"The Jixia Academy of the Warring States Period" repaints the Jixia Academy in the language of a drama documentary, focusing on the interactive relationship between national reality, national memory, national identity and national imagination, and recasting the nation from the perspective of image space-time aesthetics The role of cultural awareness of construction.
From the perspective of China and the world, it shows the great contribution of Qilu ideology and culture to Chinese civilization and even the world civilization, and reflects the long history and endless development of Chinese civilization.
The architectural body of Jixia Academy is the spatial center of the documentary narrative, but the documentary does not focus too much on the architectural details of the Academy.
As the world's earliest "academy of social sciences", its role in guiding civilization is the focus of the description.
Therefore, the documentary selects the cultural background of the contention of a hundred schools of thought in the Warring States Period, the burning of books and Confucianism in the Qin Dynasty to the early Han Dynasty.
First, with the help of the audience's familiarity with real and rich national reality materials such as "Warring States Contest for Hegemony", "Burning Books and Confucianism" and "Respecting Confucianism", it provides realistic support for recording the sublimation of the narrative from the material architectural individual to the spiritual community. .
Second, in the linear flow narrative of Jixia Academy, the key historical turning points from the Warring States Period to the Qin and Han Dynasties were captured and formed into five narrative themes, which greatly enhanced the rhythm, interest and visibility of the documentary expression. The tension of the performance has been enhanced, and the climax of the lines has been repeated, bringing more audiences into the film and television field of the common imagination of the nation.
In the narrative mode, the documentary cuts in from the perspective of the characters.
Focusing on the origin of Jixia Academy, the lobbying paths of Mencius, Xunzi, Zou Yan and other historical figures among countries and the narrative of historical deeds are intertwined, mainly manifesting as "historical figures in action" and "concrete historical figures".
The historical figures in action, on the one hand, the performance of history is not limited to a corner of Qi State, but also supplemented by the historical background of Yan State, Qin State and other countries, which expands the record capacity of Jixia Academy, achieving "sight to see six roads, ear to hear". On the other hand, it is a metaphor for Jixia Academy and Mr. Jixia's long-standing ideological and cultural influence that has been passed down from generation to generation. At the same time, it gives the documentary fluidity and flexibility in expression, and activates the text. Record the subject.
The figurative characters show the details of the images of various schools of thought. For example, in the fission chapter, Han Feizi, who is dull and stuttering, and Li Si, who is articulate and ambitious, break the narrative mode of facial masks and give everyone in history the blood of bones.
At the same time, the documentary complements the cause and effect of the characters' behavior, interspersed with diachronic and synchronic nature, and knows about the difficulties and hardships of Mencius' travel to study and admonish politics, and Xunzi's distress in his later years when he was unable to show his political opinions. Uncle Sun Tong kept a low profile for the promotion of Confucianism. The motivation behind the great achievements has deepened the identification of the national identity.
In terms of presentation form, the documentary adopts four recording methods: plot performance, animation restoration, expert narration and real relics, opening up all-perceptual collaboration and innovating the way of imagining the audience's national community.
Among them, actors’ plot performances and animation technology restoration serve historical time and space, while expert interpretation and relics are filmed in the current time and space.
First of all, the actor's plot performance introduces film montage into the creation of documentaries, which is the main means of emphasizing on the reproduction of scenes. ” and other authoritative historical classics, and vividly interpret the thousands of twists and turns and glory in the real contention of a hundred schools of thought through actors.
For example, in the chapter of Chuxing, the meeting between Mr. Jixia Chunyu Kun and King Wei of Qi in the "Historical Records - Funny Biography" is restored. Chunyu Kun satirized the three-year master of King Wei of Qi with the riddle that the big bird "does not fly and does not sing". The government did nothing, and Qi Wei Wangtong expressed his determination to Chunyu Kun in cryptic language. The well-known idiom and allusions were "blockbuster", and they were more naturally explained in the way of visual rhetoric, so that the audience could enter the historical context of Jixia on the spot. Sense, to realize the imagination of the presence.
Secondly, the application of technology enriches the aesthetics of the documentary and provides more convenient conditions for the restoration of historical scenes. The 3D reconstruction technology makes up for the shortage of Jixia Academy’s relatively few historical relics and reproduces the former grandeur of the Academy. ; Hand-painted animation stunt pictures and 3D stunt pictures are organically combined, interspersed in historical stories, and intuitively display the creator's national imagination.
For example, Tian Jia’s rebellion during the period of King Qi’s was presented in animation frames. The shadow puppet animation of fighting is accompanied by text explanation, which integrates freehand brushwork and realism, which is vivid, concise and interesting.
Finally, the expert interpretation after each historical story is a bridge connecting national history and reality. These experts are professors, local scholars, and writers from various fields. They enrich the discourse system of the documentary with their own experiences and perspectives. The thinking dimension directly communicates with the audience on the value imagination, deepens the audience's understanding of ancient culture and allusions of characters, and continues the audience's attention.
In terms of value integration, the documentary caters to the Chinese nation's sense of identity with its traditional culture, and modernizes the cultural value contained in Jixia Academy from three perspectives: the history of world development, the history of Chinese cultural development, and the development of regional culture.
First, during the axis period of human civilization, a building complex "Plato Academy" with a symbol of spiritual civilization also appeared in Greece. The documentary compared the two and pointed out that "Plato Academy" was the cradle of Western civilization. Jixia The Academy is the holy place where the oriental civilization originated, forming its own academic characteristics. The former pursues science, while the latter focuses on humanities.
Starting from a global perspective, this documentary uses video art to confirm the unique positioning of the Academy in the development of the world, to observe the community of shared future for mankind, to show the cradle of oriental civilization from multiple perspectives, and to demonstrate the soft power of Chinese civilization.
Second, the documentary is also a re-examination of traditional Chinese history and culture. Liang Qichao summed up the great significance of Jixia Academy in Chinese history with "the past will be calamity, and the future will never come", and the documentary recreates Jixia's teaching history. Grand occasion: The school once gathered the wise men from all over the world, was inclusive, accepted hundreds of schools of thought, and each school coexisted, debated freely, and traveled to study and lecture on scriptures.
The political civilization of ancient China flourished here, the cause of education sprouted here, and the source of ideas began here. The cultural spirit of the unity of nature and man, the use of the world, the dialectical spirit and other cultural spirits deeply nourished the character of the Chinese people and cultivated the ideology and morality of the Chinese people. Sentiment affects the fate of the Chinese nation.
Finally, the documentary is also a rediscovery of Qilu civilization. Qi State once led the cultural trend of the Warring States Period. Jixia Academy is an intangible cultural treasure given to later generations by Qi State. Using Jixia Academy as a window, it can give full play to its geographical and cultural advantages. And resource advantages, to achieve the dissemination of Shandong's image in the form of documentaries.
"Mountains are upright, and the scenery is upright". More than two thousand years ago, in the face of the turbulent political situation, social problems needed to be solved urgently. Students from all over the world came out with their orders, and a hundred schools of thought contended. Jixia Academy is the origin of this romantic and enthusiastic civilization. In miniature, its common spirit is like the star of the eternal night, taking care of the latecomers.
"Jixia Academy of Warring States Great Hall" starts from the overall historical view, comprehends the contingency and inevitability under the cultural background of the contention of a hundred schools of thought with a compact and diverse narrative. Based on historical reality, it constructs national identity as a connector between national imagination and reality. The interactive behavior of video art, the popular and daily characteristics of video art, invite the audience to "invite" the audience into the "spring thunder" of China, feel the pulse of the years, and serve the development of the national community.
(Yu Xiaofeng, executive director of Shandong University Film and Television Culture and Art Communication Research Center, contracted art critic in Shandong Province; Kong Yuyao, 2021 graduate student of the School of Journalism and Communication, Shandong University)