"30000 Miles in Chang'an": A Romantic "Love Letter" Written for Chinese People by Li Bai | History | 30000 Miles in Chang'an
Today's people don't see the ancient month and this month once shone according to the ancients.
The bright moon in ancient and modern times will meet me by destiny and Chang'an
Just as a thousand people have a thousand Hamlets in their hearts, people from different countries also envision different versions of Li Bai. He is a wanderer who looks up at the bright moon and bows his head to think of his hometown, a young man in fresh clothes who wants to climb up to the blue sky and embrace the bright moon, and also a drunken poet who is drunk and crushes the white clouds. Every sentence can outline the silhouette of this legendary figure in the prosperous Tang Dynasty. Therefore, it is not easy to tell the story of Li Bai well.
The recent release of the domestically produced anime "Chang'an 30000 Miles" seems to have succeeded in gaining popularity. Unlike the traditional narrative style of the protagonist, this film takes the perspective of the Tang Dynasty frontier poet Gao Shi and uses the observer's objective identity to reminisce about his decades long friendship and interaction with Li Bai, presenting the audience with a vivid and three-dimensional human figure. However, what the movie wants to portray is not just the poet's life experience. In 168 minutes, the intertwining of the tide of the times and personal fate, the combination of Tang poetry history and imaginative construction, the collision of thousands of miles of poetry and the unique romantic feelings of Chinese people, leapt to the screen and planted a seed of "Chang'an" in the hearts of every viewer.
▲ Poster for the movie "Three Thousand Miles in Chang'an".
"In a prosperous era, we should be called Dapeng."
As the plot unfolds, poets such as Li Bai, Meng Haoran, Gao Shi, and Wang Wei meet the audience one by one. In terms of character positioning, the film does not deliberately shape the public's impression of Li Bai's carefree and unrestrained demeanor, Wang Wei's handsome talent, and Gao Shi's bold and heroic spirit. Instead, in the historical ups and downs of the Tang Dynasty before and after the An Lushan Rebellion, it showcases the different fates of several poets who have gone through twists and turns. Everyone has their own brilliance, but also different experiences - the lack of talent in their youth and high fitness, Li Bai's entanglement and anger in entering and leaving the world, Meng Haoran's hasty ending in his old age, they not only spit out half of the prosperous Tang Dynasty, but also their own ups and downs in life.
Different choices lead to different paths in life. In the movie, Gao Shi once told Li Bai, "You are a exiled immortal, go back to heaven; I am a human being, I wander in the world.". This destined the two of them to embark on a gradually distant life journey, as they both made choices between the times and themselves. But as time goes by, after many vicissitudes, what has changed is the tide of the times, and what remains unchanged is the pride and passion that stand in their hearts between heaven and earth.
▲ Poster for the movie "Three Thousand Miles in Chang'an".
And thousands of years later, when we see the legendary stories and the ups and downs of fate of these poets through movies, feel the helplessness and confusion of the ancients in the turning point of the times, and realize not only their love, hate, and separation, but also the empathy for the choices in life.
At first reading, I don't know the meaning of the poem, but when I read it again, I become the person in the poem. At the end of the movie, Li Bai, on his way down to Jiangling, accompanied by the sound of monkeys on both sides, chanted "The light boat has crossed ten thousand mountains", expressing his feelings and relief for the ups and downs of life after being pardoned, and also the sudden enlightenment of millions of ordinary people after overcoming difficult difficulties. At this level, the significance of poetry lies not only in its beautiful and fluent words, but also in its passage through time, crossing the distance of time and space, inadvertently resonating with each of us, and empathizing with it.
Perhaps life will always be full of unhappiness. Even though Li Bai's talent and emotions were so full of ups and downs, he was still able to write the heroic words of "I am born with a talent that will always be useful"; Although Gao Shi was only able to fulfill his ambitions in his later years, he still honed himself with the determination of "no one in the world knows a ruler.". Regardless of the past or present, we will eventually hesitate between reality and ideals, but in a prosperous era, the "beauty" in our hearts will inevitably come out of our mouths one day.
Combining virtuality and reality, restoring Tang Dynasty history in subtle details
Film and television works, in pursuit of innovation and agility, often cannot completely avoid their historical inconsistencies. Although the handling of scattered details in "Three Thousand Miles in Chang'an" does not conform to the actual creative background of Li Bai and others, efforts have been made to restore it truthfully in terms of aesthetics, allusions, and historical background. While combining realistic narrative techniques based on historical facts with romanticism constructed through imagination, the film also lays subtle historical foreshadowings in many places, demonstrating the creative team's respect for history and the ability to restore it.
In terms of character design, the modeling of middle-aged and elderly Li Bai generally follows the Li Bai appearance in the "Tang Dynasty Famous Officials Portrait Collection", while the peach blossom makeup on the face of the dancer Wanluo, who indulges in singing and dancing on the ship, draws inspiration from the Tang Dynasty makeup in the "Hairpin Beauty Picture". The melon seed shaped Dai painted short eyebrows, adorned with flower shaped embellishments, showcase the popular aesthetic trend of women in the mid to late Tang Dynasty.
▲ Li Baixiang.
▲ Part of the "Beauty with Hairpin Flowers" painting.
In terms of plot design, the banquet hosted by Prince Qi's Mansion is quite eye-catching. During the banquet, the encounter between Wang Wei and Li Guinian actually implies that Wang Wei once wrote a poem "On the River, Presenting Li Guinian" to express his nostalgia for his friends. The appearance of young Du Fu is also a borrowed allusion from "The Year of Li Gui in Jiangnan", which is commonly seen in King Qi's mansion and heard several times before Cui Jiutang. In fact, when Du Fu wrote this poem, it was already after the An Lushan Rebellion that the former prosperity of the Qiwang Mansion disappeared. The reunion of the two in Jiangnan at this time is also a memory of the decline of the world and the vicissitudes of the times.
The book "The Collection of Heroes and Spirits in the Mountains and Rivers" that Gao Shi repeatedly browsed in the camera was a poet selection compiled by Yin Fan during the reign of Emperor Xuanzong of Tang Dynasty. It collected 234 poems from 24 poets at that time, and included the poems of Li Bai, Wang Wei, Wang Changling, and others that appeared in the movie. And in the end, Gao Shi's attendant asked why there were no poems by Du Fu in the collection, implying that Du Fu did not wait for the moment when he became famous throughout the world during his lifetime. But Gao Shi's statement that "it will be collected in other collections in the future" also gave Du Fu a late glory and recognition.
In the limited space, the film perfectly presents the main events that basically follow historical facts. Without compromising authenticity, it also uses dramatic character portrayal and artistic and technological visuals to unleash imagination, expressing historical figures in the form of imagery and standing voice, and combining rich history with entertaining interpretation.
Therefore, domestic animation aims to capture Chinese people, Chinese culture, Chinese aesthetics, as well as a thousand year long historical heritage and cultural confidence.
"As long as there is poetry and books, Chang'an will be there."
The film also has a key element: Chang'an. However, there are not many shots that actually appear in the entire film of Chang'an City. Compared to the beautiful Jiangxia with abundant water and grass, the gentle and graceful Yangzhou, the border fortress with golden and iron horses, and the painting of the Tang Dynasty's thousands of miles of mountains and rivers slowly unfolded in the footsteps of the poet. At first glance, the title of the film doesn't seem to fit the theme; In fact, "Three Thousand Miles in Chang'an" has given poetry, the flourishing Tang Dynasty, and even the Chinese nation a "love letter" in a unique romantic way.
Chang'an represents an intention and a spirit. No matter where the poet's home is or where he drifts, he yearns to knock open the door to Chang'an - that is the ladder to realizing his own aspirations, and also the path to placing his ideals and belonging in the distance. With this spirit, Chang'an is located 30000 miles away. Both Gao Shi in his youth and Li Bai in his prime had set out on the road to Chang'an to pursue official career, but the places where they truly made contributions and wrote timeless poems were not in Chang'an.
Chang'an is no longer a place name or an era. It echoes the vitality of a prosperous era, embodying a national spirit of freedom, boldness, passion, courage to pursue dreams, and never give up. It constitutes the source of ancient vitality of the Chinese nation, the pulse of our civilization, and the Chang'an in our hearts.
At the end of the movie, as long as there is poetry and books, Chang'an will be there. Even though Chang'an experienced changes and calamities such as the An Lushan Rebellion and the Nine Movements of the Heavenly Emperor during the mid to late Tang Dynasty, poetry still passed down, and the core that truly made Chinese civilization endure is Chinese culture. Culture exists, and China exists. As long as we are rooted in the fertile soil of excellent traditional Chinese culture and constantly draw wisdom and strength from it, Chang'an will always write a new chapter in its prosperous era. With such cultural self-awareness and cultural confidence, Chang'an is everywhere.
▲ Poster for the movie "Three Thousand Miles in Chang'an".
Indeed, people today may not see the ancient moon, but this moon once shone upon the ancients, and the ancient and modern bright moon will always shine upon me. Meeting each other is destined to be with Chang'an.
The popularity of "Three Thousand Miles in Chang'an" is not only influenced by well-known poets such as Li Bai and Du Fu, as well as their poetic lines. It also drives the re creation of content with Chinese historical heritage and traditional cultural connotations in film and television works, transforming textbook style flat history into an educational interaction widely disseminated and accepted by the public. The most important thing in this process is to truly immerse the shining figures in Chinese history into the hearts of young people, becoming the "superheroes" they love and pursue.
In this sense, "Three Thousand Miles in Chang'an" is just the beginning, and the great Peng of our era will fly further into the sky.
