New Age Artists

Chapter 112 The Source of the Chinese People’s Unique Historical Sentiment (44)

"History is culture, tradition and sentiment for the Chinese. When a new dynasty is established, the first priority is to revise the history of the previous dynasty."

Shen Santong said: "Our feelings towards history are not a setting, not an imperial decree issued by some emperor, saying that we should pay attention to history. It's not like that."

“History, Li is the calendar, history is events, Li is the concept of time, history is the concept of space. History is a system, a system formed to meet the needs of reality.”

“History is a system that records what happened in a certain year and place. The establishment of this system stems from the needs of reality.”

"When the Zhou emperor enfeoffed the princes, how could he know what his relatives did in their fiefs, how they were developing, and whether they had done any evil."

"The solution given by the Zhou royal family was the historical system, which required all vassal states to record everything."

"To put it bluntly, it's a ledger. History is the account book."

"Such a system is not just for individual vassal states to keep records, but the vassal states must also follow a complex system to report to each other."

"For example, if something happened in Qi, you had to tell Lu and Jin. If something happened in Zheng, you had to report it to Guo and the Zhou royal family according to regulations."

"Every year, the vassal states had to bring in this account book, and then the Zhou emperor would take the account book to cross-verify it, so no one could escape."

"Compare the account books of various countries. This matter is mentioned in the history books of Xu State, but not in the history books of Zheng State. Why didn't you report this matter to Zheng State? Does your matter not conform to Zhou Li?"

Shen Santong said this with a respectful tone: "Our ancestors were really amazing. The system they designed was very scientific. Account books can be falsified, cross-recording can also be cheated, but there is one thing that cannot be changed by human power, and that is the celestial phenomena."

"The time of the appearance of comets, meteorites, and solar eclipses is consistent no matter where they are recorded, whether by the Zhou royal family or the various vassal states."

"The vassal states want to change the recorded events? Sorry, there are calendars to hold you back. Solar calendar, lunar calendar, star calendar. Do you want to make the dates and events look better by putting them in the right order? No way. The calendar codes are all in the hands of the Zhou royal family, and it's not easy to figure it out."

"The calendar is the high technology of the Zhou royal family. The vassal states secretly changed the ledgers and made mistakes. If one time point was changed, the rest would not match. This would cause errors in the time recorded in the astronomical phenomena."

"Everyone else's solar eclipse is on the Yiwei day, but yours is on the Bingshen day or even the Dingyou day? Did you remember it wrong, or did you cook the books? Did you do something immoral that you have to hide?"

"After such a thorough investigation, we can find out what the vassal states have done secretly that is not in accordance with Zhou Li. The only difference is whether the Zhou emperor wants to punish you."

"So, history is not innate, nor is it something special about us Chinese, nor is it a product of romance. History is first and foremost a system that meets the practical needs of the Zhou Dynasty."

"It is a practical and powerful means to solve the problem of the feudal system, where the various vassal states pretended to obey but secretly violated the system, and formed independent small kingdoms. The Zhou Dynasty used this system as the core to control the Central Plains for more than 200 years, until he committed suicide."

Shen Santong said this and took a sip of water to moisten his throat.

The conference hall fell silent. It was the first time for most reporters to hear such an interpretation of history.

I have to say, although Shen Santong is crazy, he does have some stuff.

"That's why the historians during the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period were so stubborn. They would rather die than obey the orders of the princes to change the history."

"Because the historians were a political group, their political life came from the Zhou emperor, and their political prestige came from their own true historical records. Once they distorted or even covered up the actions of the princes, they would immediately lose their political status."

"The historian insisted on recording correctly and was killed, which is equivalent to the imperial envoy being killed by the local authorities. No matter how justified the explanation is, the death of the imperial envoy itself is a signal. The Zhou emperor will definitely avenge him and deter the local authorities."

Shen Santong said this with a sigh: "This is why the officials sent by the central government to local areas to supervise were called 'provincial governors'."

"刺, pierce, Shi refers to what happened in a local area, and Zhishi means to take the imperial sword of the central government and pierce the bloody sword into the local area to open the lid of the local area."

"Find out the situation at the local level and submit a record to the central government so that the central government can know the real situation at the local level."

Shen Santong looked around the venue and said with pride: "That's why China is the only country in the world with reliable history. To have a clear history, you need a vast territory. In order to manage a vast territory, we need to establish such a system from a practical point of view."

“Our history is not special because it comes from reality, not imagination. Our history is also special because this reality requires it, and only we have it.”

"Because of the system, culture was derived, and the culture became a habit. After three thousand years of development, the habit has been integrated into the blood of the Chinese people and has become the romantic historical sentiment of the Chinese people today."

After hearing this, most of the doubts of the reporters present about Shen Santong's plan to make a blockbuster movie disappeared. This understanding alone showed that he had real stuff.

Shen Santong continued: "The system has been accumulated for thousands of years, forming a splendid historical culture, and also forming our unique concept of time."

"Chinese people are very tolerant of time. We think it's normal to hear about 300 years ago, 500 years ago, and 2000 years ago, because 300 years ago was the Qing Dynasty, as if the Qing Dynasty was not far away. 500 years ago was the Ming Dynasty, 1000 years ago was the Song Dynasty, and 2000 years ago was the Han Dynasty."

"These times are particularly familiar to us. How they lived, how they ate and drank, big and small events, are all recorded. The life stories of the people who lived in these times and spaces, as well as the poems, books, and history books they left behind, are all in front of us."

"This is a unique feeling that only Chinese people have. If you ask Europeans about things that happened 300 years ago, they might be able to give some information about the people and time. But if you ask them about things that happened 500 years ago, they can only scratch their heads and tell you some legends."

The Chinese people's concept of history is based on reality.

Either you dig a basket of vegetables from the ground that will not rot for a thousand years, or it will become history.

China's history, from the grand historical perspective to the small matters of food, clothing, housing and transportation.

Four words: orderly inheritance!

The process of evolution follows a smooth curve, natural and graceful.

The Chinese people, who are living in this era, have an extremely deep love for history.

This kind of love can support a large channel in online novels.

There are hundreds of millions of readers of historical literature, and every dynasty has fans, which is a concrete manifestation of this kind of love.

Everyone loves without knowing it, and there is no need to know or understand why.

But as the main creator of the film, Shen Santong must extract this sentiment.

The historical perspective of the movie "Red Cliff" will determine the box office success or failure of Red Cliff!

It must be understood that Chinese history is not a setting, nor does it emerge out of thin air.

So what is the biggest poison of historical blockbusters for Chinese people?
It’s actually very clear!

In one word, fake!

Two words: nothingness!

It doesn't mean that history should be restored 100%. It can be romantic, but it must not be nihilistic.

Can’t let the audience feel fake!
Because China's history, from its source, is about understanding local conditions and pursuing truth.

To be honest, the original version of "Red Cliff" was actually quite good in terms of special effects, costumes and props.

But it became nothing, and the battle for unification turned into a gang fight.

Without authenticity, no matter how well you do everything else, it will be useless.

Shen Santong took another sip of water and continued, "Institutions generate culture, and culture becomes habits. Over time, the modern people of that time become ancient people, and in turn, more culture and habits are born."

“Countless people and events have come together to form a long river of history, hanging high above our nation, like a galaxy of stars, continuing through the ages.”

"We roam freely in it and are influenced by it, which creates a unique romantic sentiment among Chinese people. The historical romance of Chinese people is like air, which is everywhere. Maybe we ourselves have not noticed it, but in fact, only we have it."

Shen Santong casually cited a traditional festival as an example.

(End of this chapter)