The main creator of "Kunpeng Strikes the Waves" revisited history at Peking University to pay tribute to the great man and commemorate the 130th anniversary of the birth of Comrade Mao Zedong

December 26 is the 130th anniversary of the birth of Comrade Mao Zedong. On this day, the cast and crew of the popular revolutionary drama "Kunpeng Strikes the Waves" with young Mao Zedong as the main narrative line held an exchange and sharing session around "Mao Zedong's Youth" at the Centennial Lecture Hall of Peking University to review the history of the revolution and pay tribute to the youth of the great man. .

"Kunpeng Strikes the Waves" tells the story of Mao Zedong's extraordinary revolutionary journey from graduating from the Hunan First Normal University in 1918 to attending the First National Congress of the Communist Party of China in 1921. During this period, he organized members of the Xinmin Society to go to France for work-study studies. He met Li Dazhao in the Peking University Library and began to accept Marxism. He founded the "Xiangjiang Review" in Changsha to launch the student and labor movements, led the massive movement to expel the warlord Zhang Jingyao, and founded the Hunan Communist Party. early organization. The drama is currently being broadcast on Beijing Satellite TV, Zhejiang Satellite TV, Guangdong Satellite TV, iQiyi, Youku Video, and Tencent Video, and has aroused enthusiastic responses.

Ren Yuzhong, member of the Standing Committee of the Party Committee, Secretary-General, Director of the Propaganda Department and Press Spokesperson of Peking University, delivered a speech: "Chairman Mao is to Peking University, Peking University is to Chairman Mao, Yan'an is to Chairman Mao, Jinggangshan is to Chairman Mao, they are all the same. It is very important. Generations of teachers and students at Peking University should remember that era and the pursuits and ideals of the people of that era, and always commemorate and cherish Chairman Mao.”

Yu Lei, deputy director of the Beijing Municipal Radio and Television Bureau, said that Peking University was the place where the young Mao Zedong received new ideological enlightenment and quickly grew in the direction of Marxism. Today’s Peking University exchange seminar is more like a forum to commemorate the revolutionary leader and uphold his ideals and beliefs. Political class. "I saw the youthful faces of the Peking University students who are diligently studying and looking forward to Kunpeng Strikes the Waves. I believe that in the TV series "Kunpeng Strikes the Waves", a youth dialogue that spans a century, you will have a good understanding of 'for the realization of the Chinese nation'." The mission of striving for the great rejuvenation of the nation has a new understanding.”

Zhong Chengxiang, the former vice chairman of the China Federation of Literary and Art Circles and a famous literary critic, said that Comrade Mao Zedong’s life journey from 1918 to 1921 was an illustration of his relationship with Peking University. As a pioneer and explorer who combines the basic principles of Marxism with China's concrete reality and China's excellent traditional culture, Comrade Mao Zedong's glorious journey is vividly presented in "Kunpeng Strikes the Waves", which is a kind of artistic worker. Cultural self-confidence and cultural consciousness. At the same time, "Kunpeng Strikes the Waves" takes a big step forward in grasping the unity of historical reality and artistic reality.

When talking about the bold casting of new actors in "Kunpeng Strikes the Waves", chief producer Gao Jun said that this drama shows the history from 1918 to 1921, and Comrade Mao Zedong's age range is 25 to 28 years old. "We Young actors must be used to play young great men.” The casting process for "Kunpeng Strikes the Waves" lasted for half a year. From more than 6,000 candidate actors across the country, the crew overturned the tentative candidates several times before finally confirming the current starring lineup, which is mainly composed of post-00s. In order to better show this period of history, the crew built more than 400 scenes of various sizes, restored Sanyanjing Hutong, Fuyou Temple, Peking University Red Building, Changsha First Normal University, Yang Changji's residence and many other scenes, and used more than 100,000 props. There are more than 20,000 specific props and nearly 10,000 costumes, striving to present the texture of the scene close to the time when the story takes place.

Ma Jihong, the chief screenwriter of the play, said that the history of Mao Zedong from 1918 to 1921 is almost blank in film and television dramas. The creation of "Kunpeng Strikes the Waves" lasted four years, with four revisions of the draft. It was an attempt to find creative space in the gaps in history. Since there are not many books reflecting Mao Zedong's youth, this period of history recorded in the "Chronicle of Mao Zedong" only has 6 pages. In order to complete the script, Ma Jihong found biographies and anthologies of Mao Zedong-related figures such as Chen Duxiu, Li Dazhao, Yang Changji, Cai Yuanpei, Deng Zhongxia, Cai Hesen, Xiao Zisheng, Xiang Jingyu, Huang Kan, Li Jinxi, etc., and read them carefully one by one, following Mao Zedong's life From Shaoshan to Changsha and then to Beijing, he re-traveled the path of his life. In this way, he read and collected stories, and finally completed the work.

Liu Biao, the director of the play, said frankly that facing such a major revolutionary theme that showcases a great leader is like an unknown person climbing Mount Everest. "I saw it, got close to it, and had to use the camera to restore it. It was a bit scary." He said that when he was the director of "Kunpeng Strikes the Waves", he was a tailor and got very good fabrics. This fabric is the script that deeply touches people's hearts. This touching feeling is the passionate youth and human warmth in the play.

Zhang Yiwu, professor of the Chinese Department of Peking University, member of the Standing Committee of the Central Committee of the Democratic Progressive Party and director of the Culture and Art Committee, commented that Comrade Mao Zedong’s time at Peking University was a very important period in his life and a critical period for the formation of important classifications of his worldview and ideological spirit. ""Kunpeng Strikes the Waves" allows us to feel a young and vital Mao Zedong. This character stands in our hearts, allowing us to feel the character's struggle history in a historical situation, and feel his thinking and exploration: China's future direction Where to go? This character is worthy of our appreciation, and we can intimately feel the young life and young heart of more than a hundred years ago. This is a spiritual dialogue that spans a hundred years, in this dialogue space. , we feel his power and see the changes of the great times.”