Inspirations for media integration from unusually popular culture-themed TV programs

If you ask which culture-themed TV programs became widely known during the Spring Festival holiday, the CCTV-made "China in Ancient Books and Records", and Henan TV’s "Banquet at the Tang Palace" aired at the Henan Spring Festival Gala should be on the list. Many fans generously gave “likes” and reposted, which stirred up a wave of communicating traditional culture during the Spring Festival, and demonstrated the tremendous power of quality audio-visual works in facilitating the inheritance and innovation of traditional culture.

"China in Ancient Books and Records" used the pioneering method of "drama + televising + cultural interview", and displayed the cream of "The Book of History" in the first episode. Narrations by historical figures such as Fu Sheng gave full play to the innovative potential of stagecraft, and ancient books which are difficult to understand contemporary presentation through stage performances.

The dance "Banquet at the Tang Palace", aired at Henan Spring Festival Gala, was less than 5 minutes long. However, it embodied the transformation of originality and innovation of art in all respects. Basic plot of the dance is female musicians from the Tang Dynasty going into the palace to perform. With the help of high-tech methods, stage design and television broadcast provided an immersive and stunning background environment for dancers who crossed lines of time and space. The majority of the program’selements, such as make-up, costume, dance movements, design inspirations of the background, all came from the legendary age of over a thousand years ago.

What caused these programs to gain popularity and become widely known? What inspirations do they provide for audio-visual creations and traditional culture inheritance? These questions should not be skimmed over.

Gain resonance and acceptance from youth is a permanent common pursuit of contemporary cultural workers. In creative and thematic settings, these programs were all aimed at the needs of mainstream audiences and especially young audiences. They created innovative ways of stage expressions, combined traditional elements and contemporary perspectives, which echoed with the emotional and aesthetic themes that young people are interested in. On the stage of "China in Ancient Books and Records", Fu Sheng cherishing the memories of his wife and recalling his escape from war was not only historical descriptions, but we can feel the efforts to link emotions and values between the past and present. When these audio-visual contents are enjoyed and appreciated by youths, they will proactively share and like these programs, and inject energy into traditional culture communication.

We have to admit that the beauty of “Banquet at the Tang Palace" and the emotions of “Fu Sheng protecting books” cannot be done without the support of technology. Stage innovations such as different scene changes and stage designs, VR, AR and other digital “black technologies” make conversation between the past and present possible. They provided a material foundation for the approach of “drama + televising”, and makes the shift between time and space more tangible. Short video and social media platforms which are new technologies in the communications field are also driving quality programs to spread rapidly and maintain popularity more efficiently in the social domain.

In recent years, online platforms launched different variety shows at a high frequency and are maintaining the trend. This gave traditional media a lot of pressure. It is encouraging that traditional media are also producing quality works which surprise audiences. This inspires us that under the context of media integration, although traditional media might not be at the forefront of technological innovation and capital operation in comparison with marketized media, quality audio-visual contents are an important bridge for traditional media to transition into new mainstream media. As long as one strives to be better, bring forth new ideas, grasp the rules of the development of cultural inheritance, traditional media will still have the opportunity to stand out on the new stage of the mobile internet.

Contributed by Liang Junjian, associate professor at the School of Journalism and Communication, Tsinghua University

Translated by Zhang Junye