
“We are not afraid that similar shows may come, and it’s great to see them help spread our fine traditional culture,” she says. “We just need to keep our own skills honed and constantly evolve.”