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Towards the Republic

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Towards the Republic (Chinese: 走向共和; pinyin: Zǒuxiàng Gònghé) or For the Sake of The Republic as it is known in some countries is a 60-episode Chinese television series produced by CCTV. When in 2003 it was broadcast nationwide in the primetime slot on CCTV-1, it had already been cut to 59-episodes. It featured important events of late Qing and early Republican times that were the starting point of Chinese nationalism, like the Sino-Japanese War in 1894/95, the Hundred-Day Reforms 1898, the Boxer Rebellion or the 1911 Revolution. This history soap opera (历史电视剧) combined narrating events of the national history with portraying the private lives of the main political figures. These are monarchists, reformers and revolutionaries who all have different answers to the increasingly deteriorating situation of the Qing state, but share the common goal of preventing China from being "carved up like a melon" (瓜分中国). Because of this patriotism, even historical characters that are remembered as villains in China's official history are reappraised in this TV series. The rehabilitation of former villains like the viceroy Li Hongzhang, who handled China's foreign contacts, the notorious Empress Dowager Cixi and Yuan Shikai sparked heated debates, prompting the censors to first cut parts of the show and eventually to stop the plan of a rerun on regional stations. The most important scene cut by the censors is the conclusive lecture given by Republic of China's founder Dr. Sun Yat-sen about his "Three Principles of the People" and "Five-Power Constitution", which constitutes the final five minutes of the entire play. It deals with the collapse of the Qing Dynasty and the and creation of the Republic of China. Although the show concludes with the statement that ultimately the Communist party brought about the fulfillment of Sun's vision, the topics raised in this lecture were deemed too sensitive. This scene, though, was not cut from the version available on DVDs and online until today.

Contents

[edit] Cast & Crew

Originally, Sun Chun was to be cast as Sun Yat-sen, but this role fell on the shoulders of Ma Shaohua, who reputedly looked more like Sun Yat-sen. Sun Chun took on the role of Yuan Shikai instead, gaining weight specifically to fulfill the role.

[edit] Languages

A unique feature of Towards the Republic was that the final version was voiced by speakers in their native languages with each of the respective characters. Extensive segments of the series that deal with Japan-related themes appear in Japanese. British English, French, and German are also heard in dialogue between the characters.

[edit] References

  • Lei Yi, "A Review of Research on the Late Qing" in Steffi Richter (ed.), Contesting Views on a Common Past: Revisions of History in East Asia, Frankfurt/ New York: Campus, 2008.
  • Matthias Niedenführ, "Re-writing history on Chinese TV: The series “Zouxiang Gonghe” (The road to the Republic)" in "International Textbook Research" no 1 (2005): 79-90.

[edit] External links

Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Towards_the_Republic"
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