Liu Che was commonly known as Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, and
is one of the most important rulers in China's more than
2,000-year-long history of feudal dynasties. His name "wu" means
"martial achievements" and he lived in 156-87 BC.
Although Liu was described as "lacking in literary grace" by Mao
Zedong (1893-1976) in his poem "Snow," the sixth emperor of Han
Dynasty (206 BC-220 AD) secured an important place in Chinese
history.
But partly due to the fact that the Han Dynasty was of the remote
past, today people are not very familiar with Liu.
While there have been many historical TV dramas, many deal with
stories of the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911) and only a few were about
the Han Dynasty.
This has been changed with "Great Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty"
(Han Wu Da Di), a 58-part serial which has just finished airing on
China Central Television (CCTV), making a hit among soap opera fans
across the country.
Cast and rating
With an investment of 50 million yuan (US$6.02 million), the drama
claims to be "the most expensive historical drama" in China.
The star-studded big-budget production directed by female director
Hu Mei, deals with the life of the emperor and his 54-year
reign.
The part of Liu Che is shared by four actors, with Chen Baoguo, one
of the country's hottest TV actors, acting as the emperor in his
middle age till the last few years of life.
All other major roles are also played by famous actors and
actresses.
Jiao Huang, also famous for acting ancient emperors in historical
dramas like Chen, acts as Liu Che's father, Emperor Jing of Han
Dynasty.
Kuei Ya-Lei, famous actress from Taiwan Province, plays the role of
Empress Dou, the grandmother of Liu.
Besides that, the drama uses more than 1,700 characters in
narrating the royal and social lives in the Han Dynasty as well as
that of Han's chief enemy - the nomadic Xiongnu people (the
Huns).
Well-known household historical figures like Zhang Qian, Wei Qing,
Wei Zifu, Sima Qian, Dongfang Shuo, Li Guang and Su Wu all made
their appearance.
The drama was premiered on January 2. The first week its view
rating already hit 4.49 per cent, and continued to rise after then,
making it become talk of town in many cities.
CCTV said it is optimistic about the rise of the drama's viewer
ratings in the following weeks, hoping it could break the
historical drama record of 19.8 per cent, which was made by
"Yongzheng Court" (Yongzheng Wangchao), also directed by Hu in
1997.
The TV station, the largest in China, has already reaped a record
120 million yuan (US$14.5 million) by airing TV commercials before
and in the middle of "Emperor Wu."
The VCD/DVD copyright was also sold at an "extremely high" price,
CCTV has revealed.
The director distinguishes "Emperor Wu" with other historical
dramas, which in recent years have mushroomed and been flooding
screen.
Since the end of 1990s, there occurred a new genre of historical
dramas. Instead of basing the storyline on history, the series is a
comic recreation of historical themes, which is called "xi shuo" in
Chinese.
Although the substance of these works is historical
characterization and historical events, they make use of popular
narrative and comedy genre formats.
Faithful account
The themes these dramas chose have no direct relationship with
historical facts. History is invented on an assumed unfamiliar
stage.
They not only recall history, but also simulate history.
Representatives of this genre are "Joking Stories about Emperor
Qianlong" (Xishuo Qianlong), "Princess Huanzhu" (Huanzhu Gege)"
"Prime Minister Liu Luoguo" (Zaixiang Liu Luoguo) and "The Eloquent
Ji Shaolan" (Tiechi Tongya Ji Shaolan).
Hu Mei claims that her latest work is 10,000 miles away from these
"xi shuo" dramas.
She said the screenplay is based on "Historical Records" (Shi Ji)
and "History of Han" (Han Shu), works of two renowned Han Dynasty
historians Sima Qian and Ban Gu.
The intention of the television drama is not only entertaining
people, but also "inspiring people's pride in Chinese history and
Chinese nationality by telling stories strictly based on the
respect for history," she said.
According to Hu, in order to reproduce history more like what it
was, the crew employed many experts on customs.
Mao Huaiqing, the drama's art director, said he designed costumes
for characters according to photos of pottery figurines from the
Han Dynasty.
Hu and her colleagues' efforts have been praised by
historians.
"The drama makes a good combination of art and history," said
Professor Huang Pumin with the Department of History of Renmin
University of China.
