The large-scale documentary "The Great Jiangnan" has started production, pursuing the Jiangnan cultural collective of "up and down for five thousand years" | Jiangnan | The Great Jiangnan
In Chinese culture, "Jiangnan" is a proprietary term that creates a collective homesickness among people in the lower reaches of the Yangtze River. Here, the natural landscape is diverse, and the cultural background is rich, with atmosphere, inclusiveness, openness, and pragmatism as its foundation. Today, how should we understand and narrate Jiangnan?
On the afternoon of June 20th, the launch ceremony of the large-scale documentary "Jiangnan" and the global collection of Jiangnan images was held at the Tianhou Palace Square in Suhewan, Shanghai. The nearby Tianhou Palace ancient stage and the winding Suzhou River are also to some extent witnesses of Jiangnan culture.
Why is it "Da Jiangnan"?
The large-scale historical and cultural documentary "Da Jiangnan" was produced under the guidance of the Propaganda Department of the Shanghai Municipal Committee of the Communist Party of China, with support from the External Propaganda Office of the Shanghai Municipal Committee, and produced by Shanghai Radio and Television Station. The documentary consists of 9 episodes, each lasting 50 minutes, focusing on the land and people of Jiangnan, showcasing the magnificent history, culture, humanistic spirit, and future development of Jiangnan. At the same time, the film is closely integrated with the theme of the new era, focusing on cultural inheritance and development, vividly showcasing and promoting the outstanding characteristics of Chinese civilization, which are "continuity, innovation, unity, inclusiveness, and peace". By exploring the great Jiangnan region, it explores the precious spiritual wealth of the Chinese nation and explores the never-ending code of Chinese civilization.
"Da Jiangnan" is produced by Xu Guanqun Studio of SMG Documentary Center, and the team has created multiple works such as "Ideal Shines Over China", "Great Transformation", "Great Shanghai", and "Ten Years of Pursuing Dreams". Documentary producer time, Wang Ren will serve as the art consultant for "The Great Jiangnan", with Wang Ren as the chief writer. The documentary is expected to be completed and broadcasted by the end of 2025.
To ensure the quality of the documentary, the program team has formed an academic advisory team, with renowned scholars such as Li Tiangang, Dai Angang, Hu Xiaoming, Zhang Jishun, Zhou Zhenhe, Chen Jianhua, Ding Xueliang, You Rujie, and Chen Maiqing providing academic support for the documentary. At the launch ceremony, expert representatives were awarded the appointment letter for academic advisors of "Da Jiangnan".
"The greatness of the Greater Jiangnan lies in its great capacity and the return of all rivers to the sea. From the perspective of the origin of civilization, the Liangzhu civilization 5000 years ago is the true beginning of Chinese civilization history. In addition, the southern migration of clothing and clothing, which began in the Jin Dynasty, actually brought the most advanced classics and talents of Central Plains culture to Wu, which has become the root of Jiangnan culture. In this sense, the Greater Jiangnan is the Jiangnan of China." Hu Xiaoming, director and lifelong professor of the China Jiangnan Literature and Literature Research Center at East China Normal University, said that not only that, the Greater Jiangnan is also the Jiangnan of Asia, and even the world. "The textile technology of Vietnam, Japan, South Korea, and other countries," All of them were brought from Jiangnan. Therefore, there are many cultural connotations that can be explored in the Greater Jiangnan
In the view of Li Tiangang, a professor at Fudan University and deputy director of the Center for International Studies of Chinese Civilization, Jiangnan is an international theme. "Montesquieu compared the Yangtze River Delta with the Rhine River Delta, indicating that Jiangnan already had a global image. He believed that the representative cities of Jiangnan in the Song Dynasty were Hangzhou, Nanjing in the Ming Dynasty, and Yangzhou and Suzhou in the Qing Dynasty." Since Shanghai opened its port, it has actually integrated Jiangnan culture into Shanghai. Therefore, the production of 'The Great Jiangnan' will cause some global effects, which is worth looking forward to. "
"The topic about Jiangnan is too grand, and we hope to use the power of experts to do it." Xu Guanqun, the chief director of "The Great Jiangnan," introduced that the project is currently progressing to the stage of expert communication. The next step will be to conduct on-site research in major museums, cultural sites, and other places in the Yangtze River Delta. He revealed that the first episode of the documentary starts with "Shanghai has Jiangnan", which tells the formation of Shanghai and Jiangnan, as well as the relationship between ancient and modern times; The second episode "Five Thousand Years of Jiangnan" tells the story of great creations from Hemudu and Liangzhu to the present day.
Jiangnan Imaging Global Collection Project Launched
Since the Song Dynasty, the Jiangnan region has gradually formed a unique and distinctive regional culture, which stands out in fields such as ideology, literature, art, and economy. This is Jiangnan in history. Looking at the current situation, the Yangtze River Delta region, located at the intersection of the coastal economic belt and the Yangtze River economic belt, has created less than 4% of the country's total economic output with less than 4% of its land area. This is thanks to the nourishment of Jiangnan culture.
In recent years, with the continuous discovery of historical images of Jiangnan scattered in multiple image data institutions around the world, people have gained a new and more intuitive understanding of the modern and contemporary appearance of Jiangnan.
The Shanghai Audio Visual Archive has long regarded the collection and research of historical image materials from Shanghai and Jiangnan as an important direction of work. Since the birth of film technology in 1895, Shanghai has been one of the earliest cities in China to open up to the outside world. Many foreign filmmakers have entered mainland China through Shanghai, recording and leaving behind the earliest activity images of Jiangnan in modern times. It is reported that the earliest preserved historical images of Shanghai were taken in 1898, the earliest images of Hangzhou were taken in 1900, and many small towns in Jiangnan also left vivid color images after the victory of the Anti Japanese War. These historical images are currently well preserved in the program warehouse of Shanghai Radio and Television Station.
At the same time as the production of the documentary "The Great Jiangnan" is launched, the Documentary Center of Shanghai Radio and Television Station and the Shanghai Audio Visual Archive will jointly carry out the collection, research, and development of historical images of Jiangnan. On the basis of thorough research and organization, the Jiangnan Historical Image Resource Library will be launched in the future for academic research institutions, libraries, archives and other public cultural institutions to access and use. At the same time, we plan to cooperate with major cultural and museum units in the Yangtze River Delta region to provide public welfare services such as broadcasting and exhibitions of Jiangnan images to the whole society.
The systematic collection, research, and reuse of historical images of Jiangnan, as an important carrier and witness of Jiangnan culture, is of great significance. On the same day, Shanghai Radio and Television Station issued a solicitation notice to global film archives, libraries, archives, museums, and individual collectors, hoping to obtain more and richer historical images of Jiangnan from the early 20th century to the present; In addition, we will also collaborate with collectors of historical images of Jiangnan both domestically and internationally to carry out salvage image restoration and collection and preservation.
